Digital Twin-enabled Smart Modular Integrated Construction System (DT-SMiCS) for On-site Assembly

Abstract

Modular Integrated Constructio(MiC) is a game-changing approach that transforms the traditional cast-in-situ into production and assembly of prefabricated modules with enhanced quality, productivity, safety, and sustainability. On-site assembly is one of the most uncertain and complex stages in MiC process, due to high variability of outside conditions, organization of multi-contractors, and geographic dispersion of activities. Various information technologies are adopted to tackle these problems, however, the physical assembly hasn’t been fully interoperated and collaborated with the digital representation on a real-time basis. The bidirectional information interoperation is usually fragmented and out-of-date, and on-site resources couldn’t be efficiently and consistently digitalized. To address these challenges, this paper introduces a digital twin-enabled smart MiC system (DT-SMiCS) for on-site assembly. On-site resources are converted into Smart MiC Objects (SMiCOs) to collect real-time statuses and locations. Based on the object-oriented concept, digital cloning is proposed to instantiate digital SMiCOs from a unified template. Multi-dimensional information could be encapsulated in digital clones to map and characterize physical entities, such as identity, location, geometry, cost, and construction progress. Through the smart mobile gateway, physical assembly could be two-way interoperated with its corresponding digital twin on a real-time basis. This bidirectional interoperation under DT-SMiCS ensures that the right resources are operated to the right activities at the right time in the right location with enhanced visibility. Planning and scheduling are optimized through simulation, and risks could be detected in advance and avoided in actual projects. Cloud-based services are provided to monitor the real-time construction progress through high-fidelity models, and execute remote control with automatic navigations and alerts. A desktop robotic demonstration of DT-SMiCS is conducted to verify the proposed concept and system.

Keywords: Digital Twin; Modular Integrated Construction (MiC); On-site Assembly; Digital Cloning; Bidirectional Interoperation