advantages, disadvantages of automation, examples

1. Automation in Construction

2. INTRODUCTION
• THE USE OR THE INRODUCTION OF AUTOMATIC EQUIPMENTS OR
OTHER PROCESS OR FACILITIES IN CONSTRUCTION IS CALLED AS
AUTOMATION IN CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY
• KEY RESEARCHERS AND THEORISTS IN THE FIELD OF ROBOTICS
SAY AUTOMATED MACHINES ARE ABOUT TO MIGRATE FROM
FACTORIES AND MANUFACTURING FACILITIES TO BUILDING AND
CONSTRUCTION SITES AS A RESULT OF RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL
ADVANCES WHICH ENABLE THEM TO PERFORM INCREASINGLY
COMPLEX TASKS

3. ENGINEERING AUTOMATION
ENGINEERING
AUTOMATION
SURVEY
AUTOMATION
CONSTRUCTION
AUTOMATION
DESIGN
AUTOMATION

4.  INSPECTION
 POSITION AUTOMATION
 SITE MONITORING
 MACHINE AUTOMATION
 MATERIAL CERTIFICATION
CONSTRUCTION AUTOMATION

6. ADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATION

7.  HELPS TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY OF WORK
 INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
 IMPROVED SAFETY AND REMOTE ACCESS TO DATA
 REDUCES THE TIME REQUIRED FOR CONSTRUCTION
 THE POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN ERROR IS REDUCED (ACCURACY)
 HEAVY WORK CAN BE COMPLETED SATISFACTORILY WITHIN THE STIPULATED
TIME
 RESULTING IN GREATER CONTROL AND CONSISTENCY OF PRODUCT QUALITY
 UNIFORM QUALITY PRODUCT AND HIGH VOLUME PRODUCTION
 ENHANCE WORK ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE WORKERS WILL BE DISTANCED
FROM UNCOMFORTABLE WORK POSITION

9. DISADVANTAGES OF AUTOMATION

10.  LESS VERSATILITY
 MORE POLLUTION
 LARGE INITIAL INVESTMENT
 INCREASE IN UNEMPLOYMENT.
 CONTINUOUS POWER SUPPLY
 MAINTENANCE COST IS VERY HIGH BECAUSE MAINTENANCE LABOR OF
HIGH CALIBER ARE REQIURED
 LEADS TO BRAIN DRAIN FROM THE COUNTRY

12. NEED OF AUTOMATION

13. Building objects are produced by people who perform the necessary tasks using
equipment. The technological level of construction industry during the old ages was very high
for their historical period. The old civilisations have built very long-lasting structures like
pyramids, acropolis, aqueducts, cathedrals, etc.
They used innovative processes and elements for their contemporary normal
building procedures. Nevertheless, some of now-a-days construction processes have changed
a little.
For example, the building erection process has changed very little over the past
eight hundred years. The old ages pulleys are substituted by cranes. These are more
sophisticated than centuries ago, but they work with the same principle: manual control, human
operator visual feedback, big positioning error, etc.
Thus the human element involved in every aspect of construction process is very
hard to replace with many times results into delay in project completion. If we have to keep pace
with the world, projects must complete fast.

14.  INCREASE IN PROJECT SPEED:
AUTOMATING CONSTRUCTION PROCESS IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO
REDUCE PRODUCTION TIMES. EARLIER COMMISSIONING OF ANY PROJECT HAS
TREMDOUS IMPACT DOWN THE LINE: I.E. PRODUCTION, MARKETING
CONSUMPTION, CONNECTED BUSINESSES, ETC. GET BOOST AND REDUCES THE
OVERHEAD COST.
 IMPROVE WORKING CONDITION:
WITH AUTOMATION, DANGEROUS WORK CAN BE AVOIDED FOR MANUAL
LABOUR. IT DOES THE WORK, PEOPLE CANNOT DO EASILY, AND INCREASE THE
PERFORMANCE.
 QUALITY IN CONSTRUCTION:
AUTOMATION GIVES QUALITY CONSTRUCTION.WITH AUTOMATION THE
MEASUREMENT ARE MORE ACCURATE; THE WEIGHING AND PROPORTION OF
MIXING INGREDIENTS IS BETTER

15. AUTOMATION IS USEFUL FOR:
 PLANNERS WHO CONCEIVE A PROJECT AND PREPARE PRELIMINARY
REPORT
 THOSE WHO PREPARE FINAL ESTIMATES
 THOSE WHO TENDER
 THOSE WHO HAVE LARGE NUMBER OF SIMILAR PROJECTS
 THOSE WHO NEED TO CORRECT DESIGNS FROM TIME TO TIME AND
REVISE ESTIMATES

16.  FEW YEARS AGO, ALL CONCRETE WAS PREPARED ON PROJECT SITE. BUT
TODAY EVEN SMALL CONCRETE PLANTS, SAY, 15m3/hr CAPACITY, HAVE
INTEGRATED WEIGH BATCHERS AT SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZE PROJECTS.
CONCRETE BATCHING PLANTS UPTO A CAPACITY OF 150m3/hr ARE USED IN LARGE
PROJECT SITES.
 THE TOWER CRANE IS AN EXAMPLE OF AUTOMATION IN MATERIAL
MOVEMENT. THE TOWER CRANE PICKS IT UP, SWINGS AND PLACES AT THE
REQUIRED HEIGHT. THEN AT LARGE PROJECTS e.g. DAMS AND TUNNEL
CONSTRUCTION, AUTOMATION HAS HAPPENED IN THE USE OF EARTH MOVING
EQUIPMENT, DUMPERS, ETC. FOR LARGE PROJECTS 25 OR 30-TON DUMPERS ARE
COMMON TAKING AWAY LARGE EXACAVATION DEBRIS.
READY MIX CONCRETE(RMC)

18. AREAS OF AUTOMATION IN
CONSTRUCTION
 ROADS AND RUNWAYS CONSTRUCTION
 STRUCTURES
 BUILDING CONSRUCTION
 PORTS
 TUNNELS
 FACTORIES AND INDUSTRIES

19. ROADS
 ASPHALT MIXERS AND ASPHALT PAVERS ARE
AUTOMATIC MACHINES. SIMILARLY CONCRETE
PAVERS ARE USED FOR ROADWORK
 USE OF HIGHLY AUTOMATED HYDRAULIC DRILL
RIG FOR PILING HAS BECOME COMMON, FOR
ALL HIGHWAYS AND FLYOVERS

20. TUNNELS
 IN TRENCHLESS CONSTRUCTION TWO
MANHOLES ARE DUG AT TWO PLACES AND THEN
A TUNNEL IS BORED BELOW THE SURFACE,
WITHOUT DISTURBING THE SURFACE.
 FOR TUNNEL WORK, HIGH LEVEL OF AUTOMATION
EXISTS. DRILLING JUMBOS, ROAD HEADERS AND
TUNNEL BORING MACHINES ARE USED, TBM CAN
DRILL A TUNNEL 3 TO 8 m IN DIAMETER, AT THE
RATE OF 1m/hr, GIVING AN OVERALL PROGRESS
OF 12 TO 15m/day. BY THE CONVENTIONAL
METHOD, THE RATE WOULD BE 3 TO 5m/day.

21. SURVEY WORK
 SITES CAN BE SURVEYED WITH THE USE OF MODERN
INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS ‘TOTAL STATION’ HAVING A PC
CONNECTIVITY AND SOFTWARE
 THE SURVEY READINGS ARE DIRECTLY RECORDED ON A
CD AND AN ENGINEERING DRAWING IS OBTAINED AS END
RESULT. THE READINGS ARE MEASURED ON THE FIELD
USING ELECTRONIC SIGNALS AND LASERS

25. EXAMPLES RELATED TO
DIFFERENT CIVIL
ENGINEERING
PROJECTS

28. PYRAMID OF
GIZA
 REMAINED TALLEST
FOR 3800 YEARS
 CONSTRUCTED OVER
TWENTY YEAR PERIOD
TIME
 IT WOULD COST $5
BILLION TODAY TO
CONSTRUCT ITS
REPLICA

29. GREAT WALL OF
CHINA
 13,171 MILES
 MODERN DAY COST: $13-65 BILLION

30. AQUEDUCT OF
SEGOVIA
 AQUEDUCT BRIDGE
 EXCELLENT CONDITION
OVER THE YEARS
 LOCATED IN SPAIN
 IT SUPPLIED WATER TO
SEGOVIA

31. BROOKLYN
BRIDGE
 COMPLETED IN 1883
 BOTH, SUSPENSION AND
CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE
 ONE OF THE OLDEST
BRIDGES IN UNITED
STATES

32. PANAMA CANAL
• 48 MILE WATERWAY IN
PANAMA
• CONNECTS ATLANTIC AND
PACIFIC OCEAN
• CRUCIAL FOR MARITIME
TRADE

33. HOOVER DAM
• CONSTRUCTED DURING
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
• CONCRETE ARCH-
GRAVITY DAM
• CONSTRUCTED OVER
COLORADO RIVER
• TOOK FIVE YEARS TO
BUILD

34. GOLDEN GATE
BRIDGE
• OPENED IN 1937
• LONGEST SUSPENSION
BRIDGE IN THE WORLD

35. ENGLISH
CHANNEL TUBE
• €9BILLION, MOST
EXPENSIVE PROJECT AT
THAT TIME
• LONGEST UNDERSEA
TUNNEL

36. BURJ KHALIFA
• 829.8 M HIGH
• SUPERTALL SKYSCRAPER
CRANES WERE USED
• CRANES SHIFTED MORE
THAN 63,000 TONNES IN
45,000 HOURS

37. QINGDAO WATER
BRIDGE
• LONGEST WATER BRIDGE
IN THE WORLD
• 43.58 KM LONG STRETCH
• ALL MODERN
MACHINERIES WERE
IMPLEMENTED AND WAS
COMPLETED WITHIN 4
YEARS

38. CONCLUSION
 Construction is a part of infrastructure, which is essential to promote growth in
the economy. India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The
scope for infrastructure industry is enormous as the Indian industry has been
witnessing large growth. Thus, the effective use of automation is one of the
greatest opportunities.
 The importance of implementing automation technologies is the need of
todays infrastructure project and construction firms in order to increase the
productivity and good quality of work.

39.  Since India has second largest manpower in the world, automation is not
replacements of human power but is an important supplement that carters to the
need of mega construction and fast-track construction
 The problems associated with constructed work such as decreasing quality of
work, labour shortages, etc. can be overcome by new innovative technologies
such as automation which has the potential to improve the quality, safety,
productivity of the construction industry.

40. Therefore, a big effort needs to be made to increase the level
of automation of this important sector and to coordinate more
the involved processes in order to improve its productivity.
Since last decade of 20th century a lot of progress is made in
this direction by countries like Japan, Germany, USA by
focusing new robotics systems and in the automation of
existing machinery.