Construction is a knowledge-based and information-intensive industry. Therefore, something like situational awareness, that too in real-time, would help both managers and workers on a construction site become more productive. It would also be of advantage to many functions, including task management and control, logistics, procurement, and safety management.
Like other industries, the construction industry has benefited through digitalization. However, the efforts have been focused more on physical products and less on process automation or on how physical elements relate to workflows, schedules, and resources. As a result, collecting data automatically from various sources to form a real-time situational picture of a construction site has proved to be a challenge.
To address this challenge, DiCtion— a research and development project—has created a data model, an ontology for construction processes. This shared data model helps to collect data from various sources and combine them in a meaningful way and without manual interaction. The project is an effort to stabilize the way real-life concepts are represented in data systems, and offer a shared ontology, without which it would be difficult to build an automated system for situational awareness of the construction site.
Construction companies can utilize the ontology to digitalize their workflows. In addition, the ontology provides a common language for both internal development and collaboration with technology providers. Furthermore, design, construction, and maintenance software developers can apply the ontology to make products interoperable on a contextual level. A shared ontology also helps create and use emerging data platforms in construction.
The way building models and linked data are represented today requires a lot of computing power. Additionally, it is not practical to retrieve the whole Building Information Modeling (BIM) for information on a single room or a building part. In this instance, the ontology can be utilized to receive detailed information, without the overhead.
The DiCtion ontology is still evolving with extensions and refinements expected to take place in the coming months. Among the tasks on the list is the introduction of object life cycles and levels of development. The use of material kits, quality management concepts, and workspace requirements are also in the pipeline.
DiCtion has made available on GitHub four modules of the construction ontology— Organization, Monitoring, Objects, and Planning, to encourage construction companies and technology developers to learn about the ontology, provide suggestions and start using it.
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