Technological advancements have penetrated every industry, including construction. Thanks to the latest construction innovations, the industry has become more advanced than ever and this is revolutionizing the building process. These new innovations will help to reduce cost, improve safety and productivity, and the overall quality of construction projects. For construction firms that are looking for the latest technologies to improve quality, site and worker safety and project efficiency, here are 5 exciting trends to watch out for:
1. Wearable Construction Technology
With the help of technology, worksites can be a goldmine of data that can be used to analyze safety, material performance, and workflow. Wearable technology, in particular, is creating a viable solution to the problem of worker safety in the construction industry. This technology will potentially resolve the issues of connectivity and visibility, and will substantially reduce the risks that cause construction hazards.
Spot-r, one of the latest construction innovations, it’s a clip that workers wear and it connects to a specific wireless network that communicates continuously with the clip. One of the primary functions of this wearable construction technology is its ability to sense when a worker experiences a slip or fall and sends a real-time notification to a supervisor. Here are some of the benefits of Spot-r and similar wearable construction technology:
- It improves response times and makes it easier to proactively respond to potential hazards.
- Identification of slip, trip, and fall incidents even if the worker is alone or unconscious, and unable to call for help.
- Minor recurring incidents can expose the underlying cause of constant hazards.
- Automatic headcount that makes it easy to carry out time checks and verify attendance.
- Saves the supervisor or project manager time by providing real-time updates on workers’ location.
- Improves the speed of evacuation in the case of an emergency.
Technology like this can help improve safety on site and reduce the number of Worker’s Compensation claims.
2. AI and Machine Learning
As worksites gather more and more data, construction companies will need more systems to analyze this data. More than ever, AI-powered algorithms and Machine Learning technology will become increasingly essential in the industry as construction companies are becoming more dependent on real-time information for project efficiency. These latest construction innovations will become instrumental for gathering and analyzing several streams of data from a connected digital workflow. AI-powered algorithms can group data more rapidly than a human operator. This system, therefore, helps in optimizing the time required to obtain a comprehensible representation of everything happening on job sites.
Machine learning has begun paving way for new technological innovations in the construction industry. One of such new innovations is Smartvid.io, which makes use of cameras to obtain visual information from worksites and artificial intelligence to trace impending hazards and warn supervisors before an accident happens.
Here are some of the benefits of AI and Machine Learning technologies in the construction industry:
- Image recognition for the identification of unsafe practices or objects.
- Reduction of worksite hazards.
- Quick and efficient categorization of data to provide real-time solutions, reduce cost, and prevent unnecessary downtime.
- Optimization of digital workflow and schedules for the efficiency of the project.
This is just the beginning of the possibilities of AI and Machine Learning technologies in the construction industry.
3. Predictive Tools
Not only can technology provide real-time alerts to the main office about any safety issues at job sites, but there are now also tools that can look ahead to find future hazards, scheduling issues, or budget outlooks. With time, these latest innovations will be increasingly developed and utilized in the construction industry.
Predictive analytics makes use of data analyzing tools such as data mining, modeling, statistics artificial intelligence, and machine learning. These tools are then combined to analyze data, identify trends and forecast future problems.
Here are some of the benefits of predictive analytic tools:
- forecasting of the trends in your project’s workflow.
- Predict future problems related to safety, work schedules, and financial planning.
- Highlight novel solutions that project managers can utilize for critical decision-making.
Huge developments are expected to be experienced in the industry as construction companies begin to unravel the potential of predictive analytics.
4. Virtual Reality (VR)
VR is one of the latest construction innovations that are evolving in the industry. It allows stakeholders to compare 3D models of a construction site or building in both physical and virtual environments. Even better, teams in different locations can walk through the virtual project site in real-time and examine the details. This technology is great for:
- Reducing the amount of rework during construction projects. For example, if a client doesn’t like a particular detail in the virtual plans, adjustments can be made before work commences, saving lots of time and money.
- It creates an easy working relationship between designers and builders.
- Environmental factors and hazards can be identified before they interrupt the project.
- Increasing the precision of difficult installations.
5. Autonomous Equipment
As autonomous equipment is employed to improve safety and work efficiency, drones are increasingly being used for the inspection of job sites. This technology helps to save time, human power, increase efficiency and reduce the risk of technicians facing potential hazards on a work site. Asides from these amazing benefits, drones can also be used to:
- Gather data to make automatic calculations of the area and volume of a site.
- Provide information on job site status.
- Monitor sites autonomously with the assistance of AI and give feedback to predictive analytics systems.
- New autonomous equipment is also being developed for driverless dump trucks to be used in road-building applications and earth-movers for mining uses.
As several construction firms are experiencing difficulty competing on price, the search for new ways to lower cost and improve efficiency is on the rise. This increasing competition within the industry will drive the adoption of these latest construction innovations. The implementation of these innovations will redefine teamwork and allow stakeholders real-time details of project status.