The objective of this project is to design, implement, validate, and demonstrate a new, self-contained, context-aware Information Technology (IT) that will automatically provide constructors, maintenance crews, and reconnaissance inspectors with accurate, prioritized, contextual information for making critical, real-time decisions during construction, maintenance, and inspection of constructed facilities. The research objective will be achieved by developing a context-sensing framework that will accurately track a mobile user's 3D spatial context in an arbitrary indoor/outdoor environment using a novel combination of GPS and wireless positioning technologies. Specific information of interest to a user at a given time will then be retrieved by interpreting spatial context with a high level of precision, allowing the identified contextual information to be accurately prioritized. The project's educational objectives are intricately related to the research, and include workshops for constructors, engineers, inspectors, researchers, and educators; curriculum development and improvement; and strategies to recruit and retain the brightest women and minority engineers.
This research is critical because the inability to identify and access relevant information at times of need is the primary obstacle that prevents rapid and optimal decision-making by constructors, engineers, and maintenance crews, as well as by reconnaissance inspectors who respond to events (e.g. earthquakes) that damage the built infrastructure. Success in this project will notably improve jobsite productivity, accuracy, and safety, as well as enable a significant leap over current practices of operation, maintenance, and building reconnaissance that are often error-prone, time consuming, labor intensive, and primitive. The research results will be applicable to solve a wide range of engineering problems in construction and civil engineering, as well as other domains such as manufacturing, shipbuilding, and transportation. This project will significantly help the career development of graduate and undergraduate students, including women and minority engineers who will actively participate in the research activities and prepare to become tomorrow's engineers. The project will lead to new software tools and training materials that will be widely distributed to the construction, facilities management, and reconnaissance research and professional communities to enhance scientific and technological understanding.
