| With the development of automated data collection technologies, construction resources can be tracked and positioned with ease and high accuracy. On the other hand, 3D computer graphics technologies have rapidly evolved to maturity with much reduced application cost. However, the lack of an approach to integrating real-time site data and 3D virtual design models has handicapped application of emerging technologies to the benefit of the construction industry.;This research has developed a framework that consists of data models, algorithms and techniques to facilitate real-time 3D positioning and visualization of construction resources enabled by resource tracking on the jobsite. The construction resources are generally divided into two categories, namely: solid objects and articulated systems.;A "points to matrix" algorithm is developed to compute the position and orientation parameters for a solid object on site. The Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) technique which is widely used in robotics research is introduced and adapted for computing the relative motions of various components in the articulated equipment system based on a minimal quantity of input parameters.;Considering the dynamic nature of construction industry, where new construction methods and equipment are being continuously adopted, coding the proposed methodologies in the computer system in an "ad hoc" manner entails substantial efforts for programming and system development, thus making application of the proposed methodology prohibitively expensive and practically infeasible. A graphic network modeling technique which is used in mechanical simulation systems is adapted to model the real-time 3D positioning and visualization applications.;The method for positioning and visualization of single solid object has been successfully validated by numerical analysis and laboratory experiments. The analytical method for positioning and visualization of articulated system has been validated by simulating a backhoe excavator in a computer environment, where the location of the backhoe' tracks is computed by using the "points to matrix" algorithm, and the positioning states of the cabin, boom, stick and bucket are deduced by using the DH technique. |
