[5th Part] Demonstration of Structural Work Remote and Automated Construction Technology

In the fifth part of the smart construction technology development project, technology is being developed to remotely or automate the construction of bridges and tunnels, which are representative road structures. The technology developed for bridges aims to unmanned the dangerous work included in the bridge construction process using a remotely controllable robot. About 30 officials, including Lee Sang-Yoon, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction Technology, and Lee Seung-heon, secretary-general of the Korea Expressway Corporation Smart Construction Project, attended the demonstration and demonstration of the two technologies.

① Remote Precision Holder Technology for Bridge Girders

"The bridge girder remote precision holder technology," one of the remote construction technologies developed for bridges, is designed to precisely adjust the position of the bridge girder on behalf of the worker on the bridge and place it onto the support structure. This process using a remote precision holder robot occurs after a bridge girder, transported from the manufacturing site to the construction site, has been moved near the bridge support location. The transportation is automatically carried out using two cranes to prevent accidents caused by human errors by crane operators (dual crane automatic transport collaboration system). Additionally, a proximity warning system is implemented to ensure the safety of workers who approach high-risk areas during the operation. Through this demonstration, we validated the functionality and performance of a test bed set up in an environment similar to the construction of a bridge girder, confirming the mechanical operation principles of the remote precision holder robot. 

②Remote construction technology of piers

The remote construction technology of the bridge is a technology in which a remote control robot performs the work necessary for the construction of the bridge on behalf of the workers on the work table in constructing the reinforced concrete bridge installed on the site. The remote construction of the bridge is carried out by three remote control robot arms performing vibrating work for reinforcement and continuity (coupling) and concrete pouring on the workstation. Various tasks performed by remote control robots are performed by replacing three types of work tools developed for each task by the robot itself. The workstation where the robot is placed is raised and lowered according to the work progress only by the work done at the bottom, and the formwork is automatically installed and de-molded using spindles. The rebar applied to remote construction of the bridge is applied by using a pre-assembled rebar network on the ground in consideration of workability using robots, and the connection of the rebar was made by adopting a compressed coupler, a type of mechanical coupler to simplify the work of the robot arm. Drivers who drive remote control robots perform remote control work based on images of various channels of the space where the work is done and distance/direction information given as AR images according to the work. Through this demonstration, the function and performance of the testbed created in an environment similar to the construction of bridge piers to confirm the mechanical operation principle of the bridge remote construction robot were verified.

In the future, the Smart Construction Project Group will consult with the Korea Expressway Corporation-related department so that the technology can be applied to highway construction sites, and plans to upgrade various technologies that make up the above two technologies to secure field applicability