A Facilitated Construction Robot Programming Approach using Building Information Modelling

Abstract

Classical robot-programming approaches often require the definition of rigid sequences of elementary motions and actions by expert robot programmers through coding. Such solutions are suitable for environments that are more structured and less dynamic with respect to construction ones. We propose a different approach with a novel software architecture that exploits Building Information Modelling (BIM) data for facilitating robot-programming and deployment in construction. It includes mission parametrization and customization tools that abstract elementary robot functionality in terms of behaviors, that can be easily understood, assembled, and adapted on-site by non-expert programmers. We verify the effectiveness of our proposed approach by considering the execution of a spray-painting use-case for interior walls and a usability study.