How IoT optimizes the Construction and Infrastructure Industry
When one thinks of
construction, a lot of things may come to mind: cool pieces of
large machinery, very tall cranes and of course, very hard-working
men and women. One thing that you might not think of is technology,
and that belief is well-founded. The construction and
infrastructure industry has been routinely ranked very low in
technology use compared to other sectors.
With several large projects
likely to take place (thanks to the expected large stimulus
packages), I want to cover different ways that IoT is helping
maximize the work done while reducing costs and making it
safer.
Precision GPS
Most of us think of GPS as
something that is reasonably accurate. Your smartphone roughly
knows where you are, and this is accurate enough to get you to the
closest Starbucks. However, if you are building large-scale
projects, you need to have a higher level of accuracy. Precision
GPS solutions are being used to ensure that things go where they
are supposed to by accuracy down to the inch. Precision GPS is also
heavily used in the agriculture space.
Point to Point communication
Imagine a construction site
before it starts; do you visualize a high-speed Internet
connection? In most cases, construction (both new and upgrades)
often takes place in areas that are not covered by traditional
landline services. While there are a few ways to solve this issue,
one way is using a technology that uses Point to Point
communication, which is when you set up two “points” to
communicate. This set-up enables you to extend an existing
connection from a nearby source.
Technologies (like Free Space
Optics) are built to allow for a rugged and easy to set up
solution. They are ideal for extending coverage (such as for a new
building) and can easily be re-used for the next project when once
finished.
GPS Tracking
The construction industry
uses some huge (and expensive) “toys” to do their
work.
They are not only expensive
to buy/lease but are also costly to operate. These tools need to be
up and working at all times to avoid expensive losses of
productivity.
GPS Tracking allows you to
know where they are and how they are operating at all times. This
both reduces the chance of theft and reduces on-going operating
costs.
Monitoring of “previously unmonitorable”
equipment
In the previous point, we
covered how large vehicles are tracked. Due to the costs involved,
it was easy to justify the cost of doing so. However, what about
things that are not quite as valuable but still vital: think
construction fencing, smaller equipment and even the
porta-potty?
The lower cost of IoT
hardware, as well as the reduced size that has been introduced by
technologies such as CAT-M and LoRa, have opened up the ability to
monitor equipment more than ever before. This reduces the chance of
loss and maximizes your uptime.
Sensors
IoT, as I always say, is
about information. With so many things going on at most sites, it
is impossible to know everything that is going on, increasing the
chance of accidents.
Sensors can provide valuable
information to warn about things before they happen. This may be
vibration sensors that can alert to early signs of an earthquake,
it can be heated/cold sensors that alert to conditions that may
make it unsafe to work, it can be humidity sensors that alert to
levels that may damage essential supplies- or it can be motion
sensors that alert to an unwanted presence after hours.
On-person biometrics
Sensors help you keep track
of the status and condition of critical assets. This also holds
true for your most valuable assets: your team
members.
First used by the military
for soldiers in combat, biometric sensors in clothing are being
used by some companies to alert to issues with key team members,
such as those driving the large cranes on sites.
Whether it be from an
illness, work accident or environmental issue, you can be alerted
when this team member has a problem, even if they are unable to
tell you so themselves.