A Methodology for the Development of Interoperable BIM-based Cyber-Physical Systems

Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based processes are increasingly being adopted worldwide. With it, possibilities to exploit digitization had been appearing for the AEC sector. In that context, the present work aims to investigate how, and in which form, a Cyber-Physical System (CPS), one of many different but complementary technologies associated with the future of manufacturing, could be employed in the Construction industry. Recognizing that the core of CPS should be the dynamics of construction processes, the initial focus is in how to develop Process Data Models (virtual) that could communicate with Product Data Models (BIM models), and receive/send data in almost real-time from/for the existent hardware (sensors and actuators) in the physical production processes. This article present some preliminary work based on the standardized methodology of IDM/MVD, which are part of the buildingSMART solution for interoperability a long with Industry Foundation Class (IFC) data schema. The proposed methodology considers an IDM modelled in Business Process Modeling and Notation (BPMN) language in such detail as to expose the workflow of production. The contribution in this context is in map ping production processes in BPMN notation into Petri Nets (PN) semantics. Petri Nets are an adequate model to construction processes, with precise semantics and largely used in the simulation of discrete events. With PN models it would be possible to develop the BIM-based control strategy, and test and implement it in real controllers. An illustrative example is provided in the context of automating cut and bend of rebar.