SIMBASE I &II: Project-Based Simulation for Economic Justification and Sensitivity Analysis of Automated Technology

One of the main reasons for the slow pace of implementation of automation technology in the construction industry, including construction robots, can be found in the fact that the construction industry has been following the automation development strategy of its predecessor, the manufacturing industry. The economic justification method developed for the specialty contractors is pretty much limited by the enormous initial investment costs of the automated technology, compared to manufacturing corporations. In order to resolve the above problems and to propose a more appropriate automation implementation strategy for the construction industry, a project based simulation tool, called SIMBASE II, has been developed for sensitivity analysis of decision factors of a decision support system, SIMBASE I. SIMBASE I & II were applied to the drilled shaft construction process in the Texas Gulf Coast region. The results from SIMBASE I & II provide recommendations to the researchers, manufactures, and developers regarding the direction of construction automation technology development strategy.