Introduction to the General Technology Development Project: Research and Development of Advanced Execution Technology by Remote Control Robot and Information Technology

Civil engineering construction work has always been accompanied by a high proportion of tasks that are either dangerous or unpleasant or both. Enhancing the general working environment and boosting safety levels are critical issues for the industry. Meanwhile, the industry has been slow to embrace IT, and there is substantial scope for the use of technology to boost efficiency, cut costs and improve quality levels in construction.

In a bid to address this issue, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport launched a five-year project in FY2003 entitled Development of Construction Robots and Associated IT Systems. The aim of the project is to use cutting-edge telecommunications and robotics technology to minimize inefficiencies and eliminate the dangerous and unpleasant aspects of the construction process through the development of specific applications such as IT-equipped construction machinery and construction management systems using three-dimensional data.

This paper reports on the research and development work carried out by the authors in connection with the project.