Publications / 2018 Proceedings of the 35th ISARC, Berlin, Germany

Integrating the Use of UAVs and Photogrammetry into a Construction Management Course: Lessons Learned

Ricardo Eiris Pereira, Shi Zhou and Masoud Gheisari
Pages 436-443 (2018 Proceedings of the 35th ISARC, Berlin, Germany, ISBN 978-3-00-060855-1, ISSN 2413-5844)
Abstract:

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have gained tremendous interest in the construction management domain as a platform for progress monitoring, safety supervision, quality inspections, and overall job site logistics. With the continued growth of UAV application within construction domain, it is essential for construction program graduates to develop a general understanding of UAV operations, regulations, and integration with other technologies as a part of their construction curriculum. This document presents an exploratory case study to identify the potential opportunities and challenges of integrating a UAV and photogrammetry module into a building information modeling (BIM) undergraduate - level course. Photogrammetry and BIM integration with UAV have been selected as the use case because of their widely - used applications in construction domain. The module learning objectives as well as the technical components of flight operations, knowledge tests, and photogrammetry workflow integration are discussed in detail. This module provided an opportunity for students to obtain hands-on experience on both software and hardware sides of the UAV, Photogrammetry, and BIM integration. This allowed the students to successfully assess and implement these technologies in a realistic practice exercise. Challenges were found with the time required for student to be sufficiently effective pilots to perform the UAV flight operations under the hardware limitations of the study. Additional blockades were recognized during the integration of federal aviation administration (FAA) UAV regulations within the module. The contribution of this case study is to provide a better understanding of integrating the use of UAV and photogrammetry within an undergraduate construction curriculum.

Keywords: UAV, Photogrammetry, Education