Towards an Intelligent Job Site: Status of the NIST Automated Steel Construction Test Bed

The NIST Construction Metrology and Automation Group, in cooperation with the NIST Intelligent Systems Division, is researching robotic structural steel placement through an ongoing program entitled “Performance of Innovative Technologies for Automated Steel Construction.” This program, initiated in response to an American Institute of Steel Construction request for a 25 % reduction in time to erect steel structures, focuses on the development of an Automated Steel Construction Test Bed to research advanced concepts in crane automation, laser-based site metrology, laser radar (LADAR) imaging, construction component tracking, and web-enabled 3D-visualization. This test facility also provides a mechanism to investigate paths towards an Intelligent Job Site as described in the FIATECH Capital Projects Technology Roadmap.