Developing a Construction 4.0 transformation of Aotearoa New Zealand's construction sector
Summary: Smart construction is the second research program that we have in our Construction 4.0 research programme. This program will investigate the intrinsic properties and invariant signatures of construction objects, such as footings, slabs, beams etc, as well as their synergistic structural performance, to create a new end-to-end computational platform for design and manufacture. This opens the door to full automation of prefabrication and modularisation, which will significantly improve building performance, environmental profile and productivity in the sector.
The platform we develop in this program will be able to analyse planning for building product/system manufacturing and construction projects. It will create optimised solutions for constructability of buildings taking the near real-time capacity and capability in a value chain process. Building product manufacturers, suppliers, builders, contractors and subcontractors will be able to better plan for new projects and prioritise resources. Change will likely be seen in business models in the construction sector and improved efficiency in adoption of new technologies.
Funder: New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Endeavour Fund (Research Programme)
Team: Alice Chang-Richards (PI; University of Auckland), Yang Zou, Yuqian Lu (University of Auckland)
Duration: 2022-2026