Smart Robotic System to Fight the Spread of COVID-19 at Construction Sites

Jonathan Seagers, Yizhi Liu, Houtan Jebelli

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus at construction sites, accounting for the surveillance and precautions imposed by the pandemic means frequent contact tracing, symptom monitoring, and PPE reminders. During the pandemic, many construction projects continued because of the need for a priority building that was under construction, such as for a healthcare project. To promote safety under unprecedented circumstances, this paper proposes an intelligent robotic surveillance system that can locate workers and identify whether they are properly wearing masks. The system leverages autonomous terrestrial robots equipped with wide-angle cameras to capture images of their surroundings and a two-dimensional laser scanner for simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM). In this system, the robot is equipped with precise image processing in a well-trained convolutional neural network (VGG16) to recognize workplace entities, particularly workers and their masks, with 83.3% accuracy. Simultaneously, the mounted laser scanner enables the robot to generate the map of the surrounding environment based on the near-real-time Hector SLAM algorithm. In situ recognition would help track workers who improperly use masks and trigger interventions that would diminish the spread of the virus at the construction site. The proposed robotic system will non-intrusively and privately inform workers to use proper protocol to protect them from COVID-19 and other deadly viruses, thereby improving health and safety.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationConstruction Research Congress 2022
Subtitle of host publicationHealth and Safety, Workforce, and Education - Selected Papers from Construction Research Congress 2022
EditorsFarrokh Jazizadeh, Tripp Shealy, Michael J. Garvin
PublisherAmerican Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Pages452-461
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9780784483985
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
EventConstruction Research Congress 2022: Health and Safety, Workforce, and Education, CRC 2022 - Arlington, United States
Duration: Mar 9 2022Mar 12 2022

Publication series

NameConstruction Research Congress 2022: Health and Safety, Workforce, and Education - Selected Papers from Construction Research Congress 2022
Volume4-D

Conference

ConferenceConstruction Research Congress 2022: Health and Safety, Workforce, and Education, CRC 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityArlington
Period3/9/223/12/22

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Building and Construction

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