Enabling BIM-Driven Robotic Construction Workflows with Closed-Loop Digital Twins

The introduction of assistive construction robots can significantly alleviate physical demands on construction workers. Leveraging a Building Information Model (BIM) offers a natural and promising approach to driving a robotic construction workflow. However, because of uncertainties inherent in construction sites, such as discrepancies between the as-designed and as-built components, robots cannot solely rely on a BIM to plan and perform field construction work. Human workers are adept at improvising alternative plans with their creativity and experience and thus can assist robots in overcoming uncertainties and performing construction work successfully. In such scenarios, it is critical to continuously update the BIM as work processes unfold so that it includes as-built information for the ensuing construction and maintenance tasks. This research introduces an interactive closed-loop digital twin framework that integrates a BIM into human-robot collaborative construction workflows. The robot's functions are primarily driven by the BIM, but it adaptively adjusts its plans based on actual site conditions, while the human co-worker oversees and supervises the process. When necessary, the human co-worker intervenes in the robot's plan by changing the task sequence or workspace geometry or requesting a new motion plan to help the robot overcome the encountered uncertainties. Experiments involving block pick-and-place tasks are carried out to verify system performance using an industrial robotic arm in a research laboratory setting that mimics a construction site. In addition, a drywall installation case study is conducted to validate the system. Integrating the flexibility of human workers and the autonomy and accuracy afforded by BIMs, the proposed framework offers significant promise of increasing the robustness of construction robots in the performance of field construction work.