RESEARCH TOPICS:
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Innovative Educational Technologies in Construction
Innovative Educational Technologies in Construction
1. Online Site Visit for Construction Plan-Reading Activities
Yuan Sun*, Gilles Albeaino, Masoud Gheisari, and Ricardo Eiris. 2022. Online site visits using virtual collaborative spaces: A plan-reading activity on a digital building site. Elsevier Journal of Advanced Engineering Informatics. 53: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2022.101667
The research goal is to present construction students with opportunities to enable online location-independent site visits where contextualized learning is dangerous, unsafe, or impossible to achieve. In this project, a virtual online learning environment was created to offer the affordances that provide an in-depth learning experience through collaborative communication for a plan-reading activity in a virtual space that resembles a real-world site visit to a building facility. This virtual online learning environment helped students to experience the physical and social aspects of the site visit while getting a collaborative opportunity to practice their plan-reading skills.
Technical Development
Such online site visit can
Deliver collaboratively contextualized learning within the distance construction curriculum.
Offer strong sense of presence
Support the understanding of information interpretation in 2D and 3D
Eliminate the restrictions of collaboration and communication in distance education
2. Active Learning in Online Construction Site Visits
Yuan Sun*, Masoud Gheisari, and Ricardo Eiris. Applying Systematic Learning Progression in Online Construction Site Visits. Proceedings of the 61th ASC Annual International Conference 2025. https://doi.org/10.29007/3z6l
Previous research have explored the benefits of online site visits conducted within virtual collaborative spaces, demonstrating improvements in students’ experiential learning, collaboration, and their ability to engage in hands-on exploration and creativity. Despite these advancements, online site visits within the construction discipline remain largely unexplored, particularly regarding integrating active learning approaches to effectively deliver educational content and foster collaborative problem-solving experiences. This research aims to integrate active learning approaches into online site visits to facilitate students in constructing their own knowledge and provide collaborative communication affordances to scaffold collaborative problem-solving skills.
Online construction site visit with systematic learning progression intervention effectively helps students better understand and apply basic concepts, principles, and high-level cognitive skills, particularly in more complex tasks that involve reasoning.
Human-Robots Interaction in Construction
Human-Robots Interaction in Construction
1.Safety Challenges of Human-Robot Interaction in Construction
Yuan Sun*, Masoud Gheisari, and Idris Jeelani. 2023. Safe Human-Robot Collaboration in Construction: A Conceptual Perspective. Elsevier Journal of Safety Research Special Issue on 2022 National Occupational Injury Research Symposium (NOIRS): Preventing workplace injuries in a changing world. 86:39-51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2023.06.006
Small mobile robots have become increasingly popular in the construction domain over the last few years. They are stable on rough terrains, can walk over small obstacles, climb stairs, and carry various sensors or arms to perform diverse functions and sub-tasks required to complete construction-related tasks. Saving time, improving accessibility to difficult or unsafe spaces, and reducing costs while accomplishing construction tasks are some of the benefits of using small, mobile robots in construction. However, serious concerns about new workplace hazards could arise from having mobile robots on the jobsite. Unfortunately, no study has attempted to evaluate these risks, especially in the construction domain. Therefore, there was a significant need to develop a holistic understanding of the direct and indirect risks of mobile robot applications in construction. In this paper, we used inferential and VR visualization techniques to (1) construct conceptual visualizations of proximal and distant human-robot interaction within the construction context, (2) identify potential safety challenges of robots, which were categorized into three groups (a) physical risks, (b) attentional costs, and (c) psychological impacts. These identified safety challenges were then validated and ranked by a group of construction safety and robotic experts who had knowledge and experience using such robots in construction. The outcomes of the study provided a detailed understanding of how robots might adversely affect workers’ safety and health. The study outcomes could also be ultimately used in creating regulatory and administrative guidelines for the safe operations of small mobile robots in construction.
Inspection
Delivery
Building elements
Safety Management
Introducing Robotic Technologies into Construction Curriculum
Introducing Robotic Technologies into Construction Curriculum
1. RoboSite: Safe Integration of Four-legged Robots in Construction and Addressing Their Safety Challenges
Yuan Sun*, Masoud Gheisari, and Idris Jeelani. 2023. RoboSite: An Educational Virtual Site Visit about Safety Interaction of Four-legged Robots in Construction. ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-14779
The rise of robot use in the construction industry underscores the need to prepare next generation of construction professionals for this technological shift. While knowledge about these robots is vital, understanding their operational mechanisms and the safety challenges they pose on construction sites is equally essential. However, implementing an effective robot-related curriculum in construction education is hindered by logistical and financial obstacles of bringing physical robots to classrooms. While traditional lecture-based instruction or videos may offer some assistance, their limited interactive capabilities severely constrain the extent to which students can be effectively trained in working with robots on real job sites. This research introduces “RoboSite”- a virtual site visit interface utilizing the immersive power of virtual reality, aiming to provide a safe and cost-effective learning platform. In this project, RoboSite was designed to facilitate trust and positive perceptions regarding four-legged robots while concurrently enhancing students’ understanding of the applications, safety challenges, and preventive measures associated with such technologies in construction. 、
RoboSite Download Link: https://uflorida-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/g/personal/yuansun_ufl_edu/ETjTouVlUh9HsaFFZDJ73GoBYC1O6yJf3rRLnK5PqWt4og?e=zvmNAH
Technical Development:
Virtual Construction Site
Virtual Four-legged Robot in Situated Scenarios
Virtual Instructor
User Interfaces
Learning Objectives in the Online Site Visit
1. Learn about four-legged robots, their benefits, challenges, and integrated technologies.
2. Discuss four-legged robot applications in construction.
3. List safety challenges of four-legged robots on construction jobsites.
4. Discuss potential precautions to minimize the safety challenges of four-legged robots on construction jobsites
Such online site visit can
Offer safe and cost-effective learning opportunities.
Facilitate trust and positive perception in unfamiliar scenarios (e.g., human-robot collaboration in construction)
Integrate multimedia learning strategies to engage active student participants
Provide an effective alternative for learning cutting-edge technologies.
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