The UK construction industry is facing massive demand, from both the private and public sectors. Capacity, however, is struggling to keep up due to a shortage of labour, poor macroeconomic conditions, and slow digital transformation and technological adoption.
CAP, or Connected and Autonomous Plant, is one surefire way to boost productivity and do more with less. Construction equipment and vehicles that are digitally connected to their surroundings and can operate unmanned can free up vital resources and expertise, particularly in the most skilled jobs. This is where staff shortages are particularly impactful - and said expertise can be better put to processing, analysing and using all this new data to focus on bigger-picture business decisions.
A 2024 study by the UK’s Department for Transport forecasts the transformative power of CAP in construction. Through savings and increased productivity, the industry could free up an additional Gross Value Added (GVA) of £356bn by 2050 - with 100% of bulldozing, grading, compaction, and loading, and 60% of excavation, being connected and autonomous by the same date.
The ambitious goal outlined in the report predicts most tasks on site being undertaken autonomously with fully-integrated AI controlling machinery. Human roles in construction would be reallocated to design, supervision, and maintenance. To achieve these capabilities safely and effectively, huge amounts of data across the widest possible ranges of scenarios, contexts and experiences are needed - and that means the industry needs to rapidly digitally transform.
Expanding digitisation
The first step towards an interconnected and autonomous industry of the future is expanding the use of digital tools. This is a much-needed task, as illustrated by the Department of Transport’s estimate that only “approximately 20% of equipment currently in use fits under the CAP umbrella, through use of semi- or full-automation or elements of connectivity.”
It won’t be an easy one, however. Firstly, construction is fragmented - with many different (and differently sized) companies working on any given project, all with different appetites for, experience with, and access to digital technologies. Secondly, many contractors use mixed fleets of machinery from multiple manufacturers and varying software solutions - most of which are not interoperable.
Tackling this latter point is essential. When tech isn’t based on open standards, and therefore can’t easily contribute towards, or learn insights from, a collective pool of tech-agnostic data - future potential interconnection and autonomy is lost.
Interconnectivity in practice
To achieve this pool of data, the industry first needs to create a foundation of digital connectivity between users, equipment, sites, and sectors. Though this isn’t just a first step towards future autonomy which will only boost efficiency down the line - it will be of immediate benefit to the industry.
Where in the past construction models were drawn up in the office and then personally carried over to the job site, by paper, and then by memory stick, machine operators nowadays can work with live 3D models that can change on the fly. This single source of truth is visible for every user, and each piece of equipment, to view and work towards - giving everyone a better understanding of the state of the project as it evolves without the need for manual updates or 2D plans and with the data collected enabling wisdom-sharing between individual roles and entirely different projects.
Turning connection into autonomy
Last year, Trimble completed the first live test of an autonomous earth compactor on a working site in British Columbia, Canada. Key to this successful trial was a central platform to connect and analyse the data from all machines on site - showing how foundational interconnected data is to safe and effective autonomy.
This case study also shows that although CAP is possible now, truly autonomous equipment remains largely experimental - most notably because of safety concerns around its application on active, dynamic construction sites.
A common sense solution for an industry needing to adapt
The use of CAP in construction brings exponential benefits to all involved - from the construction site to the back office, and from big corporations to small businesses. While the government can invest in the tech itself and the skills needed to develop and use it effectively, and construction companies must look at tech with a more open mind, tech vendors have a central role to play here too.
Software and hardware providers must make open standards a foundation to all technology developed, to better allow for the sharing of information between as many people, systems, software and hardware as possible, as easily as possible.
The development of the ISO 15143-4: Worksite Topographical Data standard is a promising first step. This industry-led initiative is creating standardised data formats and communication protocols to achieve true plug-and-play interoperability between machines and software platforms. From here, data-hungry capabilities such as autonomy will be made safer, more effective, and therefore can be adopted faster.
Cam Clark is Earthmoving Industry Director at Trimble Civil Construction
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