Hitachi Construction Machinery has developed a “real-time digital twin platform” that reproduces a construction site in a virtual world from data collected in real time, in cooperation with aptpod and Unicast. Source: Timberbiz
Utilizing this platform will enable Hitachi Construction Machinery to collect various types of construction-related data and achieve progress management and the operation of autonomous construction machinery from a remote location on the Internet with the goal of realizing construction sites where people and machinery work in a coordinated manner.
In recent years, labour shortages have become an issue in the construction industry due to the decreasing birthrate and aging population.
Customers have high expectations that autonomous construction machinery will become one solution to that problem. To meet these expectations, Hitachi Construction Machinery aims to realize construction sites in which people and machinery work in a coordinated manner to balance safety and productivity through “collaborative safety” by mutually sharing information about the “people, machinery, and site environment.”
Specifically, people would be alerted to pay attention and construction machinery would be controlled based on information collected by the machinery and sensing systems to carry out highly productive construction while guiding the overall site in a safe direction.
To realize this type of construction, Hitachi Construction Machinery developed the “ZCORE” system platform for autonomous construction machinery in August 2020.
In addition, the company invested in and signed a business alliance agreement with aptpod in May 2023 to promote the development of a digital twin system that visualizes an entire construction site and autonomously operates construction machinery.
This platform can reproduce real-time real-world construction site in the virtual world, including various information such as the location and operational information of construction machinery, the location and biometric information of workers, terrain changes due to the progress of work, and other construction site conditions.
This will enable adjustments to be made to the work details of individuals and the control of multiple pieces of construction machinery working on site with low latency on the Internet from a remote location to realize construction sites where people and machinery coexist with a high degree of safety.
In the development of this platform, Hitachi Construction Machinery was in charge of providing the autonomous construction machinery (hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders) and defining the requirements for reproducing a construction site as a digital twin.
aptpod developed the cloud system for data collection based on its “intdash” high-speed IoT platform and the mobile and PC user interface used by the workers and Unicast developed the software for converting the terrain of a construction site into 3D data based on data obtained from LiDAR.
The ability of the technologies from aptpod and Unicast to transmit and process large volumes of constantly changing data enables the construction of a highly real-time digital twin. Going forward, the companies aim to realize collaborative safety which includes advanced autonomous construction machinery and improved site safety and productivity through repeated verification tests for the purpose of practical application.
