Site production information on site office screen the next day
In infrastructure projects, machines produce a huge amount of information and data about their operation. In the past, the conscious collection, analysis, and visualization of this information was quite limited, but now technological development has brought about a change.
The challenge for development has been how to access real-time information with technologies that enable the easy collection, processing and visualisation of information.
– With the development of technology, devices that control and monitor the work and that are tailored to the needs of the industry have become more common in machines. For example, 3D machine-controlled work machines guide their drivers to perform their tasks in accordance with the data model, says Pekka Lammassaari, Destia’s Development Manager.
The data on the work performance and production that is collected with various sensors and IoT devices is also updated as a status overview in the supervising systems and on the site office display.
The machine control system processes the data
Sensors mounted on the work machines collect data on both bucket movements and whether the movements are proportional to the data model. The data is processed by the machine’s 3D machine control system.
– The driver monitors the bucket’s movements in real time on the machine’s cab display and compares the movements with the data model. The driver must be able to read the model and to operate the machine accordingly.
IoT devices can be installed in virtually any desired location, such as infrastructure structures. Different types of sensors help to monitor, for example, movement and traffic volumes, as well as the condition of the street, road or rail network.
Drones have also been introduced alongside IoT devices. At infrastructure construction and maintenance sites, drones measure and photograph the ground from the air, and the data generated in this way is utilised in conjunction with other data.
– Real-time data can be combined with other data. The combined information can be utilised in new ways for new purposes, Lammassaari says.
Maintenance benefits from data also
Data collection and data controllability are also relied upon in road maintenance, where data acquisition has been crowdsourced. This means that vehicles traveling ordinarily on the road have been harnessed for the collection of the data.
– For example, the camera of a smartphone attached to the windshield of a car transmits real-time image to the cloud service, and artificial intelligence picks up deviations from the data mass, such as traffic signs covered with snow.
The evenness index of gravel roads can be calculated quite reliably based on the vibration of the phone.
– Crowdsourced data collection provides a better, more accurate picture of the situation than if it was just Destia’s cars driving around the area collecting data.
Winter maintenance in particular benefits from data on the condition of roads. Snow ploughs can be alerted at the right time and the use of both salt and sand can be optimised.