5G accelerates insights in construction research

The Center Construction Robotics has joined the 5G Industry Campus Europe and is testing the performance of 5G for the construction site.

With the relocation from Campus West to Campus Melaten of RWTH Aachen University, the Center Construction Robotics now benefits from access to the 5G network from the 5G Industry Campus Europe and provides construction research with new questions and insights via the connection to 5G technology.

“The 5G technology enables us to work on the most exciting research projects in the construction industry in Europe, here at the RWTH Aachen University campus. In collaboration with our colleagues from the manufacturing industry, we will benefit from their knowledge gained in recent years at the 5G Industry Campus Europe and, for the first time, we will be able to gain cross-trade insights into the use of 5G on the construction site together with our industrial partners from the construction industry,” says Sigrid Brell-Cokcan from the Chair of Individualized Production, who is the scientific director of the new projects at the Center Construction Robotics.

The high transmission rates of 5G improve communication efficiency and enable real-time communication of machines and IoT devices due to lower latency, and provide a faster exchange for partners involved in construction to further explore digitalization and automation on the construction site. The first 5G project to be carried out on the reference site by Center Construction Robotics is the sovereign-funded #5G.NAMICO project.

Last fall, the reference construction site – which is unique in Europe – moved from Campus West to Campus Melaten at RWTH Aachen University. The research team from industry and academia has now completed the installation of the antennas and fiber optic cables. The next step will be to install and test measuring equipment at the crane and other locations. Among other things, the performance of the 5G network will be tested here. The latency and bandwidth will be measured, as will the reliability and performance of the data transmission.

The #5G.NAMICO (Networked, Adaptive Mining, and Construction) project is investigating how the 5G mobile communications standard can be used in the construction and mining industries. While the industrial use of 5G has so far been limited mainly to industrial production, 5G.NAMICO will transfer the knowledge already gained to the construction and mining industries.

The project is funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia (MWIDE) and led by the Fraunhofer IPT. The research project is being carried out by the university institutes MRE (Institute of Mineral Resources Engineering) and IP (Chair of Individualized Production) at RWTH Aachen University. The development and evaluation of the construction site use case are coordinated by the CCR.

Project partners
CCR, IP RWTH Aachen, Fraunhofer IPT, MRE RWTH, Nerospec

Associated partners
Kabelwerk Eupen AG, Ericsson GmbH, GHH Fahrzeuge GmbH, BAT Bergbau Service GmbH, BROKK DA GmbH, Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH, PORR AG and LEONHARD WEISS GmbH & Co. KG.

Project executing organization
PTJ – Projektträger Jülich, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

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The Chair of Individualized Production at RWTH Aachen University wins 2nd place at the bauma Innovation Award 2022.

The sustainability project ROBETON convinces the jury in the category of research and misses the victory with just one percentage point behind the winners of the Institute for Mechanical Engineering of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg with their Deep Sea Sampling project.

Munich, October 23, 2022 At the opening of the 33rd World’s Leading Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines, Construction Vehicles, and Construction Equipment, the bauma 2022 Innovation Award was presented on Sunday evening. The team led by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan from the Chair of Individualized Production at RWTH Aachen University won second place with the ROBETON project.

The ROBETON research project aims to dismantle concrete walls in a minimally invasive way to prepare them for reuse in the circular economy in construction. By digitally upgrading a BROKK demolition machine to a (partially) automated robot, a new sustainable process for the safe, controlled deconstruction and subsequent reuse of concrete building components as a source of secondary building products is being developed at RWTH Aachen University. Currently, there are neither fully nor partially automated solutions on the market. This gap is now to be closed.

“We will only be able to solve the challenges of our time in collaboration with industry. I am pleased that, together with our supporters and partners, we can make a creative contribution to the circular economy of construction with the ROBETON project. Instead of developing new robots, we are taking the approach of digitally developing reliable industry-proof construction machines into robots. We would like to thank the jury for this significant recognition and the exciting competition!” says Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan and emphasizes: “Many thanks also to our supporters for their trust, to our partners for their active support and the entire IP team at RWTH for such passionate work!

The ROBETON research project is funded by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs, and Spatial Development (BBSR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development (BMWSB) with funds from the #ZukunftBau research grant. Furthermore, the project is supported by the project partners Hilti AG and BROKK DA GmbH as well as the associated project partners PORR Group; EIFFAGE, LEONHARD WEISS, HKS Drehantriebe, Kerschgens, the ifm Group and igus.

Preisverleihung

Anzeige_neu The Chair of Individualized Production at RWTH Aachen University wins 2nd place at the bauma Innovation Award 2022.

Ergebnis

The Bauma Innovation Award is presented every three years at bauma, the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery, building materials machinery, mining machinery, construction vehicles, and construction equipment. With this award, the organizers honor research and development teams from companies and universities that bring cutting-edge technology for the construction, building materials, and mining industries to market maturity, while keeping an eye on resources, the environment, and people. This year, bauma will be held in Munich from October 24 to 30, 2022.

Further information: https://www.bauma-innovationspreis.de/images/nominierte-2022/pdfs/ROBETON_IP-RWTH_en.pdf

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The reference construction site as the perfect platform to connect research, industry, politics and associations

Abb.-1-Die-Forschungs-Highlights-Copyright-Center-Construction-Robotics-1140x760 The reference construction site as the perfect platform to connect research, industry, politics and associations

The reference construction site as the perfect platform to connect research, industry, politics and associations

Concluding the Open Campus Week

At the reference construction site at Campus West of RWTH Aachen University, guests from industry, research, politics, and associations met to follow the invitation of the Center Construction Robotics to an Open Campus Week. From June 20-24, 2022, the Center Construction Robotics, under the lead of Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan, offered an extensive program to provide guests with insights into the current topics and the research results of the past two years at this ‘construction site of the future’, which is unique in Europe.

Research meets top talent from all over the world

The week kicked off with the NRW State Championships Worldkills Digital Construction. During a six-hour competition, up-and-coming talents took on the challenging tasks of BIM planning and digital construction site management. Meanwhile, Dean Prof. Dr. Stefanie Reese and Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan informed the guests about recent collaborations between the faculties of architecture, civil engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering, as well as about the international master’s program Construction & Robotics. In addition, the guests were able to examine the best student projects right on the spot as part of an exhibition: CCR industry partners (Ralf Mosler, Autodesk, Jörn Weichsel and Pia Pfitzenmaier, LEONHARD WEISS) took the opportunity to closely examine the best works and spontaneously offered an extra prize for the best ideas.

Lernen. Forschen. Machen. RWTH’s anniversary motto is also part of the program at the reference construction site

On day two of the celebration week, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger, Rector of RWTH Aachen University and patron of the event, welcomed the guests to the 10,000 m2 site, which he had handed over to the Center Construction Robotics in a ceremony on behalf of RWTH Aachen University around two years ago. He praised the initiative’s doer qualities, emphasized the interdisciplinary collaboration, and thanked sponsors and industry partners for their trust and outstanding results.

Then, he welcomed Prof. Beate Wiemann, General Manager of the NRW Construction Industry Association, who took questions from the audience on the presentation and conclusion of the Reference Building Site Campus West research pilot project. The pilot project Reference Building Site Campus West aims to generate knowledge from university research at RWTH Aachen University and practical training in the NRW construction industry. Specifically, the Chair of Individualized Construction Production (IP) and the Institute for Fluid Power Drives and Systems (ifas) carried out developments on the automation and digitization of construction machinery and developed various training courses with the Hamm, Kerpen, and Oberhausen training centers. In the third and final training course, one of the topics taught was robotics.

This was followed by a brief portrait of the “Internet of Construction (IoC)” research project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Development. All companies involved in this research project met after the presentation by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell and Christian Wurst, President of the German Steel Construction Association DSTV and Managing Director of Wurst Stahlbau GmbH, for the consortium meeting and official conclusion of the development project.

The Internet of Construction – all data as a digital information landscape

Wednesday – day three of the Open Campus Week – was also once again dedicated to the sovereign research project “Internet of Construction”. The day began with the opening of the closing ceremonies by Tom Wünsche from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as a sponsor of the project in the program “Future of Value Creation – Research on Production, Services, and Work” and supervised by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA). The research project was funded with a total of 3.9 million euros. After the presentation of the results in detail by Prof. Dr. Robert Schmitt (WZL, RWTH Aachen) and Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan (Individualized Production, RWTH Aachen), the guests had the opportunity to view the individual results live based on seven partial demonstrators during a tour of the reference construction site and to discuss them with the scientists and industrial partners.

Open minds meet open campus: research meets business, industry, and associations

The focus of the event was finally the panel discussion on the transformation of the construction industry and on building in inventory. Moderator Eva Maria Hermann led the panel around Jürgen Raschendorfer, PORR AG, Valérie David, EIFFAGE SE, Helga Kühnhenrich, BBSR, Johannes Bröhl, Ministry for Home Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Building and Equality of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Jörn Weichsel, LEONHARD WEISS, Prof. Dr. Robert Schmitt and Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan, both RWTH through an entertaining discussion on current challenges, the integration of existing and new technologies and possibilities for improved cooperation between industry, politics and business.

Then, the guests had the opportunity to follow an invitation of the institutes of the Cluster Bauen to a “Tour de Campus” over the Campus Melaten as well as a “Tour de Pop-up Campus”, an initiative of the BBSR. The day ended with a party on the roof terrace of the LW Showtruck provided by LEONHARD WEISS.

Finally, on day four of the Open Campus Week, the consortium meeting of the Center Construction Robotics took place. Prof. Dr. Markus Kuhnhenne and Sebastian Möller started with their presentation “From modular to circular: Shift happens” and gave an outlook on the Modulo project. Afterwards, Nikolaus Studnicka from industry partner RIEGL presented their 3D laser technology. The agenda of the Center meeting included current and new projects.

Finally, day five was an internal day for the scientists of the teams from the Chair of Individualized Construction Production and the Center Construction Robotics to extensively reflect, and celebrate the achieved goals and results.

The reference building site offers space for exchange and lots of idea

The good news at the end of an intensive week of festivities is that the reference building site will not only provide insights into the center’s work during the Open Campus Week. According to the fair-use principle, interested guests from research, politics, associations, science, and industry can contact the center at any time to place ideas on the reference site and thus actively promote the digitization and automation of the construction industry in a participating way.

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Open minds meet open campus: From the reference construction site to the place to be of the construction industry

Abb.-3-Im-Projekt-Internet-of-Construction_web-1140x707 Open minds meet open campus: From the reference construction site to the place to be of the construction industry

Open minds meet open campus: From the reference construction site to the place to be of the construction industry

The Center Construction Robotics presents research highlights of the past two years

Aachen, June 13th, 2022 – After two years of intensive cooperation between industry, research, politics, and associations, the Center Construction Robotics is hosting a celebration week on the occasion of the second birthday of the reference construction site at Campus West of RWTH Aachen University from June 20-24, 2022. The patron of the event is Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger. RWTH had handed over the 10,000-square-meter site to the center two years ago. On Tuesday, June 21, 2022, he will welcome Ina Scharrenbach, Minister for Heimat, Kommunales, Bau und Gleichstellung of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Prof. Beate Wiemann, Managing Director of the NRW-Bauindustrieverband, to the construction site of the future. Both will jointly present the awards of the NRW State Championships Worldskills Digital Construction. During the festive week, the research highlights of the past two years initiated here as well as current projects of the Center Construction Robotics will be presented.

The Reference Construction Site – Platform for interdisciplinary cooperation

At the Center Construction Robotics, an interdisciplinary team of scientists from RWTH Aachen University collaborates with a European industry consortium to do research on the construction site of the future. The reference construction site serves simultaneously as a think tank and a living lab. Here, new construction processes, construction products, networked machines, use of robots, software solutions, and teaching, working and communication concepts are being tested under real construction site conditions. At the same time, the Chair of Individualized Construction Production, headed by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan, has launched the international master’s program in Construction & Robotics (cr.rwth-aachen.de). Students are not only taught digitalization and automation in the construction industry in theory, but they can also put it directly into practice in cooperation with industry partners. Within a very short time, the course has gained an international reputation.

Digitally connected: From pre-production to the construction site to the Internet of Construction

One of the most significant projects of the past two years is the BMBF-funded project ‘Internet of Construction’ (IoC). Headed by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan, ten industrial companies and research institutions are researching a new system for cooperation in the construction industry across all value chains. From planning to pre-production to assembly on the construction site, digital solutions are being developed and connected to advance digitalization and automation in the construction industry. Thanks to the intensive cooperation between the research institutions and industrial partners, the developments could be tested, improved, and validated under real construction site conditions on several IoC demonstrators. The results of the research project will be presented to the public during the festival week.

The positive response from the industry, research and – SMEs.

Since the start of the joint venture, the reference site has attracted more and more industry and project partners. The consortium includes well-known companies such as Liebherr, PORR, Hilti, EIFFAGE, Saint-Gobain, KUKA, Autodesk, Doka, Leonhard Weiss, Xella, ALIMAK, Fundermax and Riegl. They initiate joint research projects and support the reference construction site financially, in terms of infrastructure and with practical expertise.

Another way of cooperation is project partnership based on a fair-use principle, i.e. cooperation in time-limited, dedicated pilot projects. This is particularly interesting for small and medium-sized companies that – often without their own research and development department – approach the center with specific questions in order to receive fast answers within the framework of proof-of-concept projects.

Open minds meet open campus: Where does research take place on campus?

On Wednesday, June 22, 2022, the CCR team comes up with something special: A Tour de Campus. Here, guests of the event will get the rare opportunity to take a close-up look at the institutes of the Building Cluster. A Tour de Campus will be offered for this purpose: where does research take place on campus?

This tour leads from the large-scale robotics hall of the Chair for Individualized Construction Production (IP) to the Machine Tool Laboratory (WZL) and via the Institute for Steel Construction and Sustainability in Lightweight Metal Construction (STB), to the Institute for Solid Construction (IMB) and Road Construction (ISAC), where scientists and researchers provide an up-to-date information status on the ongoing projects.

In addition, a tour of the Zukunft Bau Pop-up Campus, an initiative of the BMWSB and BBSR with RWTH Aachen University and the City of Aachen, will be offered at the same time. Participants will have the opportunity to attend lectures on digital component manufacturing followed by a guided tour of the pop-up campus on the topic of building in existing contexts. For both tours between 1:30 p.m. -5:00 p.m (Pop-up Campus) and 2:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. (Tour de Campus) you can register at office@construction-robotics.de.

The construction site of the future – the meeting place for those who build the future of the construction industry

Whether research, industry, politics, or associations – the Construction Site of the Future on Campus West of RWTH Aachen University has become the meeting place for the construction industry. Scientists, innovators, reporters, young talents and similar initiatives meet here to discuss the topics of the future. Open minds meet open campus: The festive week is used for the awarding of the best young talents at the NRW state championships, for the conclusion of the sovereign development project ‘Internet of Construction’, for the center meeting of the industry consortium Center Construction Robotics, as a meeting point for the constituent meeting of the VDI Society for Construction and Building Technology and as a kickoff for a joint expert paper. Within the past two years, the reference construction site has become the place to be for the construction industry.

Please refer to the attached attached progamm overview. The number of participants for the Open Campus Week is limited. Please register for the festival week at office@construction-robotics.de until June 17th, 2020. You will receive written confirmation of participation.

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5G reaches the reference construction site

The 5G.NAMICO project successfully kicked off.

Together with the project partners IP RWTH, Fraunhofer IPT, MRE RWTH and Nerospec SK GmbH as well as the partners Kabelwerk Eupen AG, Ericsson GmbH, GHH Fahrzeuge GmbH, BAT Bergbau Service GmbH, BROKK DA GmbH, Liebherr-Werk Biberach GmbH, PORR AG and LEONHARD WEISS GmbH & Co. KG the Center Construction has started work and successfully launched the project.

As part of the 5G NAMICO research project, 5G is also to be used in the construction and mining sectors of the future. Based on the findings from previous projects such as the 5G-Industry Campus Europe, a 5G network is now to be installed on a reference construction site and in an underground mine to harness the benefits of the technology. One challenge here is the adverse and changing environments: dust, vibration and humidity bring demands on a dynamic 5G network, which must withstand harsh operational conditions. 5G technology, which was developed for use in industrial environments and open areas, must therefore be developed further. The use of 5G in construction and mining has the potential to automate processes and reduce the workload of personnel. A prerequisite for this is the development of enhanced safety concepts that protect people in partially and fully automated processes, while at the same time achieving progress in digital transformation. To use in the future 5G on construction sites and in mining, the project will first look at selected use cases that deal with the automation of individual work processes and the safety aspect.

The 5G.NAMICO project is funded by the State of North Rhine-Westphalia through the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy with the funding code 005-2108-0111. It runs from 01.01.2022 to 31.12.2023.

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Immatriculation Fundermax GmbH

Fundermax joins the construction site of the future

The construction site of the future gets a new partner

Fundermax is one of the leading suppliers of wood-based materials and decorative laminates in Europe. Whether furniture, facades, or interior fittings: Fundermax produces, develops, and markets innovative wood-based materials and compact laminates.

“With Fundermax, we were able to win over one of the most innovative companies for the production and processing of wood-based materials in Europe. The company is strongly committed to digitalization and automation and thus makes an important contribution to greater efficiency and sustainability in construction,” comments Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan on the new member.

In specific terms, the Center Construction Robotics (CCR) is working together with Fundermax in the Enable Sanierung 4.0 research project on the further development of an assistance system for the automated assembly and handling of facade panels for building renovation. Fundermax GmbH provides the facade system as well as its expertise and experience to support the further development of the assistance system.

On Campus West at RWTH Aachen University, the Center Construction Robotics builds Europe’s first reference construction site together with a European industry consortium. It serves as a living lab to test new construction processes, construction products, networked machines, the use of robots, software solutions as well as teaching, working and communication concepts under real construction site conditions.

“With the ReferenceConstructionSite, we are encountering a unique initiative across Europe that fits perfectly with our philosophy: Courage to innovate, creativity and innovative spirit are just as important to us as sustainability and customer-centric, efficient processes. We are looking forward to the cooperation and exchange”, says Gernot Schöbitz, Managing Director Fundermax, about joining the Center Construction Robotics.

With Fundermax, the industry consortium of the Center Construction Robotics now comprises 14 partner companies.

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The Reference Construction Site celebrates its second anniversary

It is now two years, that Prof. Dr. Dr. Ulrich Rüdiger from RWTH Aachen University handed over a 10,000 sqm space to the Center Construction Robotics.

Its goal was to establish a broad international network with strong partners for research, industry, and teaching collaborations on the transformation of construction. After two years, the results exceed expectations. In the Center Construction Robotics, an interdisciplinary team of scientists from RWTH Aachen University conducts research together with an European industry consortium. It serves simultaneously as a think tank and a livinglab. Here, new construction processes, construction products, networked machines, robots for construction, software solutions and teaching, working and communication concepts are being tested under real conditions. At the same time, the Chair of Individualized Production (iprwth) headed by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan launched the international master’s program in Construction & Robotics. The students are not only taught digitalization and automation in theory, but they can also implement it into practice on the Reference Construction Site.

Thus, this project is clearly unique from other initiatives due to its #interdisciplinary approach and its practical relevance: “Only by combining the knowledge and expertise of different disciplines such as mechanical engineering, computer science, civil engineering and architecture will we be able to comprehensively recreate a new digital construction environment and the transformation of traditional methods,” says Prof. Dr. Sigrid Brell-Cokcan. The first master’s students will finish at the end of this semester.

Within the last years, real life demonstrators and patented technology was created, and numerous consortium projects have been established. The ideas that are jointly born here also gain the trust of donators and public institutions, such as the research project ‘Internet of Construction (IoC), which is coordinated by the Chair of Individualized Production at RWTH Aachen University and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Since the launch of this collaboration, the Reference Construction Site has been attracting more and more industry partners. The consortium includes prestigious companies such as Liebherr Tower Crances, PORR, Hilti, EIFFAGE, Saint-Gobain, KUKA, Autodesk, Doka, Leonhard Weiss, Xella, ALIMAK, Fundermax and Riegl. They support the reference construction site financially, infrastructurally and with practical expertise.