Research on Improving Work Efficiency of Unmanned Construction

Unmanned construction is actively employed at dangerous locations where people cannot enter because of disaster damage. Unmanned construction is a technology of remotely controlling construction machines as an effective system of construction to ensure the safety of operators. However, the work efficiency of unmanned construction is poorer than that of construction with manned operation. Techniques for efficiently and remotely operating construction machines are necessary to realize swift rehabilitation activities after the occurrence of a disaster. In the research, I decided to push forward a study by 2 approach. As one, our research conducted a comparative experiment under different operation conditions (such as interfaces or operation environments) that represent the actual condition of work time related to the remote operation techniques of construction machines. This paper discusses the concept of operation conditions to improve work efficiency based on the results of the said comparative experiment. As second, In general, when people do some act, they are considered to do so based on more accurate information they obtain from their visual sense as well as through their actions including touching things. When working with a construction machine, people generally cannot obtain haptic information, such as whether something is hard or soft, from their visual sense. Particularly, construction machine operators obtain haptic information such as whether something is hard or soft from some indirect information from the machines. Our research reviews the validity of using haptic information in operating construction machines to meet the needs of the operators. The paper presents the results [1] of part of the said review, which is clarification based on fundamental experiments that machine operators will be able to indirectly perceive material differences, as expressed by “hard or soft,” through media. It then discusses the potential of providing a haptic capability to the construction machine operation interface for the purpose of improving the work efficiency of unmanned construction.