Morgan Sindall Construction has been named by the University of Salford as the preferred bidder to build the North of England Robotics Innovation Centre. The new Robotics Innovation Centre is part of the £2.5 billion Crescent masterplan, a 240-acre major regeneration scheme being delivered by the University, Salford City Council
VINCI Construction UK has partnered with BRE, nPlan, Assentian and Skanska to develop PLASMA, a digital planning and supply chain management toolbox that has the potential to deliver 25% cost and time savings for projects. The two-year project funded by UK Research and Innovation, the UK’s innovation agency, started in
The way we build is constantly changing, whether this is from the materials we use or to the actual design – and AI is contributing to this. Artificial intelligence is where machines exhibit their own intelligence through using algorithms to solve problems using inputted data. By harnessing robotics, construction managers
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Morgan Sindall Construction has been named by the University of Salford as the preferred bidder to build the North of England Robotics Innovation Centre. The new Robotics Innovation Centre is part of the £2.5 billion Crescent masterplan, a 240-acre major regeneration scheme being delivered by the University, Salford City Council and development partner, The English Cities Fund – a strategic joint venture between Muse Developments, Legal & General and Homes England – aimed at driving economic and social prosperity for the whole of the city over the life of the 20-year programme, through the delivery of spaces where people can live, work, relax and innovate. The Centre will enable the University’s robotics and automation specialists to expand their work with SMEs around the country to provide solution development, design, testing and validation of digital innovation. Disciplines covered by the development will include the dynamic and growing sectors of robotics for intelligent infrastructure, digital automation and supply chain improvement, as well as health, wellbeing and integrated care technologies. It was announced earlier this year that the £13 million North of England Robotics Innovation Centre will be part funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The project will deliver a new gateway building to the Innovation District and provides the University with a new and significant presence facing on to Frederick Road. The building is articulated with a z-shaped plan expressing a series of stacked laboratories in turn linked by a central feature stair representing the heart of the building. Externally a simple palette of materials is utilised ranging from precast concrete at lower levels to light perforated metal panels above. Construction work on the 22,580 square foot building is set to begin in early 2021. The close working relationship between the University and Morgan Sindall Construction has existed for a number of years. It was announced earlier this year that Morgan Sindall Construction is to build the £65 million Science, Engineering and Environmental Building (SEE Building) for the University, and since 2018 the partnership has been driven by a programme focused on enhancing the employability credentials of undergraduates, which looks to combine the latest academic understanding of industry trends and developments with real world experience and learning. This has been delivered through regular site visits, workshops and providing expert advice on project proposals for design, planning, costing and development to multi-disciplinary student teams. Shaun Jones, area director for Morgan Sindall Construction in Manchester, said: “The University of Salford’s masterplan reflects a bold vision both in terms of developing a transformational future for the city and by supporting the sectors that will drive the wider country forward. We’re proud to be part of that vision through our work delivering the SEE Building and now the North of England Robotics Innovation Centre. “Throughout the build programme, we plan to work closely with students, residents and community groups to ensure our growing presence on campus has benefits for the whole of Salford.” Georgina Harris, director of engineering at the University of Salford, said: “We are really excited about our new North of England Robotics Innovation Centre and the opportunity to work with Morgan Sindall Construction on its development. This new centre, that is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, is to be the focus of our activities supporting local small to medium-sized enterprises in the development of their robotics and automation capabilities. “This facility could not be more timely as companies look to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on their industries by making use of new technologies. We are delighted that Morgan Sindall Construction will be working with us to help us realise our ambitions in research, supporting our local businesses and providing opportunities for our students.” Tony Skipper, masterplanner and director of 5plus architects said: “We are delighted to be moving this project forward with Morgan Sindall Construction and the University of Salford. It will be one of the first projects to be delivered by the University within Salford City’s new Innovation District, conceived under the Salford Crescent and University Masterplan and as such the project represents a new chapter in the regeneration of the wider area. “We now look forward to continuing our work with the School of Science, Engineering and Environment and the contracting team to deliver this new exemplary facility.”
VINCI Construction UK has partnered with BRE, nPlan, Assentian and Skanska to develop PLASMA, a digital planning and supply chain management toolbox that has the potential to deliver 25% cost and time savings for projects. The two-year project funded by UK Research and Innovation, the UK’s innovation agency, started in March 2018 and seeks to produce a proof of concept version of a toolkit that will improve efficiency in the construction process for planning and supply chain management. Built on a blockchain platform, it aims improve construction productivity via better project planning, improved supply chain collaboration, and analysis of supply chain and IoT data. Better project planning. The tool enables planners to create and quantitatively rehearse project delivery scenarios such as sequences, critical path and logistics. This reduces risk by taking account of context-specific restrictions and supply chain ‘pinch-points’, for example where increased capacity or automation could improve overall productivity. Improved supply chain collaboration. PLASMA enables supply chain businesses to collect, share and store ‘tamper-resistant’ data without the need for central control and management. This optimises complex supply chains and facilitates the tracking of elements such as task completion via existing IoT-based data capabilities. It also enables change managementand incremental payments to be made via smart contracts. Analysis of supply chain and IoT data.Task parameters such as cost, and time will be quantified for planning scenario optioneering and optimisation. The tool will also enable the development of quantified KPIs that are specific to construction supply chains, identifying best practice and the range of performance across the sector. KPIs can be linked to and benchmark a range of established performance improvement approaches, as well as innovations such as robotics and automation. The project represents innovation in its truest form and its successful development will lead the way in delivering much-needed efficiencies for the sector. Sam Stacey, Director of the Transforming Construction Challenge UKRI, said: “Projects such as PLASMA are funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and play a key role in advancing the transformation across the sector. It will help the construction industry work directly with talented innovators to explore new ways of working in construction that will speed up assembly, save money, and improve the quality of building projects.”
The way we build is constantly changing, whether this is from the materials we use or to the actual design – and AI is contributing to this. Artificial intelligence is where machines exhibit their own intelligence through using algorithms to solve problems using inputted data. By harnessing robotics, construction managers can utilise intelligent machines that can perform routine tasks that were once completed by humans, such as bricklaying. Alternatively, AI systems can collate and organise information for engineers to use within project planning and design implementation. With the help of Oasys, we look at the construction industry to see how artificial intelligence is helping. Artificial Intelligence: the fantastic four When it comes to construction, there are four areas that AI is used: Planning makes perfect To construct, you must plan – and this is an area that AI is performing well in. Autonomous equipment is considered as AI as it is aware of its surroundings and is capable of navigation without human input. In the planning stages, AI machinery can survey a proposed construction site and gather enough information to create 3D maps, blueprints and construction plans. Before this advancement, these processes would take weeks – now they can be done in one day. This helps to save firms both time and money in the form of labour. Project managing It can sometimes be overwhelming to manage an entire project single handed, but with the assistance of AI – it is becoming easier. For example, workers can input sick days, vacancies and sudden departures into a data system and it will adapt the project accordingly. The AI will understand that the task must be moved to another employee and will do so on its own accord. Construction When it comes to construction, AI systems not only have the ability to assist engineers through their work. For example, if engineers were working on a proposed new bridge, AI systems would be able to advise and present a case for how the bridge should be constructed. This is based on past projects over the last 50 years, as well as verifying pre-existing blueprints for the design and implementation stages of the project. By having this information to hand, engineers can make crucial decisions based on evidence that they may not have previously had at their disposal. In the construction industry, it is likely that you will come across projects that will be tall builds – this is where autonomous comes in. Using sensors and GPS, the vehicle can calculate the safest route while also helping workers to stay outside of the vehicle when it’s operating on dangerous routes. The use of artificial intelligence AI can be introduced inside the building too. In the US alone, $1.5 billion was invested in 2016 by companies looking to capitalise on this growing market. To make the customer experience better, Wynn Las Vegas Hotel said that they would be adding the Amazon Echo to every room by the end of this year. These devices can be used for aspects of the room such as lighting, temperature and any audio-visual equipment contained in the room. These systems can also be used within domestic settings, allowing homeowners to control aspects of their home through voice commands and systems that control all electronic components from one device. The importance of information It is important to hold as much information as you can about a project, including management decisions and this is easier to do with the help of building information modelling (BIM). Conversational features can be added with the use of virtual assistants (VAs) that will also provide a person with information. By combining VAs alongside NFC (near-field communication), VAs can give additional information to the building itself in real-time from various sensors in the building. For example, if there were structural problems with a building, then VAs could inform engineers specifically where the problem was and how it can be fixed. VAs, AIs and building design software can help make savings in the construction sector, whilst keeping up the same standard of work. As the future of AI becomes more of a reality within construction, only time will tell how reliant upon intelligent machines we will have to be in order to construct innovative building designs.
