Development of a sensor network protocol for non-invasive detection of mobile plant operation in construction sites

Tracking and monitoring techniques proposed for construction sites in the past have limitations and gaps. One is the privacy concerns associated with tagging and tracking of personnel or equipment on a site. Second is the practical limitation of tagging, as tagging the objects may not always be possible. Third is that tagging can lead to additional costs, as tags have to be maintained and repaired when damaged. To the best of authors' knowledge, to date no non-invasive method has been developed that identifies on-site hazards in real time and links real-time hazard situations with building information models' (BIM) site activity schedules. The authors aim to fill this gap through a relatively large project, of which the first phase work is presented in this paper. The proposed technique uses a wireless radio frequency based non-invasive detection technique to detect mobile plants in operation to identify risk exposure. It has the potential to determine risk profiles of 'mobile plant in operation' by detecting construction activity on site zones. This paper reports the development of the underlying IEEE 802.15 Zigbee based mesh network. The details related to the design and development of the communication protocol, sensor network configuration and preliminary testing are discussed. The network will be used on a construction site to detect the mobile plant operation non-invasively. This research is expected to contribute to improve safety of inherently dangerous construction industry, which globally reports relatively high accident rates compared to other industries.