Deterioration of UWB positioning during construction

Effective planning and control for complex construction projects requires reliable material tracking, effective supply chain visibility, and accurate progress estimation. These applications highlight the importance of real time location and progress tracking technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Systems. This paper presents a performance analysis of a UWB positioning system as a material and activity tracking tool for indoor construction projects, with emphasis on field implementation and site validation. This research was designed in three phases and examined the performance deterioration of an UWB system in complete occlusion situations using timber and steel as blocking materials, analyzed the location dependency of UWB system error and investigated the potential for location based error modelling, and investigated the UWB system performance over the construction period of a progressively more heavily congested piping project. The statistical analysis of this research has produced confidence intervals for UWB system error in the various tested configurations to be used in future research. Also, the performance deterioration of the UWB system in an active construction environment has been quantified. Finally, recommendations are provided for effective system implementation in indoor construction projects.