Direct-Visual-Operation Support System for Unmanned Construction

Introduction: Unmanned construction through direct visual operation is performed to ensure the safety of workers at construction sites. In direct visual operation, although the equipment is simple and easy to install, the work efficiency and accuracy are reduced because of the lack of view and perspective obtained from boarding a construction machine. For solving this problem, images sent from multiple cameras, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) attached to the construction equipment and the images obtained from boarding a construction machine, as well as blind spots are confirmed by displaying them on the monitor at hand. However, the working efficiency is lowered by the restrictions on the utilization range of the camera monitor, switching operation of the camera, and gaze movement between the construction machine and the monitor. Methods: For solving the problem of low work efficiency and accuracy of the conventional system, this paper proposes a support system for a direct visual operation that does not require monitor installation and gaze movement and enables intuitive camera switching operation by using a transmissive Head Mounted Display (HMD) and a stereo camera robot. Results and Conclusion: The results of the experiment conducted using a remote-controlled backhoe show that unskilled operators can perform the same quality of work as skilled operators, and work efficiency and accuracy was improved by 44.2% and 37.8%, respectively compared to the conventional system. This confirms the usefulness of the proposed system, especially for unskilled operators.