BIM-Based and IoT-Driven Smart Tracking for Precast Construction Dynamic Scheduling

Precast construction offers multiple benefits, encompassing heightened productivity, an enhanced working environment, and significant waste reduction. Timely delivery of precast components (PCs) is of paramount importance in the successful execution of construction projects, mainly because processes involving precast prefabrication are identified frequently as critical activities in the majority of cases. However, current scheduling models for precast production need to meet the demands of dynamic environments in which construction projects contend with uncertainties. Consequently, it is essential to investigate and develop more-resilient and flexible scheduling approaches to address these challenges effectively and guarantee the timely delivery of precast components in these dynamic construction scenarios. To address these challenges, this study introduces an approach that integrates precast tracking, positioning, progress monitoring, and analysis among the multiple stages undertaken by project communities. Each component's status is updated dynamically in the cloud-based Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform using radio-frequency identification (RFID) and ultrawideband (UWB) technologies. Moreover, the collected data are updated to a dynamic production planning engine to be analyzed more accurately and flexibly for prefabrication, fitting-out, installation resources, workerpower planning, scheduling, and execution. To verify the efficiency of the proposed system, on-site testing was performed on a prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) residential building project. The findings show that a precast component can be tracked precisely on-site and that the sensor network can deliver trustworthy data. This research adopted an innovative and comprehensive methodology, centering on the transmission of real-time data collected via RFID and UWB sensing to enable dynamic scheduling in precast construction. By facilitating dynamic planning, scheduling, optimization, and progress monitoring, the study introduces a paradigm shift in construction project management, markedly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of project execution.