A new book by CEE assistant professor Houtan Jebelli explores the use of digital twin technology in the construction industry. Published by the American Society of Civil Engineers, Digital Twins in Construction and the Built Environment addresses the growing prevalence of digital twins across all sectors and introduces ways this technology can uniquely benefit those working in construction and built environment industries.
Digital twins are, essentially, exactly what they sound like: digital replicas of any physical entity or system developed through the integration of IoT, AI, machine learning and data analytics. They act as living simulations capable of updating and changing as their physical counterparts change, giving researchers the opportunity to study real, complex situations and their potential outcomes before the situations actually occur.
Digital Twins in Construction and the Built Environment presents an exploration of these digital twin simulations and contextualizes their use as it applies to the construction industry and built environment management. Through detailed accounts of practical challenges and several success stories, the book serves as a comprehensive resource for researchers, practitioners and professionals looking to explore the use of digital twin
technology in their practice.
Jebelli’s own work acts as an example of how digital twin technology can be applied successfully to construction research and practice. In the RAISe (Robotics, Automation and Intelligent Sensing in construction) Lab, his group incorporates digital twins into several facets of their research. They leverage human-centric digital twins that receive input from wearable biosensors to monitor health and safety of construction workers, Additionally, they create digital twins of facilities to enable near real-time fault detection and maintenance, and even use them to enhance safety in environments where humans and robots work together.
More information on Digital Twins in Construction and the Built Environment, as well as information on how to obtain access to the book, can be found here.