Novel applications offered by integration of robotic tools in BIM based design workflow for automation in construction processes
Nowadays the integration between existent Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) software with robotic tools such as Robot Operating System (ROS) could represent the next step towards the correct design and application of automated construction processes in the Architectural Engineering and Civil Industry (AEC) The recent wide use of BIM improved significantly the quality and productivity in AEC field since it offers an alwaysupdated model of the building with a structured, precise and shared database made up of detailed information about every phase of its lifecycle. This facilitates the mass production of construction elements ad hoc to be automatically installed in addition to reducing errors and omissions due to a fragmented management of information. However, BIM by itself is not sufficient to achieve neither the complete and correct representation of complex modern buildings nor the direct planning of automated construction processes both off and on site. There is still the lack of a specific software which can be fulfilled by resorting to the knowledge of Robotics Industry. In this paper the potentialities offered by the integration of CAD,BIM and ROS were analyzed with respect to the automated production and installation of precast timber modules for the refurbishment of existing buildings and to the installation of robotic tools for the independent living of elderly. The path towards such an integration is long and hard, many aspects have to be defined, since ROS was not conceived for AEC Industry but the potentialities in terms of money and time saving, of increased quality and productivity in addition to reducing damage risks are actually big. Thus, such an integration it's worth of further attention given that it allows to exploit an open source software with many available repositories and offers the opportunity of modelling every existing robotized system beyond to enable to test in various conditions with a realistic virtual environment thanks to the possibility of importing 3D models. In this way it is possible to find out both the best configuration and the most suitable robotic system to perform each required task.