It is one of the most unpopular activities, but nevertheless a very important one: keeping the daily construction report. It does not require much time, but special attention and care. Neglecting it can have expensive consequences during the warranty period.
The construction diary was one of the first processes to be digitized on the construction site with the introduction of simple apps. But after digitization, the core problem remains: The construction diary still has to be kept manually and is therefore unpopular and neglected. It's time for a revolution: the self-writing construction diary.
Conventional digital construction diaries enable simple and collaborative documentation of the construction process via computer or smartphone. Copying functions or weather data facilitate the daily work. However, the work performed still has to be recorded manually. With the self-writing daily construction report from oculai, the work performed is now also pre-filled automatically. Cameras and artificial intelligence are used to automatically record and document construction processes.
At oculai, the traditional observer role of a foreman or site manager is taken over by intelligent crane cameras — devices mounted on the crane tower that capture the construction site from a bird’s eye view. The recorded video footage is processed using advanced algorithms developed by oculai, which analyze the pixel data to recognize and document construction activities. These algorithms are powered by artificial intelligence (AI). You can think of it as a computer watching the video and taking notes on what work is happening, when, and where. The daily output includes a start time, end time, component (e.g. “3rd floor, section 2”), and the identified activity (e.g. “slab concreting”).
At the end, a report is generated for each day. Thereby oculai automatically enters the working hours, the weather and the recorded activities and components. If desired, oculai automatically adds before and after pictures. Information about personnel deployment or even deliveries and machines can easily be taken over from the previous day. A calendar overview also shows bad weather events and special occurrences. The daily construction report can be extensively configured and exported with individual content. Click here for a sample export of an AI-generated construction day report!
Currently (March 2023), oculai distinguishes between 36 different operations that can take place outside. These include operations such as (semi) precast, masonry, various in-situ concrete works or waterproofing. Since oculai is typically used on cranes for shell construction, the AI is limited to work that primarily takes place in the shell and is recorded by the cameras from above. However, oculai is not only used in shell construction, but also on infrastructure projects where top-slewing cranes are used. However, the digital construction day report can also be used beyond the shell, even when the crane cameras are no longer in operation - but without the automatic process recognition.
If you want to see how an AI generated construction report looks like in the end as an export, just click on this link!
The algorithms developed by oculai incorporate various AI models. These models are trained on large image datasets, where recurring patterns and visual features of specific objects or surfaces are generalized and learned. In commonly used image classification tasks, for example, an algorithm is shown numerous photos of a “cat” until it learns to recognize patterns in the pixel arrangements across the images — enabling it to identify a cat in new, unseen photos. Following the same principle, oculai’s AI models learn to detect construction processes from camera data.
