MAYNOOTH, COUNTY KILDARE, IRELAND � The future of construction site monitoring is already here, and it walks on four legs. Four Electronic Engineering students at Maynooth University have successfully demonstrated autonomous construction site monitoring and construction site documentation in practice, integrating a Unitree GO2 robot dog with 360 construction cameras to create comprehensive digital documentation of construction sites. Students Teodor Donchev, Ivin Vincent, Carlos Gonzalez Visiedo, and Krishanu Debnath worked with industry partners to equip the quadruped with an Insta360 One RS construction camera, creating a system that navigates construction environments while capturing data for accurate construction digital twins.
All Systems Go
The robot dog simultaneously captures LiDAR point clouds and 360� video streams for construction progress photos and site documentation, creating what the team describes as "a rich multimodal record of the site." The system delivers continuous construction site monitoring that human teams can't match for consistency and frequency. Traditional manual laser scans are time-consuming and expensive, so sites are typically scanned infrequently, according to the study. The autonomous construction camera system can perform this task without human intervention, capturing images and point clouds to update construction digital twins continuously. This approach offers advantages over traditional construction drones by providing ground-level access and extended operation periods.
Technical Workflow
The students developed a practical workflow for their camera system: the robot stops at each waypoint for 5 seconds, captures 360� construction progress photos, then moves to the next location. When initial testing revealed camera vibration issues during movement, they refined the system to ensure stable, high-quality construction site documentation. The technical setup uses open-source ROS2 SDK to integrate the GO2's navigation with the Insta360 construction camera. The robot's built-in LiDAR provides a 360��90� field of view for comprehensive 3D mapping and obstacle avoidance.
Solving Construction Industry Challenges
This kind of autonomous construction site monitoring addresses real construction industry challenges: labor shortages, safety concerns, and the need for frequent construction site documentation. Live construction camera technology enables regular, risk-free site inspections while reducing manual survey work. The student team notes that construction sites are frequently dangerous places where autonomous systems like this one can assist in identifying and recording changes early on, lowering the possibility of expensive errors or accidents. The system provides capabilities similar to drones but with ground-level access and longer operational periods.
Practical Impact
The Maynooth project shows how autonomous construction cameras and BIM construction integration are advancing through practical collaboration between academic research and industry application. For companies active in the construction camera and reality capture space, these partnerships provide valuable insights into real-world performance and adoption drivers. The students identified development priorities that mirror industry needs: wireless operation, programmatic waypoint definition, and enhanced mounting systems for improved construction site camera stability.
A New Reality
As digital transformation accelerates in construction, this research provides a practical roadmap for autonomous construction site monitoring systems that can operate without being physically connected to a host computer. The study, titled "Data Collection for Construction Site Digital Twins with an Unitree GO2 Quadruped Robot," demonstrates that autonomous construction cameras and construction site documentation have moved from experimental to operational. The technology is here, it's working, and it's being refined through real-world deployment in construction environments. For further information or a copy of the student report, please contact us today!�
