Potential Factors Influencing the Performance of Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Integrated Safety Control for Construction Worksites

Abstract

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have been increasingly considered for use in the architecture, engineering, construction and facility management (AEC+FM) domain. In particular, UASs have the potential for integration with safety control processes during the construction phase. This technology can transfer visual assets, such as images and videos obtained from UASs, to safety management personnel in real time before potentially hazardous situations occur. This paper aims to identify the user requirements, operational challenges, potential factors influencing the performance of UASs, and potential performance measures on construction site environments. In this study, qualitative survey responses are collected from 19 construction project professionals. The main findings showed four main requirements and three main challenges from a user’s perspective in order to implement UASs on construction sites. In addition, 31 potential factors and 17 performance measures of UASs were identified with their importance based on mean ranking scores. “Ease of user interface for UAS operation” and “quality of visual assets” were identified as the most important factors influencing the performance of UASs for safety inspection tasks in construction jobsites. The main contribution is to define the factors that may affect their performance of UAS integrated construction safety controls.