Discrete-Event Simulation-Based Virtual Reality Environments for Construction Operations: Technology Introduction
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 137, Issue 3
Abstract
The next logical evolution of discrete-event simulation (DES) technology for construction is for simulations and animations to run concurrently and in a manner that allows interaction with the animation to affect the course of events in the simulation. This effectively enables the creation of virtual environments with logic based on DES models, something that recent research efforts have made possible. This paper introduces this technology with the help of a case study. In particular, the paper presents how interactivity can improve the process of model validation in simulation studies, which is a critical step in achieving model credibility. Via a complex earthmoving operation, a construction engineer can use real-time interactivity to create situations of interest and study the model’s response to those, and thus validate that the response is appropriate. These capabilities can significantly enhance the process of model validation, thereby adding to the value of DES for practical use in operations planning and design.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) (Award # NSFCMMI-0732560). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
References
Barnes, M. R. (1997). “An introduction to QUEST.” 1997 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 619–623.
Bishop, J. L., and Balci, O. (1990). “General purpose visual simulation system: A functional description.” 1990 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 504–512.
Chang, D. Y. (1986). “RESQUE: A resource based simulation system for construction process planning.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Chua, D. K. H., and Li, G. M. (2002). “RiSim: Resource-interacted simulation modeling in construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 128(3), 195–202.
Hajjar, D., and AbouRizk, S. M. (1996). “Building a special purpose simulation tool for earth moving operations.” 1996 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1313–1320.
Hajjar, D., and AbouRizk, S. M. (1999). “SIMPHONY: An environment for building special-purpose construction simulation tools.” 1999 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 998–1006.
Halpin, D. W. (1973). “An investigation of the use of simulation networks for modeling construction operations.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.
Halpin, D. W., and Woodhead, R. (1976). Design of construction and process operations, Wiley, New York.
Halpin, D. W. (1990). “Micro-CYCLONE user’s manual.” Dept. of Civil Engineering, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN.
Henriksen, J. O. (1998). “Windows-based animation with proof.” 1998 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 241–247.
Hurrion, R. D. (1989). “Graphics and interaction.” Computer Modeling for Discrete Simulation, M. Pidd, ed., Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 101–119.
Ioannou, P. G. (1989). “UM-CYCLONE reference manual.” Tech. Rep. UMCE-89-11, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Kalk, A. (1980). “INSIGHT: Interactive simulation of construction operations using graphical techniques.” Tech. Rep. No. 238, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA.
Kamat, V. R. (2003). “VITASCOPE: Extensible and scalable 3D visualization of simulated construction operations.” Ph.D. dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ., Blacksburg, VA.
Law, A. M., and Kelton, W. D. (2000). Simulation modeling and analysis, 3rd Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.
Liu, L. Y. (1991). “COOPS: Construction object-oriented simulation system.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Liu, L. Y., and Ioannou, P. G. (1993). “Graphical resource-based object-oriented simulation for construction process planning.” 5th Int. Conf. on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering, ASCE, Reston, VA, 1390–1397.
Lu, M. (2003). “Simplified discrete-event simulation approach for construction simulation.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 129(5), 537–546.
Malone, T. W. (1982). “Heuristics for designing enjoyable user interfaces: Lessons from computer games.” 1982 Conf. on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, New York, 63–68.
Martinez, J. C. (1996). “STROBOSCOPE: State and resource based simulation of construction operations.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Martinez, J. C. (1998). “Earthmover—Simulation tool for earthwork planning.” 1998 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1263–1272.
Martinez, J. C. (2001). “EZStrobe—General-purpose simulation system based on activity cycle diagrams.” 1998 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 341–348.
Marzouk, M., and Moselhi, M. (2003). “Object-oriented simulation model for earthmoving operations.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 129(2), 173–181.
McCahill, D. F., and Bernold, L. E. (1993). “Resource-oriented modeling and simulation in construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 119(3), 590–606.
Odeh, A. M. (1992). “Construction integrated planning and simulation model.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Op den Bosch, A. (1994). “Design/construction process simulation in real-time object-oriented environments.” Ph.D. dissertation, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
Rekapalli, P. V. (2008). “Discrete-event simulation based virtual reality environments for construction operations.” Ph.D. dissertation, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN.
Rekapalli, P. V., and Martinez, J. C. (2007). “Time advance synchronization in concurrent discrete-event simulation and animation of construction operations.” 11th Int. Conf. on Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering Computing, Civil-Comp Ltd., Stirling, UK.
Rekapalli, P. V., and Martinez, J. C. (2009). “Runtime user interaction in concurrent simulation-animations of construction operations.” J. Comput. Civ. Eng., 23(6), 372–383.
Robinson, S. (2005). “Discrete-event simulation: From the pioneers to the present, what next?” J. Oper. Res. Soc. Jpn., 56(6), 619–629.
Rohrer, M. W. (2000). “Seeing is believing: The importance of visualization in manufacturing simulation.” 2000 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1211–1216.
Rohrer, M. W., and McGregor, I. W. (2002). “Simulating reality using AUTOMOD.” 2002 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 173–181.
Rojas, E. M., and Mukherjee, A. (2005). “General-purpose situation simulation environment for construction education.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 131(3), 319–329.
Shi, J. J. (2000). “Object-oriented technology for enhancing activity-based modeling functionality.” 2000 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 1938–1944.
Shi, J. J., and Zhang, H. (1999). “Iconic animation of construction simulation.” 1999 Winter Simulation Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 992–997.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 27, 2010
Accepted: Aug 4, 2010
Published online: Aug 6, 2010
Published in print: Mar 1, 2011
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.