A coupled discrete-event and motion planning methodology for automated safety assessment in construction projects

Collisions between moving machinery and human workers in construction job sites are one of the main sources of fatalities and accidents during the execution of construction projects. In this paper, we present a methodology to identify and assess construction project plan dangers before their execution. Our methodology has the following steps: 1) Plans are translated from a high-level activity graph to a discrete event simulation model; 2) Trajectories are simulated using sampling based and combinatorial motion planning algorithms; and 3) Safety scores and risk-based heatmaps are calculated based on the trajectories of moving equipment. Finally, we present an illustrative case study to demonstrate the usability of our model.