Using Augmented Reality for Masonry and Concrete Embed Coordination

Missing or misaligned embeds, sleeves and penetrations for concrete and masonry construction have historically caused disruptions and errors in commercial construction resulting in delays, rework and cost overruns. In order to locate embeds, sleeves and penetrations through the traditional process requires a special set of coordination drawings to be produced called “lift drawings.” The “lift drawings” are essentially elevation views of critical wall and foundations elements which show the exact location and alignment for the embeds or penetrations. Producing these “lift drawings” is a time consuming and tedious process that is typically undertaken by the construction management professionals in order to assure that these elements are located properly within the building. In the age of BIM this process of producing “lift drawings” for embeds, sleeves and penetrations should be coordinated and streamlined using BIM and augmented reality to reduce the work effort and provide greater efficiencies. This paper seeks to discover ways in which BIM combined with augmented reality and traditional surveying hardware can improve the process of embed, sleeve and penetration coordination. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Budapest University of Technology and Economics & Diamond Congress Ltd. Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Creative Construction Conference 2019.