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Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Innovation

IEEE-ICASI 2017 - Meen, Prior & Lam (Eds)

Combine BIM-Based and Mobile Technologies to


Design On-Site Support System for the Communication and Management of
Architectural Heritage Conservation Works
Yu-Pin Ma, Cheng Chieh Hsu & Mei-Chun Lin

Department of Creative Design and Architecture, National University of Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, yupin.ma@gmail.com
Department of Spatial Design, Kun Shen University, Tainan, Taiwan, cheng1881@gmail.com
Department of Architecture, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, jean.8909@hotmail.com

Abstract technology in the case of conserving, documenting and


managing for effectively support architectural heritage
This research aims to analyze the feasibility of BIM conservation.
technology applied to the on-side restoration works of
architectural heritage. For enhancing the accuracy and
efficiency of restoration of historic buildings, an on-site
support system is built with the external Application
Programming Interface (API) includes Revit plugin and mobile
app which restoration participants can build a more complete
information platform, which enables the real-time exchange of
information to minimize gaps that could have existed between
the designers and those doing the construction.

Key words: Architectural Heritage Conservation, BIM, Revit


Plugin, Mobile Apps

Introduction
Fig. 1 Scope of the study
The study of the Building Information Model (BIM) has
been steadily developing over the past ten years with BIM Research Problems and Tasks
technology being widely used in different ways. Most research
has focused on using BIM technology for planning and A. Research Subject
designing new buildings but recently research has been The subject of this research is the Hu Chi Temple located in
extended to using this technology for the restoration of existing Ma Tou district, Tainan, Taiwan. Hu Chi temple belongs to the
buildings and the conservation of Taiwan’s architectural Diedou wooden structure and every component will be named
heritage. according to its position. Our research team participated in this
On the meaning of cultural values, architectural heritage is restoration project and the demolition works of the main
definitely a significant reference and the conservation work is building since 2015. Through the observation and analysis of
more valuable than new buildings design. Because of the engineering problems on site, the development purpose of
importance of conserving our architectural heritage, using BIM-aided restoration support system has been confirmed.
digital technology as a means of archiving and storing
information about the buildings has become an alternative B. Research Problems
approach to addressing the best way to preserve them. In this case, we address some problems are found during the
However, the application of BIM for the conservation of restoration construction procedure by three stages:
historical buildings is still facing various challenges [6]. Most Stage 1. Information modeling and decision problems: (a).
of these technologies focus on the 3D rebuilding of geometrical Shortage in integration of information about the geometric and
or surface models in the research on historical buildings the non-geometric model. (b). Traditional components are
[1][2][3][4][5]. Little attention is paid on the communication difficult to be standardized. (c). Lack of association between
between the designers and builders and a discussion of how the geometry and record data in the model for mapping, analysis,
design drawings are interpreted and presented by the and data management tasks.
professionals in different fields. Stage 2. Site construction records and management
This research will focus on restoration construction stage problems: (a). Lack of understanding of the restoration
and discuss the problems of recording, communicating and drawings in the design phase and the construction phase. (b).
managing between designers and builders during construction Improper management of the restoration data available for the
work. This research will introduce the information integration construction of wooden buildings. (c). The representation of
platform which is combined BIM-aided workflow and mobile the hidden components does not correspond to the drawings of

ISBN 978-1-5090-4897-7 - 307


Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Innovation
IEEE-ICASI 2017 - Meen, Prior & Lam (Eds)

the repair designs after the components have been dismantled. The following is the fundamental stage of this study:
Stage 3. Restoration schedule and reporting problems: (a). 1. 3D visualization: the display of details behind the object’s
Poor communication increases difficulties in managing and surface of 3D visualization and component object of design
reporting takes. (b). Unexpected issues occurrences cause drawings for restoration works.
losses in revenue and time. 2. Design of parametric component object: in terms of the
geometric information for establishing components of historic
C. Research Tasks buildings, both manual and automatic parametric modes were
The goal of the BIM-aided on-site restoration support system, provided to rapidly modify the size and form of component
as described in this research, is to integrate information from objects.
the various professionals into a model. It also aims to ensure 3. Integration of conservation documentation: in terms of the
coordination and collaboration, update and improve the model non-geometric information, the concept and norm of
and give feedback to every participant. This will open up component object medical records were provided for the
opportunities to gain knowledge and to share information so reference and applications of another restoration work.
that we can communicate effectively. This will lead to
proficiency in the project and will keep down the cost of the BIM-based Restoration-aided Platform
restoration design, construction and management of the
maintenance work. Based on the problems we addressed above, we have
The main task of this research is shown below: developed the BIM-based restoration-aided system as a
1. BIM-based parametric modeling: set up BIM components solution to effectively improve the communication efficiency
of a wooden framework and the classification of the and accuracy between the design side and the construction side.
information structure. All the data relevant to the restoration, We called it the Conserve Compass (C-Compass) system and
especially the history of each stage of the wooden framework, it includes Revit plugin and mobile Apps. The main purpose of
are included in the BIM model for analysis and categorization. the C-Compass system we developed is to assist with
2. Restoration-aided design tool and system development: communication and co-ordination between the design of the
help in the communication between designer-builder and repairs and the construction work on site. The data are shared
builder-builder. Verifying the feasibility of information about immediately and on a regular basis. Further, the data shared is
the actual construction. extensive in order to minimize any construction error.
Therefore, the historical heritage is accurately preserved.
BIM-based Parametric Modeling Currently, the use of tools and functions in BIM software are
more suitable for the new building design process. In order to
By introducing BIM into the preservation and restoration of expand BIM-based software’s repair design function, the BIM-
architectural heritage in Taiwan, the establishment of based Revit plugin was chosen and developed as an auxiliary
visualization model, the design of parametric component tool to assist in repair design process. According to the
objects and the update of the information for object restoration traditional conservation workflow, the function panels in C-
were carried out in this study to increase the reuse of objects, Compass Ribbon were designed and developed base on three
improve the efficiency of restoration design and ensure the stages includes repair design stage, repair construction stage
outcomes. It started from the visualization modeling of the and management stage.
basic component objects of timber frame, and followed by Repair designers can get the medical records of BIM model
using software Revit in parametric modeling of component through BIM software and C-Compass plugin to reduce the
object. Integrating restoration data and recording the form of error, increase the quality and make the process more smoothly.
each building element and the details of decay in every period Due to the rapid growth of ICT technology applications and the
of time to create the Object Medical Records for buildings trend of cloud computing on demand, the BIM-based aided
which can be used as reference when restoration work is design tools will no longer be limited to the computer desktop.
needed once again. The designer of the next restoration project The BIM-based mobile app was developed to extend Revit
able to review previous records and the restoration information software beyond the desktop and to enhance the accessibility
of elements in different periods. of each project. The progress and quality of the projects can be
better controlled and managed by the participants anytime. The
user interface easily view, create, edit, and share comment
message and photos files from designers on the mobile device.
It reduces the time waste because of the waiting between
design and construction side and speed up the deployment of
construction on the construction side.

A. System Architecture
The system architecture includes three parts: the Revit API
for designers, the mobile App for builders on site and the cloud
server center. We choose C# sharp as a programming language
to develop the Revit C-Compass plugin, JAVA as a
Fig. 2 3D modeling showing the information part of the overlay in programming language to develop the mobile app and ASP.net
Revit. as a programming language to develop the cloud server center.
The cloud communicates with the mobile device and Revit
through web service.

308 - ISBN 978-1-5090-4897-7


Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Innovation
IEEE-ICASI 2017 - Meen, Prior & Lam (Eds)

The information of Revit model on design side can be ¥ The record panel on Revit helps designers to update replies
acquired and convert into the corresponding format using C- about the assignment reply by the builders and complete the
Compass plugin and then the information can be sent to the blank parametric field of the model.
cloud through transport protocol (RESTful API). The mobile ¥ The record panel button on Mobile Apps help construction
device app acquires information through transport protocol and site managers to develop a Gantt chart for checking the
the visual presentation will show to the user on the construction progress and do the daily report.
side. After users fill out the update information in mobile The main tasks of the C-Compass plugin and mobile app
device, the update information will be converted into the are:
corresponding format. The update information through ¥ The geometric and non-geometric data from designers or
transport protocol to the cloud and back to the design side. The architects can be sent to the C-Compass cloud server through
information exchange and update timely on both side. the Revit Plugin.
¥ The construction managers capture the graphic and non-
graphic data through the C-Compass cloud server. The parts to
be repaired, the damaged cases, re-pair materials and other
information should be reconfirmed before the construction
begins.
¥ Instant feedback can be sent to designers from the
construction site if the repair data is not understood or needs to
be changed.
¥ Project and construction records, and reports digitally
achieved are completed.
Fig. 3 Using the C-Compass system to assist communication and
coordination between the design side and site construction side.
C. The Coordination Process of C-Compass
B. The Functionality of C-Compass The interface design of the plugin and app has been
There are two main panels and functionalities in the design introduced in previous section. This section will emphasize on
stage for model information and restoration decisions: the collaborative operation between the design side and the
¥ The Model panel helps designers to import the model into construction side during demolition works. The steps are:
the Revit software seamlessly, convert the revised file and add (1). First, the project designer should create a project account
public parameters. using Revit plugin in desktop. The system will provide an ID
for the project, so the app user can enter the project via ID.
¥ The Strategy Panel helps designers to get the data on the
(2). The designer send the query message or checking list
history of repair de-sign strategies and provide suggestions.
with collaborative fields using Revit notice tool to the
participants on construction side.
(3). The project builder on-side login the project using
mobile app via his personal account.
(4). The project builder received the query using notice
function in mobile app and reply the message to the designer.
(5). The API will list and match the fields back and forth and
the Revit model will be automatically updated after the
confirmation by the designer. The information will be synced
to all devices.

Fig. 4 The user interface and function design of C-Compass

There are two main panels and functionalities both on the


Revit toolbar and Mobile Apps in the construction stage for the
site construction records and management.
¥ The communication panel on Revit transmits the designers’
repair assignment to the field.
¥ The communication button on Mobile Apps assists the
construction site man-agers to review and execute the
assignments from the designers and get feed-back to the
designers immediately. Texts, pictures and videos that need to
be included can be sent back by a mobile device to the cloud. Fig. 5 The communication and coordination process between Revit
plugin and mobile app

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Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Applied System Innovation
IEEE-ICASI 2017 - Meen, Prior & Lam (Eds)

The use of new techniques, resources and the concept of to query, and analyze data for the user. There is no association
BIM is developed as a communication platform between between geometry and record data in the model. The planting
designers and builders. It enables the real-time exchange of schedule can’t allow you to map and visualize your data on the
information to minimize any gaps that could have existed model. The tabular data is needed for describing the non-
between the designers and those doing the construction. In geometry data for the model and providing capabilities to
order to ensure that there is no error transfer between the Revit extend the functionality of mapping , analysis, and data
plugin and mobile app, the field and information structure, management tasks.
filed name and format should be rigorously regulated. Based on the issues we describe above and future trend, the
research area of the 3D GIS (Geographic Information System)
Conclusions and Discussions modeling and Virtual Reality (VR) technology will be
considered as learning subjects and complementary tools for
A. Results BIM-based Architectural Heritage Modeling. Currently, BIM,
This research explores the problems of the conservation and VR and GIS seldom intersect with each other and are not in
restoration of architectural heritage in Taiwan, as well as the parallel use. In the near future, the combination of BIM and
problems of communication between local workers and GIS tools for architectural heritage conservation and disaster
designers. This study aims to analyze the feasibility of BIM prevention will be our research direction. Besides, for better
technology applied to restoration works of architectural workflow of the documentation and visualization, extending
heritage. The establishment of visualization model, the design BIM-based historical district models into computer gaming
of parametric component objects and the update of the environment will be another future task.
information for object restoration were carried out in this study
to increase the reuse of objects, improve the efficiency of Acknowledgements
restoration design and ensure smooth communication during This research is dedicated to Ministry of Science and
the construction stage. For enhancing the accuracy and Technology of Taiwan for her generous research grant, the
efficiency of restoration of historic buildings, an on-site coded number: MOST 105-2119-M-390-002. The authors
support system is developed with the external Application would like to thank Jui-Cheng Ma and Lung-Yu Tsai for the
Programming Interface (API) includes Revit plugin and mobile contribution of their technical support on the development of
app which restoration participants can build a more complete Revit plugin and mobile app system.
information platform, which enables the real-time exchange of
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