Abstract:The development of system‐of‐systems (SoS) requires a continuous interplay between design decisions on the SoS level and those on the level of its constituent systems (CS), which often preexist and need to be adapted as the SoS evolves. This involves not only preparing the CS to participate in a particular SoS, but also designing the CS architecture to make it easily adaptable to a future SoS context. The problem is in part addressed in an emerging SoS framework in the manufacturing domain called Industry 4.0.… Show more
“…Some conceptual studies are available too. These studies predominantly focus on narrows areas of integrating Industry 4.0 into the construction domain (Axelsson et al, 2019) or attempt to showcase the need or the nature of the change needed (Woodhead et al, 2018, Tang et al, 2019, Alaloul et al, 2020.…”
PurposeThe Internet of Things (IoT) provides exciting opportunities for the construction industry to solve its time and resource constraints and frequent defaults. This study seeks to identify and rank the perceived importance level of principal research areas associated with the IoT and the construction industry by utilising a scientific mapping tool (i.e. VOSviewer). Such knowledge would enable key drivers for successful adoption of the IoT and digitisation technologies to be outlined. An analysis of key drivers and research trends that facilitates the development of a roadmap for applying the IoT and digital technologies in the construction sector is therefore much needed.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretivist philosophical lens was adopted to analyse published work as secondary data, where each publication represented a unit of analysis. A total of 417 peer-reviewed journal review articles covering the IoT within the construction domain were systematically reviewed using a mixed-methods approach, utilising qualitative-scientometric analyses techniques.FindingsThe results revealed a field of study in a fledgling stage, with a limited number of experts operating somewhat in isolation and offering single-point solutions instead of taking an integrated “holistic” approach. Key publication outlets were identified and the main focus of research undertaken being in the technical areas of smart buildings, smart construction objects and environmental sustainability. The major effects of adopting the IoT within the construction industry were identified as high-speed reporting, complete process control, data explosion leading to deep data analytics, strict ethical and legal expectations. Key drivers of the IoT adoption were outlined: interoperability; data privacy and security; flexible governance structures; proper business planning and models.Practical implicationsThe study benefits researchers and industry practitioners alike. For researchers, the identified gaps reveal areas of high priority in future research. For construction companies, particularly small to medium-sized businesses, the study raises awareness of the latest developments and potential applicability of the IoT in the industry. For government agencies and policymakers, this study offers a point of reference in directing the adoption of the IoT smoothly in the construction sector and provides guidelines and standards for maximising the potential benefits.Originality/valueThe study is the first scientometric review of the existing body of knowledge in the context of application of the IoT in the construction industry. Findings expose knowledge gaps in contemporary research, specifically, a broader consideration of organisational adjustments needed to accommodate the IoT usage, economic analyses and impediments to wider acceptance.
“…Some conceptual studies are available too. These studies predominantly focus on narrows areas of integrating Industry 4.0 into the construction domain (Axelsson et al, 2019) or attempt to showcase the need or the nature of the change needed (Woodhead et al, 2018, Tang et al, 2019, Alaloul et al, 2020.…”
PurposeThe Internet of Things (IoT) provides exciting opportunities for the construction industry to solve its time and resource constraints and frequent defaults. This study seeks to identify and rank the perceived importance level of principal research areas associated with the IoT and the construction industry by utilising a scientific mapping tool (i.e. VOSviewer). Such knowledge would enable key drivers for successful adoption of the IoT and digitisation technologies to be outlined. An analysis of key drivers and research trends that facilitates the development of a roadmap for applying the IoT and digital technologies in the construction sector is therefore much needed.Design/methodology/approachAn interpretivist philosophical lens was adopted to analyse published work as secondary data, where each publication represented a unit of analysis. A total of 417 peer-reviewed journal review articles covering the IoT within the construction domain were systematically reviewed using a mixed-methods approach, utilising qualitative-scientometric analyses techniques.FindingsThe results revealed a field of study in a fledgling stage, with a limited number of experts operating somewhat in isolation and offering single-point solutions instead of taking an integrated “holistic” approach. Key publication outlets were identified and the main focus of research undertaken being in the technical areas of smart buildings, smart construction objects and environmental sustainability. The major effects of adopting the IoT within the construction industry were identified as high-speed reporting, complete process control, data explosion leading to deep data analytics, strict ethical and legal expectations. Key drivers of the IoT adoption were outlined: interoperability; data privacy and security; flexible governance structures; proper business planning and models.Practical implicationsThe study benefits researchers and industry practitioners alike. For researchers, the identified gaps reveal areas of high priority in future research. For construction companies, particularly small to medium-sized businesses, the study raises awareness of the latest developments and potential applicability of the IoT in the industry. For government agencies and policymakers, this study offers a point of reference in directing the adoption of the IoT smoothly in the construction sector and provides guidelines and standards for maximising the potential benefits.Originality/valueThe study is the first scientometric review of the existing body of knowledge in the context of application of the IoT in the construction industry. Findings expose knowledge gaps in contemporary research, specifically, a broader consideration of organisational adjustments needed to accommodate the IoT usage, economic analyses and impediments to wider acceptance.
“…The Fourth Industrial Revolution (also known as Industry 4.0, Industrie 4.0, or I4.0) and related technologies have led to a significant evolution and transformation of the manufacturing systems. The key principles behind I4.0 are interconnection, information transparency, decentralized decisions, and real time technical assistance for human operators [2]. All parts of the manufacturing system should be connected with each other and have common data models.…”
In light of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the concepts of flexibility and re-configurability of manufacturing systems and the evolution of their control architectures are becoming increasingly important. The development of Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and their flexibility and integrated capabilities have paved the way to the transition from centralized control to heterarchical (decentralized) control architectures. In this paper, a comparison between centralized and heterarchical control architectures in a virtual learning environment is presented. The control architectures of the assembly station and the materials handling system of modern manufacturing systems have been conceptualized and tested under different working conditions. The results show that centralized control is the best solution only for deterministic and predictable scenarios, which are very far from reality, whereas, in case of failures, a more flexible control is preferable.
“…We have applied RDF as a basis for SoS interoperability in some larger cases (Axelsson, Fröberg, and Eriksson 2019;Axelsson 2019b), and some of the experiences will now be described.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Although the semantic web technologies are not concerned with the basic transfer of data, it is worth noting that Internet technology is playing an increasingly important role in SoS. This is obvious in applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT), but there is also a more and more common scenario where a system is given a representation in the cloud through a private data link, and then interactions with other systems occur between their respective cloud representations (Axelsson, Fröberg, and Eriksson, 2019). This cloud-to-cloud interaction is also based on Internet and WWW protocols, such as HTTP.…”
Section: Technical Interoperability: Transferability Of Datamentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The use of linked data for SoS interoperability has been suggested in a number of papers, including Axelsson, Fröberg, and Eriksson (2019) and Axelsson (2019b) which apply it in the construction domain. Baek et al (2018) present the M2SoS meta-model for SoS, which was elicited in the context of a mass causality incident response system.…”
Interoperability is a key concern in systems‐of‐systems (SoS). Numerous frameworks have been proposed to deal with this, but they are generally on a high level and do not provide specific guidance for technical implementation. However, in the context of simulation, the Levels of Conceptual Interoperability Model (LCIM) has been proposed. Also, the semantic web initiative has been introduced to provide description logic information to web pages. This paper investigates how these two concepts can be combined into a general approach for SoS interoperability. It also expands on the LCIM model by providing more details about the world models of a system and its content on the higher levels of interoperability. The combination is illustrated using an example of autonomous vehicles, and experiences from other applications are also discussed.
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