This week’s Smart Infrastructure edition features the fate of dwindling government infrastructure funding, an infographic of how machine-to-machine (M2M) capabilities save money for service providers, and how the United Kingdom is handling infrastructure construction for the future.

Obama pushes smart infrastructure initiatives

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By September 30 of this year, spending authorization for the Highway Trust Fund expires, while the budget is expected to run out by late summer.  This means the 112,000 ongoing projects slated to be completed over the next year will be put on hold, and the nearly 700,000 jobs those projects would support will be non-existent.

That’s the grim scenario Americans are facing if Congress doesn’t do something about the Highway Trust Fund, and find a way to increase funding and support all those projects. If President Barak Obama has his way, the US could see new initiatives for smart infrastructure in the near future.

As part of a recent two-day visit to New York, Obama stopped by the Lower Hudson Valley and used the aging Tappan Zee Bridge as his backdrop to enlighten people about the GROW AMERICA Act, or Generating Renewal, Opportunity, and Work with Accelerated Mobility, Efficiency, and Rebuilding of Infrastructure and Communities throughout America.

Under the GROW AMERICA Act, Obama stated that he initiated the fast-track system to cut the permitting time from five to one and half years, allowing the $3.9 billion bridge replacement to start earlier.

Obama mentioned that if the Congress does not do anything about the Highway Trust Fund, great and innovative infrastructures will probably be constructed outside of America, which means loss of business, as “business are going to come where there’s good infrastructure to move business, to move people, and to move services.”

This initiative could also give rise to the construction of smart infrastructure, laced with sensors and connected to the internet, that will help prevent costly repairs as small problems are immediately detected so it can be fixed faster and will cost less.

M2M could save the service industry $1.7B annually

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Service Power, a company that provides best in class field service scheduling and management software to business, released an infographic detailing how machine-to-machine communication can help the service industry save up to $1.7 billion yearly.

The infographic The Future of a Connected Field Technician, states that in the coming years, more and more infrastructures will be connected to the Internet to facilitate machine-to-machine communication.  Companies such as IBM and HP have invested in connected infrastructures to stay ahead of the curve and in anticipation for the 40 percent increase in M2M data by the year 2020.  IBM invests $1.8 billion annually, while HP is highly dedicated to this sector at $10 billion per year.

The importance of connected infrastructure for service providers is that it takes predictability to a whole new level.  Depending on the type of a machine, sensors continuously check for various parameters such as temperature, output levels, vibrations, sounds, or revolutions per minute.

A machine rarely breaks immediately, often, one part stops acting normally, then affects other parts, ultimately resulting in the machine breaking down.  The sensors check for abnormal functions and the data gathered is sent to a field technician.  If a sensor detects that a part of the machine is not functioning properly, a timetable for machine failure is set.  This informs the technician what particular part is broken, which will be affected if not immediately fixed, and when the machine will ultimately break.

The infographic also showed how field technicians can greatly benefit from using wearable technology, such as Google Glass or something similar.  A heads-up-display (HUD) unit can sync to machine sensors and deliver the needed information directly to the field technician.  With that information on the display screen, the field technician has visual access to the information he needs while keeping his hands free.

Augmented reality can also be used so a field tech fixing the problem know exactly where the part needed to be fixed is located.  HUDs can be used for micronavigation especially when in an area where there are a lot of similar machines.  If the field technician needs additional information about the machine, he do a simple web search using the HUD, eliminating the need to bring experts, or pay for additional manpower just to fix a problem.

By effectively utilizing M2M, Service Power estimates that it could lower cost of service by 35-60 percent.

A move towards smarter infrastructure

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The Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at Cambridge University and Costain, an international engineering and construction group, are working together to transform the future of infrastructure and construction in UK.  Its first project, making the London Bridge Station smarter.

Through this project, not only is the London Bridge station getting upgraded to accommodate 21st century traffic, but it also serves as an excellent test ground for a number of CSIC’s technologies and methods.  The bridge will be networked with fibre-optic sensors on masonry arches under the station, providing data needed to better understand how piling works at the station.  The data acquired by CSIC will then be cross-checked with Costain’s own methods of measuring the arches’ movements.

CSIC is also testing a wireless noise-monitoring sensor network, which is placed alongside Costain’s existing equipment for comparison purposes, as well as trialling innovative computer vision techniques to capture the construction processes and compare that data with design.  This will allow them to assist industry partners in improving decision-making processes when it comes to building construction.

photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc