FUTUREWORX REPORT

On the Road to Autonomy

National Highways unveiled a new industry-wide scoring system for Connected and Autonomous Plant for the first time at the Futureworx event. Project Manager Muneer Akhtar explains why the new CAP levels are needed and how they will help make automation ‘business as usual’ for the construction industry in the future.

There is a digital revolution just over the horizon for construction and at National Highways we want to make sure that not only are we ready for this once-in-a-lifetime transformation but that we are helping to drive the changes through.

We are committed to discovering and embracing new technologies which will fundamentally change how our roads are designed, built, operated and used as we develop the safer, greener roads of the future.

The CAP Levels are another step forward on that journey and a huge leap along our Connected and Autonomous Plant road map.

They provide a common language to guide the industry towards transformative change.

Other industries have already seen sustained benefit in productivity as a result of automation and there is now a huge opportunity for automation to transform construction in both improved safety and productivity.

Why is CAP important?

We know that connected and autonomous plant offers a real opportunity to revolutionise the construction sector by making work safer, quicker and bringing significant benefits for the environment.

CAP has the potential to improve productivity by more than £200bn by 2040 in the construction sector and we are committed to making it standard industry practice. By establishing more collaborative relationships with innovators and academics we hope to continue to lead in this field.

Working jointly with i3P, we launched the CAP Roadmap in June 2020 which identified challenges and workstreams to support a goal of making automation business as usual in construction by 2035.

Our intention is for the CAP project to spread the many benefits of automation across construction, rather than limit it to highways. The benefits of automation in construction include:

● Improved safety by removing people from close proximity to machines

● Improved efficiencies from reduced rework and optimised tasks

● Environmental benefits through better productivity

● At later stages, fleet control will relocate operators away from the job site

But to coordinate a sector-wide shift, construction needs a language tailored to its connected and autonomous plant needs.

What are the CAP levels?

Key to progressing our road map is establishing this common language and a first of its kind framework to enable connected and autonomous plant to be specified and deployed on construction schemes.

This means that all construction clients, like National Highways, can communicate clear expectations to suppliers and manufacturers can describe capability of their products using the same language.

The Futureworx event was the perfect platform to showcase the CAP levels to a targeted industry audience which would most benefit by the introduction of this standardised measure offering clarity and a clear way to compare different types of machinery to suit different tasks.

The term Connected and Autonomous Plant refers to construction plant that is connected to its environment through sensors or wireless transfer of data between a remote operator while the autonomy element refers to aspects of the construction vehicle’s operation and also movement around a site. and profile, meaning more efficient and easier working for machine operators. In future the operator may not need to be in the machine and could even control it from the other side of the world.

The new CAP Levels Maturity Matrix enables plant and machinery to be scored according to its level of automation.

The CAP Levels take a 4 stage plus 1 approach as described below. The first four stages deconstruct the processes required to carry out a task in a similar way to a human, and the additional component describes who or what is responsible for the machine: O – Observe U – Understand D – Decide A – Act R – Responsibility The roadmap and the CAP levels have been developed in collaboration with TRL – the UK-based global centre for innovation in transport and mobility – as well as i3P, Costain, original equipment manufacturers and over 75 industry stakeholders meaning they have been shaped by those who will be guided by them.

Call to industry

At National Highways, we realised some time ago that steps should be taken to accelerate the development and adoption of plant automation technologies – but importantly that industry needed to be involved every step of the way.

That is why we have worked so closely with i3P - the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Partnership - and more than 75 industry stakeholders to date.

Although phase 2 of the project draws to a close with the publication of the CAP levels, this is the beginning, not the end. There are still refinements and iterations to be made. For example, the levels must be applied at scale within National Highways and CAP stakeholders to determine if there is adequate guidance or if some certification of machines and systems is required.

We want to hear feedback from the industry and those that will be using the CAP levels.

This is an ongoing process and we need as many relevant people involved as possible. If you have an interest in contributing to the development of CAP, please contact cap@nationalhighways.co.uk

The Digital Roads revolution

The ongoing digital revolution in the highways industry can reduce disruption to the public, improve safety, and offers significant environmental benefits. It can also increase productivity dramatically and generate billions of pounds in savings.

Digital technologies and techniques are increasingly being introduced, for example, to automate some activities that require manual labour and human intervention but also involve risk.

National Highways has set out its Digital Roads strategy on a new website. The web pages clearly set out the company’s Digital Roads 2025 vision for safer and greener roads and how the growth of digital technology and the move to electric, connected and autonomous vehicles will fundamentally change roads in the future.

To visit the Digital Roads website click here: https:// nationalhighways.co.uk/industry/digital-data-andtechnology/digital-roads/