Next week National Highways will be unveiling a new industry-wide scoring system for Connected and Autonomous Plant (CAP) to construction bosses.
The new CAP Levels Maturity Matrix will score machinery according to its level of automation. This is the first standardised measure of its kind for plant, though a standard understanding of automation levels already exists for private vehicles.
The strategic roads operator said it will offer clarity and a transparent way to compare different types of machinery to suit different tasks.
The system is the latest development in the CAP Roadmap launched by National Highways and i3P - the Infrastructure Industry Innovation Partnership, which is an independent innovation community governed by representatives from its member organisations.
The roadmap was jointly launched in June 2020 and identified challenges and workstreams to support a goal of making automation business as usual in construction by 2035.
The roadmap and the CAP Levels Maturity Matrix have been developed in collaboration with TRL – the UK-based global centre for innovation in transport and mobility – as well as i3P, Costain and over 75 industry stakeholders.
National Highways hopes the matrix will establish a common framework to enable connected and autonomous plant to be specified and deployed on construction schemes, helping construction clients such as National Highways to communicate clear expectations to suppliers.
It also means manufacturers can describe the capability of their products using the same language.
National Highways' Head of Innovation, Annette Pass, said: ‘Connected and autonomous plant offers a real opportunity to revolutionise the construction sector by making work safer, quicker and brings significant benefits for the environment.
‘Our new CAP levels will further our ambitious plans to introduce more connected and autonomous plant onto sites as we continue to develop the roads of the future.
‘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.’
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 vehicle’s operation and also movement around a site.
An example of currently available technology is Intelligent Machine Control which guides excavators to dig to precisely the right level and profile, meaning more efficient and easier working for machine operators. ‘In future the operator may not need to be in the vehicle and could even control it from the other side of the world,’ National Highways said.
‘The ongoing digital revolution in the construction industry can increase productivity dramatically and generate billions of pounds in savings. At the same time, digital transformation can reduce disruption to the public and improve safety,’ a spokesperson added.
‘Digital technologies are increasingly being introduced in construction and opportunities arise to introduce new techniques such as automating some activities that require manual labour and human intervention but also involve risk.’