Automated spacing measurement of formwork system members with 3D point
  cloud data
Keyi Wu Samuel A. Prieto Eyob Mengiste Borja García de Soto
The formwork system belonging to the temporary structure plays an important
role in the smooth progress and successful completion of a construction
project. Ensuring that the formwork system is installed as designed is
essential for construction safety and quality. The current way to measure the
spacing between formwork system members is mostly done using manual measuring
tools. This research proposes a framework to measure the spacing of formwork
system members using 3D point cloud data to enhance the automation of this
quality inspection. The novelty is not only in the integration of the different
techniques used but in the detection and measurement of key members in the
formwork system without human intervention. The proposed framework was tested
on a real construction site. Five cases were investigated to compare the 3D
point cloud data approach to the manual approach with traditional measuring
tools. The results indicate that the 3D point cloud data approach is a
promising solution and can potentially be an effective alternative to the
manual approach.