Civil Systems Engineering

Approaches for system theoretic research problems in the sector of construction in close cooperation with partners from civil engineering and architecture.

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What we do

The Civil Systems Engineering group at ISYS is engaged with system theoretic research problems in the sector of construction. The research projects are conducted in close cooperation with partners from civil engineering and architecture.

CFD-simulation of a ventilated room

Current Research Projects

  • Path planning for tower cranes in a virtual environmental model of the construction site
  • Trajectory generation and hybrid control strategies of a spider crane and a tower crane
  • Design of a hook-mounted tower crane gripper system for automated load transportation
  • Further information
Elements of the cyberphysical construction platform
  • Development of a cyber-physical construction platform for (partly) automating assembly in construction
  • Concept for trajectory following for a robotic platform (minicrane) with local sensors and precise absolute positions provided by an RTS (robotic total station) network
  • Intelligent gripper, wearable haptic interfac and assistance functions for human operators
  • Hybrid control of minicrane and tower crane or between two minicranes
  • Further information
Three mobile robots stand in a factory hall. On the left is the six-wheeled sensor robot. In the middle is a mobile manipulator with two manipulators. On the right is a mobile manipulator with one manipulator attached to the mobile platform via a linear axis.
  • Cooperative trajectory generation for a heterogeneous group of mobile manipulators for indoor construction tasks
  • Optimization-based and AI-supported approaches for adaptive decentralized trajectory generation
  • Development of an absolute positioning system
  • Creation of a digital twin
  • SLAM approaches for online monitoring of construction processes
  • Simulative and experimental validation for the construction of a stud wall system
  • Further information
  • Compensation of dynamic distributed disturbances of a distributed parameter beam system by means of boundary control
  • Axle load estimation of trains
  • State estimation of structures
  • Nonlinear modeling and control of hydraulic elements
  • Further information
  • Modeling and operational strategies for hydroactive facades
  • Analysis and optimization of component design
  • Development of hardware architectures and automation concepts
  • Further information

Completed Research Projects

  • Resource-efficient, energy-optimized and lightweight constructions through adaptivity
  • Interaction between user and building
  • Structural integration of active elements and development of concepts for building physics
  • State estimation, concepts for reliability, feedforward and feedback control of adaptive structures
  • Further information
  • Investigation of novel construction elements with intrinsic sensory and actuatory functionality
  • Modeling and control of systems with HICE
  • Further information
  • Graded concrete provides the possibility to adapt the inner structure of concrete components
  • Reproducible production process requires automated manufacturing
  • Further information
  • Modelling of room conditions under consideration of internal and external disturbances (weather, occupancy, internal loads...)
  • Temperature control aiming for thermal comfort and energy efficiency
  • Further information
  • Coarse assembly planning using Logic-Geometric Programming
  • Modeling abstractions of building systems in interaction with construction robotics for the analyses of structural states and constructive integrity
  • Modellpredictive control strategies for robotic construction
  • Further Information

Student's Theses

We are always looking for students who want to contribute to one of our research projects through a bachelor's or master's thesis.

For more information or if you would like to inquire about additional topics, please do not hesitate to contact one of our group members.

Publications

  • C. Flaig, W. Sobek, M. Heidingsfeld & O. Sawodny, “Prototyp einer adaptiven, vertikal vorgespannten Seilfassade”, Glasbau, 2017
  • M. Wörner, D. Schmeer, B. Schuler, J. Pfinder, H. Garrecht, O. Sawodny & W. Sobek, “Gradientenbetontechnologie”, Beton- und Stahlbetonbau, 111, pp. 794-805, 2016, doi:10.1002/best.201600056
  • M. Weickgenannt, S. Neuhäuser, B. Henke, W. Sobek & O. Sawodny, “Optimal Sensor Placement for State Estimation of a Thin Double-curved Shell Structure”, Mechatronics, 23, pp. 346-354, 2013
  • J. Günther & O. Sawodny, “Versatile Ventilation and Air Conditioning Operation: Gaussian Process Regression for Temperature Field Prediction”, American Control Conference (ACC), Milwaukee, USA, 2018
  • M. Heidingsfeld, P. Rapp, M. Böhm & O. Sawodny, “Gramian-based Actuator Placement with Spillover Reduction for Active Damping of Adaptive Structures”, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Munich, Germany, 2017, pp. 904-909, doi:10.1109/AIM.2017.8014133
  • P. Rapp, M. Heidingsfeld, M. Böhm, O. Sawodny & C. Tarín, “Multimodal Sensor Fusion of Inertial, Strain, and Distance Data for State Estimation of Adaptive Structures using Particle Filtering”, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Munich, Germany, 2017, pp. 921-928, doi:10.1109/AIM.2017.8014136
  • J. Wagner, M. Heidingsfeld, M. Böhm & O. Sawodny, “Gramian-Based Actuator Placement for Static Load Compensation in Adaptive Structures”, GACM Colloquium on Computational Mechanics, 2017, doi:10.18419/opus-9334
  • M. Heidingsfeld, E. Arnold, C. Tarín & O. Sawodny, “Actuator Fault-tolerant Control of the Stuttgart SmartShell”, IEEE Conference on Control Applications (CCA), Sydney, Australia, 2015, doi:10.1109/CCA.2015.7320742
  • M. Heidingsfeld, U. Kimmerle, C. Tarín & O. Sawodny, “Model-based Sensor Fault Diagnosis for the Stuttgart SmartShell”, IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), 2014, pp. 846-851, doi:10.1109/CoASE.2014.6899424
  • W. Sobek, S. Neuhäuser, W. Haase, O. Sawodny & M. Weickgenannt, “Ultralightweight Structures”, International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) Symposium, Wroclaw, Poland, 2013
  • M. Wörner, M. Weickgenannt, S. Neuhäuser, C. Göhrle, W. Sobek & O. Sawodny, “Kinematic Modeling of a Hydraulically Actuated 3-SPR-Parallel Manipulator for an Adaptive Shell Structure”, IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), Wollongong, Australia, 2013, pp. 1330-1336
  • M. Weickgenannt & O. Sawodny, “Active Vibration Control Of A Double-Curved Shell Structure Using the Example of Stuttgart SmartShell”, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition, 2012
  • M. Weickgennant, S. Neuhäuser, W. Sobek & O. Sawodny, “Aktive Schwingungsdämpfung eines doppelt gekrümmten Schalentragwerks”, VDI Baudynamik Konferenz, Kassel, Germany, 2012
  • M. Weickgenannt, S. Neuhäuser, B. Henke, W. Sobek & O. Sawodny, “Optimal sensor placement for state estimation of flexible shell structures”, Conference of Fluid Power and Mechatronics FPM, 2011, pp. 374-380, doi:10.1109/FPM.2011.6045791
  • M. Wörner, “Automatisierte Herstellung funktional gradierter Betonbauteile”, 2017
  • M. Weickgenannt, “Konzepte zur modellbasierten Regelung adaptiver Schalentragwerke”, 2013
  • M. Weickgenannt & O. Sawodny, “Boundary control of flexible double-curved shell structures with large deflections”, 2011
  • M. Weickgenannt, B. Henke & O. Sawodny, “Optimale Sensorverteilung zur Lastdetektion auf Schalentragwerken”, 2010

Members of the Civil Systems Engineering Group

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