Laboratory for Intelligent inFrastructure Technology (LIFT)
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Yuguang Fu, Ph.D.
Google Scholar
Problems
Civil infrastructure has been increasingly strained by shifting demographics, population growth, and multi-hazard environment, stimulating the demands for advanced smart technologies. Intelligent infrastructure has the great potential to address the challenge and lay the foundation for smart cities. It deeply embeds various smart techniques of sensing, communicating, computing, and controlling into the physical world, which improve structural resilience, increase operational efficiency, reduce management cost, and improve the quality of government services and citizen welfare.
Approach
The research group seeks to advance state-of-the-art smart structural technologies to make our built environment sustainable and resilient. It is primarily focused on the following aspects: 1) smart IoT sensors and signal processing for structural health monitoring, 2) digital twin modeling and simulation techniques for digital construction and infrastructure monitoring, and 3) wearable AI analytics for construction workplace safety and health.
Findings
The research findings from the group showed the great potential of interdisciplinary studies to promote structural health monitoring and digital construction, where smart sensing techniques, advanced modelling strategies and artificial intelligence meet to enable a series of effective solutions. Our sensing prototypes of ConstructNode, RoomSense, Xnode, and digital twin models of railroad tunnels, viaducts, have several applications and use cases demonstrated.
Impact
The research group has made several impactful contributions to both the academic and professional communities, including but not limited to, 1) prototypes of sensors and digital twins used by other research groups, like Singapore-ETH Centre and Urban Systems Lab. 2) full-scale deployment for industrial partners, like SBS Transit Ltd and Hwa Seng Builder Pte Ltd, and 3) a testbed for digital construction, including a building model and a tunnel model. More impacts are making in the near future.
Core Competencies
- Wireless smart IoT sensor prototype development for structural health monitoring
- Edge intelligence algorithm development for civil infrastructure monitoring and management
- Digital twin framework development for railroad tunnel monitoring and maintenance
- Wearable AI and digital twin for construction workplace safety and health
Funding Agencies
Ministry of Education, Singapore; National Research Foundation, Singapore