19 Dec 2025
As smart cities and intelligent construction continue to advance, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University's Design School remains committed to translating cutting-edge research into real-world applications.
Recently, the Construction Site Multimodal Sensing Inspection System, jointly developed by a research team led by Dr Shu Tang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at XJTLU, and China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Bureau Corp., Ltd. (South China Branch), received the Third Prize of the Jiangsu Provincial Digital Economy Society Outstanding Achievement Award.
The system employs a quadruped robot as its primary platform, integrating multimodal sensing, intelligent navigation, computer vision, and environmental monitoring technologies. Designed for construction and building operation scenarios, it offers an innovative approach to intelligent inspection and safety management. The system has already been deployed in real construction projects, demonstrating strong performance and practical applicability.
The award highlights XJTLU’s research strengths in intelligent construction, robotics, and artificial intelligence, as well as the university’s ongoing commitment to industry-academia-research collaboration. The project also provides valuable real-world case studies and experimental platforms for students and researchers across related disciplines.
According to Dr Tang, the inspection system has three key technical features: integrated perception and intelligent navigation, computer vision-based safety detection, and modular design for interdisciplinary research.
“It integrates perception and intelligent navigation through close coordination between user terminals and cloud-based platforms, enabling remote supervision and real-time intervention during inspection tasks. This approach demonstrates the practical value of IoT and edge computing technologies in intelligent engineering systems.
“In terms of safety management, the system incorporates advanced computer vision models to analyse on-site imagery in real time, automatically identifying unsafe or non-compliant construction behaviours as well as potential hazards. These capabilities offer tangible application cases for teaching and research in engineering safety management.
“In addition, by integrating gas sensing modules and high-precision LiDAR, the system supports real-time environmental monitoring and high-resolution 3D point cloud data acquisition. Its modular and extensible design provides an open platform for interdisciplinary research collaboration among faculty and students,” she says.
XJTLU is dedicated to nurturing globally minded graduates with strong innovative capabilities. By strengthening industry-academia-research integration, the university aims to continue generating impactful technological solutions that contribute to safer, smarter, and more efficient future cities.
Story and images provided by Department of Civil Engineering
Edited by Yi Qian
19 Dec 2025