Geometric‐Based Reasoning System for Project Planning

Abstract

Traditional planning and scheduling techniques provide construction planners with mathematical models to simulate the construction process as an aid in planning and control of complex projects. These techniques possess many limitations. They usually place considerable reliance on planners' judgment, imagination, and intuition. They require abstract visualization of the perceived configurations, characteristics, and spatial relationships among various components of the designed facility, which usually results in differences of opinion among various planners. There is a need for the development of new techniques to augment and overcome some of the limitations that exist in current planning techniques. This paper presents a geometric‐based reasoning system called KNOW‐PLAN. The system integrates artificial intelligence with 3‐D computer modeling technologies to automatically generate and visually simulate project plans. The system utilizes mainly the geometric data that defines the topography of the designed facility to generate the project plan.