Abduaziz Juraboev from the Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) won the buildingSMART International Award in the "Student Projects" category for his contribution on the topic of "Open BIM Approach and Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID)." The buildingSMART competence network stands for digital planning, construction, and operation of buildings.
Juraboev joined the awards ceremony in Montreal via live video link to present his master's thesis to the expert audience. His thesis focused on the implementation of RFID transmitter and receiver systems and IoT technologies. IoT stands for "Internet of Things" and refers to a network of physical objects equipped with software and other technologies to connect them to other devices and systems via the internet. This allows data to be exchanged between the objects.
Juraboev's project contributes to the accessibility of buildings. It aims to support visually impaired people wherever GPS signals cannot be used efficiently. To achieve this, RFID chips have been integrated into building components and linked to BIM models. The BIM concept is based on the open exchange of building models, regardless of the software used by the project participants. Invisible to the naked eye, simple yet high-tech technology is embedded in the floor. A specially modified white cane reads the chips and transmits their information via a smartphone app. RFID chips are ideal because they require no electricity and contain only minimal information, such as an identification number. The white cane provides the energy to read the information, while the app performs the actual "work": linking the ID with information usable by the user.
The jury for the award ceremony in Montreal consisted of seven members, who either hold a leading position at buildingSMART Germany or come from the construction industry.
The project will be continued from 2023 onwards as part of the research project “ModuLeiT” funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, together with the Department Civil Engineering and MNI of THM and the cooperation partner TFI-Institute for Soil Systems at RWTH Aachen University.