Ambition
BAEC aims to combine automatic, accurate and high-frequency measurements of ground movement with efficient (or even automatic!) analysis of subsidence measurement data and short- and long-term forecasts based on simple and more advanced geotechnical models.
By using BAEC, geotechnical engineers can increase the quality, efficiency and accuracy of the settlement predictions which means earlier and better decision making over the advance of construction projects.
The BAEC system
We are building BAEC upon the idea of working with automatic real-time settlement rod measurements (zakbaak metingen, in Dutch). Within a given project, these measurements are performed by a specialist geodetic company (for instance, Basetime) using advanced sensor technology and synced with a database using wireless communications.
BAEC itself will provide software to easily retrieve the measurement data, apply geotechnical model fitting and make settlement predictions at times of interest. And even better, it will be possible to create model generators and schedule them to fit a new model and update the predictions every certain time (e.g. every day or every time a new measurement is made). A visualization platform will be developed where the measured data and results can be checked by the site engineers.
In short, the main components of the BAEC system will be:
- Measurements Database: It contains the settlement rod data of a given project and is updated every time a new measurement is made on the field. This database is developed and managed by the geodetic company.
- BAEC Python SDK: Public python package to retrieve measurements from the database, perform manual geotechnical model fits and predictions, create model generators and schedule automatic fits and predictions to be performed in the BAEC platform.
- SettleCore API: The CEMS core containing the kernel that computes the model fits and predictions. It will be used by the BAEC Python SDK and the BAEC platform.
- BAEC Platform: Platform to visualize settlement rod measurements, fitted models, settlement predictions and project settlement requirements and checks. The platform will be also set to perform the automatic fits and predictions.
Ongoing development
The BAEC system is under active development. The plan is to have all its components ready by Q1 2025. Regular updates will be provided here.
A sneak preview of what the not-yet-public BAEC Python SDK can already do is shown below. Note how simple it is to connect to the database, compute settlements and fit a model and visualize the results.
from baec.measurements.io.basetime import BaseTimeBucket, Credentials
from baec.measurements.measured_settlement_series import MeasuredSettlementSeries
from baec.model.fitcore import FitCoreModelGenerator
from nuclei.client import NucleiClient
# Connect to the Measurements database
database = BaseTimeBucket(
credentials=Credentials(),
s3bucket="my_bucket",
)
# Request data for a given company, project and rod_id
measurement_series = database.make_settlement_rod_measurement_series(
company="my_company",
project="my_project",
rod_id="my_rod_id", # in this case E990M
)
# Visualize the measurements
measurement_series.plot_xyz_time()
# Create settlement series from measurements
settlement_series = MeasuredSettlementSeries(
series=measurement_series,
start_date_time=datetime.datetime(2015, 1, 18),
)
# Visualize the settlements
settlement_series.plot_fill_settlement_time()
# Fit a simple Koppejan model to the settlements
model = FitCoreModelGenerator(
series=settlement_series,
client=NucleiClient(),
)
# Visualize the measured settlements and the fitted model
model.plot_fill_settlement_time()
Added value of CEMS:
Bringing direct value to continuous measurements using automated predictions with geotechnical microservices. Ultimately, this will translate to earlier and better decision making over the advance of construction projects.
This is achieved by providing:
- Easy data acquisition from a database with continuous measurements.
- Efficient model fitting and predictions based on the measurements.
- Scheduling automatic model fitting every day or every time a new measurement is available.
- Visualization of measurements, prediction and project checks to inform decision makers within a construction project.