BIM-AR Driven Collaborative Management of Complex MEP Equipment Installation

With the increasing complexity of construction projects, the efficient installation and management of Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) equipment has become particularly important. Currently, the management of complex MEP equipment faces challenges of multi-disciplinary collaboration, errors, and collisions during installation, as well as inefficient progress management and problem feedback. Therefore, this paper proposes a BIM and Augmented Reality (AR) driven collaborative management method for the installation of complex MEP equipment, including intelligent scene localization, accurate matching of model information, and collaboration of multi-terminal devices to reduce errors and improve efficiency. In this method, the physical built structural scene is firstly collected and accurately aligned with the MEP BIM model, and then the MEP component data is processed and matched using Dynamo and Unity. The human-computer interaction functions of installation guidance and review, information display and filtering, progress simulation, and data management are then realized for the complex MEP equipment. Additionally, the collaborative application and data management of multi-terminal devices utilizing AR headsets and handheld devices significantly improves the efficiency of communication. Through the experiment in a public building project under construction in Shenzhen, the feasibility and application effect of the method are verified, which provides strong support for the intelligent construction and collaborative management of complex MEP equipment, and has a wide range of application prospects.