Spatial conflict simulator using game engine technology and Bayesian networks for workspace management

Workspace demand changes across space and time, stressing the need to consider space as a limited and renewable resource. Traditional scheduling techniques have not fully handled this issue. This paper proposes a workspace management framework using a game engine to address that. The simulator detects spatial interferences by combining geometric computations and physics simulations. The detected conflicts are filtered through Bayesian inference to detect non-critical scenarios and avoid overestimation. The proposed spatial conflict simulator was tested using a real use case and compared to commercial tools. Results showed that the Navisworks approach detected 58 spatial conflicts (of which only 25% were relevant), the Synchro approach detected 1 spatial conflict, and the proposed approach detected 1 “direct” and 4 “indirect” spatial conflicts. Results show its capability to detect more relevant spatial issues than state-of-the-art tools and avoid overestimations. Construction management teams can adjust or confirm the schedule with that information.