Developing a Conceptual Framework for the Application of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Malaysia's Infrastructure Projects : the Perspectives of Contractors

Tan, Kheng Soon (2023) Developing a Conceptual Framework for the Application of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) in Malaysia's Infrastructure Projects : the Perspectives of Contractors. Masters thesis, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

As a developing country such as Malaysia in the near future, infrastructure projects and adoption of UAV technology will increase since it provided advantages such as virtual alternatives. Despite, the Malaysia construction industry was regarded as having conservative methods of work thus, there is slow adoption toward innovation. In addition, there was also issue within the current work practises such as being costly, dangerous, time-consuming, and lacking an overall comprehensive scientific system. Furthermore, although there was high level of awareness of UAVs, however there was low level of usage in construction. In response, to overcome issues that the construction industry faces, such as infrastructure projects thus, this study aims to develop a conceptual framework for promoting the applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in Malaysia infrastructure projects. The research methods adopted in this thesis include explanatory sequential research methods. For instance, questionnaire surveys and interviews are used to collect quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. As a result, the current application of UAV in Malaysian infrastructure projects in term of monitoring and inspection. This study has revealed the challenges and barriers of UAV adoption in Malaysia infrastructure projects where mainly contributed by the restrictive regulatory environment and industry point of view. For example, the privacy issues and guidelines on autonomous UAV and the industry lack of confidence in the adoption of UAV and education on the adoption of the UAV. In addition, it offers some solutions on the issues that have been revealed in the preliminary conceptual framework of UAV adoption in Malaysia infrastructure projects. For instance, amaze the contractor with the final data from the UAV. Lastly, the identified solutions served as a reference for other Malaysian construction stakeholders that have not used UAVs before. The recommendations for future scholarly research include the roles of UAV technology with other technologies such as AI or integration of data with other software.