Connection Science

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Integrate computation intelligence with Bayes

theorem into complex construction installation:
a heuristic two-stage resource scheduling
optimisation approach

Jia Zhao, Wenhao Wang, Liyuan Zhang & Yan Ding

To cite this article: Jia Zhao, Wenhao Wang, Liyuan Zhang & Yan Ding (2023) Integrate
computation intelligence with Bayes theorem into complex construction installation: a
heuristic two-stage resource scheduling optimisation approach, Connection Science, 35:1,
2186333, DOI: 10.1080/09540091.2023.2186333

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540091.2023.2186333

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CONNECTION SCIENCE
2023, VOL. 35, NO. 1, 2186333
https://doi.org/10.1080/09540091.2023.2186333

Integrate computation intelligence with Bayes theorem into

complex construction installation: a heuristic two-stage
resource scheduling optimisation approach
Jia Zhaoa,b , Wenhao Wanga , Liyuan Zhanga and Yan Dinga
a College of Artificial Intelligence Technology & School of Computer Technology and Engineering, Changchun

Institute of Technology, Changchun, People’s Republic of China; b School of Electronics Engineering and
Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The cost control challenge in construction and installation projects Received 14 November 2022
has always been a critical concern for construction entities. The Accepted 27 February 2023
complexity of task collaboration among various equipment and KEYWORDS
nodes during the installation process leads to extended construc- Resource scheduling; cost
tion duration, resulting in increased construction costs. To address control; intelligent
this issue, this paper proposes a heuristic two-stage optimal deploy- computing; heuristic
ment approach called MERD. The MERD approach incorporates intel- two-stage optimal
ligent computing principles from computer science into the resource deployment approach
scheduling of the construction process, modelling the installation
scheduling problem into a combinatorial optimisation problem.
Designing the probability method based on Bayes theorem, the
MERD approach carries out an installation provisioning mecha-
nism to optimise personnel and device allocation in the selected
area. As a result, the MERD approach minimises construction hours
and reduces labour costs in the construction process. Experimen-
tal results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the MERD
approach in reducing work time and cost in engineering projects.

1. Introduction
Smart city has become a hot research topic in the field of Architecture (Long et al., 2021;
Xiao & Xie, 2021). Building installation is an important link in the infrastructure construction
of smart city, and the control of production cost is the key to realise the project profit in
building installation.
In the control of the production cost of construction and installation projects, the
dynamic flow of cost is the main concern of the project. Affected by the construction envi-
ronment, the cost proportion in the production process is gradually increasing, and the
labour cost is constantly increasing. The scheduling imbalance between multiple resources
and nodes in the complex scene of the construction site makes the cost generated in the
resource deployment become an indispensable part of the cost control of construction
and installation. This problem will be reduced by optimising the scheduling of existing

CONTACT Yan Ding [email protected] College of Artificial Intelligence Technology & School of Computer
Technology and Engineering, Changchun Institute of Technology, Changchun 130012, People’s Republic of China
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript
in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
2 J. ZHAO ET AL.

resources (Hartmann & Briskorn, 2022). Enterprises take high profit and low cost as their
ideal goal. In order to achieve this goal, they need to make more effective use of limited
resources, control project scheduling time and reduce total cost to maximise profits (Lin
et al., 2018; Park & Yi, 2021). Most of the existing work is through the methods of con-
struction organisation design and project management (Karunakaran et al., 2018), using
fixed management methods to control and check cost consumption and expenditure.
Although the purpose of cost control can be achieved to a certain extent, they still have
some shortcomings. On the one hand, the control mode of traditional project management
and construction organisation design focuses on the verification, accounting and control of
project funds related costs (Yap et al., 2021). The macro planning formulated can not control
the production costs in the actual work process, and it is difficult to flexibly deploy con-
struction personnel according to the complexity of different areas, resulting in an increase
in costs. On the other hand, affected by the workers’ own factors (Lee et al., 2020), under
the urgent construction period, the rework of high price and large number of devices will
seriously lead to the problem of rising construction cost and delay of construction period
(Love & Sing, 2013), which can not be effectively handled by the current cost control mode,
and the lack of an interpretable device deployment strategy makes the randomness of the
device installation and deployment process large, it is not conducive to effective construc-
tion and optimal allocation of resources (Kannimuthu et al., 2019). In summary, the problem
to be studied in this paper can be expressed as how to adapt to the complexity of multi-
equipment and multi-node task collaboration in the region during the resource scheduling
process of equipment installation by designing a relevant scheme, so as to reduce the
construction time and construction cost arising from the resource scheduling during the
construction process. The motivation of this paper is to determine the research solution
by setting the two main objects of the installation scheduling process designed for people
and equipment. Based on the above two arguments, we first the potential factors lead-
ing to higher costs in the installation process is analysed, the construction process can be
divided into personnel allocation and devices deployed in two stages, in the process of
staffing put forward the thought of to optimise personnel structure, through the construc-
tion personnel age, experience, and physical relationship to build mathematical model to
get the proficiency of age function, according to the proficiency of the workers and the
complexity of the construction area, the construction personnel are deployed with the goal
of minimising the man-hour consumption. In the device deployment phase, the deploy-
ment sequence of resources is planned according to the principle of reasonable allocation
through the probability model to make up for the defects of random device deployment
during the installation process.
This paper introduces a deployment approach of electrical resources in the process of
building installation (MERD), which starts from the perspective of improving the construc-
tion quality and reducing the construction period to achieve the purpose of reducing the
production cost. The MERD approach abstracts the actual construction scene into multiple
areas to be operated. According to the different resource requirements and arrangement
of each area, the implementation process is optimised by intelligent algorithm. The min-
imum installation time is taken as the problem to be solved, the near-optimal time cost
is found, and the near-optimal personnel deployment mode is obtained by particle swarm
optimisation algorithm, will stay deployment device data as the basis of the price and quan-
tity as the main basis, constructing a Bayesian model, based on these two factors to solve
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 3

the probability of the selected equipment installation, according to the different regional
resources in the process of installation, the construction personnel to iterate through all the
installation area, the purpose of minimising installation costs.
By analysing and calculating the influencing factors of a large number of preinstalled
devices. MERD realises the rationality of device deployment process design, introduces
the idea of combinational optimisation into specific engineering construction, realises the
dynamic allocation of personnel organisation structure, and then considers the regional
installation problem of deployed devices as the near-optimal problem of resource alloca-
tion. An near-optimal installation strategy is set up by integrating intelligent algorithm.
A variety of electrical resources are reasonably allocated to complex practical projects by
setting a sequence selection mechanism to achieve further optimisation of cost control.
The main contributions of this paper are as follows:

(1) The classical Bayes theorem is introduced, and according to the analysis of process-
ing events during the deployment of preinstalled devices, a scheduling algorithm
using Bayes extension is designed to make the deployment of preinstalled devices
more reasonable, so that the near-optimal installation of electrical resources has a
mathematically interpretable solution.
(2) This paper puts forward the idea of transforming the complicated resource installa-
tion and scheduling problem in practical engineering into a combinatorial optimisation
problem, and obtains the near-optimal execution strategy through computational
intelligence method, so as to further improve the actual work efficiency.
(3) Combined with the installation requirements in the actual construction process, the
cost saving problem is quantified as the problem of minimum objective function value,
which makes up for the lack of cost control caused by less consideration of actual
construction factors in the traditional way.

The rest of this paper is arranged as follows. The second part will briefly introduce the
related work of cost control in construction and installation. The third part will introduce
the scientific issues that need to be studied and the formal description of the relevant
issues raised. In the fourth part, the overall idea, algorithm and implementation solution
of the core content of this paper are introduced in detail. The fifth part introduces the
experimental process and results. In the sixth part, we summarise the work of this paper.

2. Related work
The regulation of project costs in the process of construction has always been the focus of
attention in engineering construction. The goal is to effectively control construction costs
and maximise profits in engineering construction by regulating relevant elements in the
process of construction. Many researchers have carried out relevant research around the
cost control problem (Afshar-Nadjafi, 2021), and some of them have focused their research
on the spatial processing of the work process. For example, Garcia-Nieves et al. (2019) pro-
poses a mathematical model for repetitive project activities in the construction industry to
optimise the construction schedule by considering the time and space conditions provided
by repetitive projects to the maximum. Francis (2020) proposes that the site space-time
modelling method of construction procedures is used for the progress of construction
4 J. ZHAO ET AL.

operations on construction sites. Francis (2019) also proposes a hybrid solution based on
space-time technology, which combines graphics, programmes and algorithms to inte-
grate space and operation, ensure the continuity of space and team use, and control and
schedule building construction progress by giving priority to key spaces from the critical
path. None of these approaches has been implemented to help decision makers struc-
ture projects in a way that maximises the sustainability performance of their construction
projects while still meeting cost and time requirements.
The time problem in construction is also the main factor affecting the project cost. Many
scholars have carried out research on the impact of time on the cost. Galagali (2017) pro-
poses a practical construction project to study the trade-off between time, cost and quality,
highlights the management solutions obtained, and points out the key problems and dif-
ficulties faced. By generating horizontal curves, we can make clear modelling and consider
quality, time and cost for project scheduling decisions, and make correct decisions for spe-
cific situations. Yap and Skitmore (2020) pointed out the problem of project cost deviation
due to ineffective coordination in the work process, and proposed a study on the nature of
project communication and learning and their role in project time and cost control, but it
only focused on the experience of a small group of relevant practitioners, which limited the
universality of the research results. Deblaere et al. (2011) proposed a stochastic approach for
determining project implementation policies and predicting activity start time vectors to
minimise the cost function, and controlled the cost by weighting the expected activity start
time deviation and delayed completion. Fahmy et al. (2020) proposes a dynamic planning
model, which provides better resource management by optimising the cost, time, resources
and cash flow used in the whole project construction process and real-time schedule plan-
ning. The control of project cost through time control in the construction process has
produced a good effect, but unfortunately, the labour force, a potential influencing fac-
tor that will have a great impact on the construction cost, lacks necessary measures in the
construction process, which can not solve the problem of reducing cost. In addition to the
study of time factors, the labour factors related to engineering projects are also the focus
of researchers’ attention. Florez et al. (2013) proposes a new multi-objective mixed integer
programming model, which helps project managers and decision makers to cope with the
challenge of planning construction projects to achieve social sustainability by developing
a multi-objective mixed integer programming. In order to reduce the impact on project
performance of social objectives and achieve the sustainability objectives of the project.
Biruk and Jaskowski (2017) created a mathematical model for optimising linear construction
project plans in consideration of resource and work continuity constraints. The method pro-
posed enables users to select the best personnel formation in the case of limited resources.
Such studies pay attention to the allocation of construction personnel, which will have
a positive effect on cost control, but pay less attention to task coordination in complex
scenarios during construction.
In this paper, a heuristic two-stage optimisation MERD approach is proposed by draw-
ing on the experience of related studies (Gawali & Shinde, 2018; Tsai et al., 2013), which
first abstracts the actual construction scenario and takes the inter-domain resources in
the construction and installation process of each region as the modelling variables and
realises the optimisation of the distribution scheme in the process of regional distribu-
tion by setting the global traversal of the construction personnel. This approach takes into
consideration the allocation of labour and minimising time cost into account, optimise its
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 5

Table 1. Literature review list.

Author Title
Garcia-Nieves, J Diego
Ponz-Tienda,J Luis
Multipurpose linear programming optimisation model
Ospina-Alvarado, A
for repetitive activities scheduling in construction projects
Bonilla-Palacios, M.(2019)
Francis, Adel(2020) Chronographical site-spatial-temporal modelling of construction operations
Francis, Adel(2019) Chronographical Spatiotemporal Scheduling Optimisation for Building Projects
Anagha Anirudh Galagali(2017) Time-Cost-Quality Trade-off in Construction Project Management
Yap, Jbh Ameliorating time and cost control with project learning and communication
management:
Skitmore, M(2020) Leveraging on reusable knowledge assets
Deblaere, Filip
Demeulemeester, Erik Proactive policies for the stochastic resource-constrained project scheduling problem
Herroelen, Willy(2011)
Fahmy, Amer
Hassan, Tarek Dynamic scheduling model for the construction industry
Bassioni, Hesham
McCaffer, Ronald(2020)
Florez, L
Castro-Lacouture, D Sustainable workforce scheduling in construction programme management
Medaglia, A L(2013)
Biruk, S. Scheduling Linear Construction Projects with Constraints
Jaskowski, P.(2017) on Resource Availability
Research on effective planning and scheduling of resources in the construction
installation process

Table 2. Construction and installation equipment details.

Type of the preinstalled device
Equipment category One Two Three Four
Monitoring camera display
Broadcasting cable TV acoustics
Communication fixed telephone broadband interface routers
Ventilation and heating Heating ventilation exhaust
Lighting lighting lamp sockets switches emergency lights
fire prevention smoke sensor temperature sensor curtain doors Sound optical alarm

workers under different proficiency in the implementation process of the corresponding

scene, overall construction time cost more balanced dynamic optimisation, from construc-
tion process optimisation to improve the quality of construction engineering construction,
through mathematical model building of devices in the area of installation process reduce
the randomness in the construction process, so as to achieve the optimisation of the total
cost (Tables 1 and 2).

3. The proposed problem and its formulation

3.1. Proposed problem
The key to profit in construction and installation engineering is to control the produc-
tion cost in construction. Usually, the control of production cost is mainly carried out
through construction organisation design and project management means. This cost con-
trol approach can not change in time with the change of construction activities, leading
6 J. ZHAO ET AL.

to the increase of cost. Due to the fixed management and control mode of construction
organisation design and project management means, it is difficult to make dynamic reg-
ulation and control in the process of cost control, and the optimisation and integration of
human resources and electrical resources cannot be carried out. In addition, in the actual
installation process, the construction operation of multiple installation areas has a single
work activity mode and large randomness in personnel allocation, which makes the work
efficiency cannot be improved with the increase of the number of construction person-
nel. More importantly, due to the inherent limitations of the working mode, it is difficult to
achieve the purpose of saving labour cost by using the traditional approach in the instal-
lation process, and it lacks a specific installation mechanism for the layout planning of
electrical resources, so that the actual installation process will produce a large unnecessary
time consumption. It is necessary to put forward a kind of can in the process of construction
cost control methods, according to the practical construction of the resource requirements
and regional job complexity is different, the construction personnel according to their
different proficiency for task allocation, effective deployment into the corresponding oper-
ation area, install electrical resources deployment problems in the process of building form
into a NP-Hard combinatorial optimisation problems (Immorlica et al., 2021), within the goal
of minimising the time cost, the construction resources are optimally allocated, and the
time consumption is minimised in the process of traversing and deploying all the devices
to be installed, so as to achieve the purpose of cost saving. Figure 1 describes the task
deployment process of electrical resources in building installation and construction.

3.2. Problem formulation

The problem of device deployment can be formally expressed as follows: according to the
different properties of the installed devices they are divided into class i. there are j devices in
the same class and the set of devices can be expressed as A = {A11 , A12 , . . . , Aij }, if there are

n individuals in j devices under class i, then A = {x, x2 , . . . , xn }, the quantity is Nij = nk=1 Nik
n j
the total number of devices is expressed as N = i=1 k=1 Nik , according to the number
of rooms in the construction space, it is divided into m installation areas. If the number
of rooms is larger than the number of constructors, then divide the area to take root of
the number of rooms. To meet the requirement that the number of constructors is much
larger than the number of installation areas, the number of M areas can be expressed as
M = {1, 2, . . . , m}, devices to be installed in each zone are represented by A, and the set
of devices to be installed in the zone is represented by A11 , A12 , . . . , A1n ,A21 , A22 , . . . , A2n ,. . . ,Am
1,
Am2 , . . . , Am , Am is the nth device to be installed in the mth region. To ensure a reason-
n n
able characterisation of the working time of different devices, the time difference between
devices is set to change on the basis of the base workload, which is expressed in K(work
hours), different workloads during the installation of different devices are expressed by the
weight C. The larger the weight, the greater the installation work consumption, and the
workload set Q represents the installation workload of devices as Q = {c1 k, c2 k, . . . , cn k},
the construction operator can be represented as X = {X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn }, their corresponding
proficiency is {S1 , S2 , . . . , Sn } according to the actual construction situation, it is known that
the ratio of workload to proficiency is proportional to the construction time, the higher
the proficiency, the shorter the construction time, and the different working efficiency of
workers of different age groups. This difference in working efficiency is mainly reflected in
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 7

Figure 1. Deployment tasks of electrical resources (Schematic representation of the resource allocation
process).

the worker’s proficiency, which is measured by the worker’s salary level, and the degree of
proficiency is evaluated by the company’s human resources department according to the
employee data and performance. Skillfulness is expressed as:

S = w1 y1 + w2 y2 . (1)

In formula (1), w1 , w2 represents the function measure weight, w1 + w2 = 1, w1 > w2 , for

ease of calculation, take here w1 = 2/3, w2 = 1/3. The setting of the weights comes from
our detailed research and survey of the relevant companies, and the weights are obtained
through repeated calculations and comparisons of the relevant data, according to the ratio
of w1 accounting for 2/3 of the overall, w2 accounting for 1/3 of the overall. The age range
of the constructors is x ∈ [18, 65]. Building an age-physical endurance model function from
basic data is as follows:
y1 = CX T (2)
The constant parameter C in the above formula is obtained from the neural network,
and C = [−5.8801, 0.6451, −0.0165, 0.0001, E − 06, −E − 08], X = [x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , x 4 , x 5 ], The
relationship between the age of related staff and the empirical function is constructed as
follows:
1
y2 = . (3)
1 + [(x − 18)/5]−2
8 J. ZHAO ET AL.

Because differences in regional deployment among different constructors will lead to dif-
ferences in construction time, in order to obtain the near-optimal scheduling scheme,
the complexity and manual matching should be taken into account when dealing with
the resource deployment problem. The human complexity matching problem can be
abstracted as a task deployment problem in which n workers are assigned to m areas to
achieve the near-optimal matching, a solution to a deployment task can be represented by
an n-dimensional solution vector X = {X1 , X2 , . . . , Xn }, each of these elements Xi represents
the destination area of the person i who will perform the task. Used to indicate to which
operational area that builder will be deployed, the assignment process must also satisfy
the following constraints:

(1) The same worker can only select one area for construction at a time. Once the area
is selected by the worker, it will not be changed, qi indicating the number of areas

selected by the worker i, the constraint is denoted as m q=1 qi ≤ 1.
(2) The construction operation in the area can be completed by multiple workers at the
same time, and Xi represents the number of personnel i selecting the X Area.
(3) At least one construction worker is required to carry out construction operations in the

set are, the constraint is denoted as ni=1 Xi ≥ 1.
(4) The number of construction personnel is much larger than the number of construction
areas, the constraint is denoted as n > > m.
(5) There is no sequential constraint between the devices to be installed, and the complex-
ity of device installation is expressed by the amount of work.

Considering the above constraints, we obtain the objective function of minimising

working hours as follows:
nj

m 
n j
i=1 kCi
F = min j
. (4)
j=1 x=1 nSx

In the above formula,

where F is the total number of man-hours of the construction process; j is the area to be
installed; i is selection of the area to be installed; nj is the total number of devices in the j
j j
area to be selected; Ci is the unit complexity of selecting class i devices in the j area; sx is
the proficiency of worker x in the j area to be selected; k is workload metric parameter; m is
total number of installed areas; n is total number of installers.
In order to make the installation process more dynamic control and cost control, besides
organising and deploying the constructors, it is necessary to ensure the rationality of device
deployment. This paper establishes a selection mechanism by using Bayesian probability
model (Liu et al., 2021), uses the posterior probability of device selection as a measure, and
then selects the pre-installed devices based on the number and price of devices. According
to the actual situation, the basic required devices are represented as follows: there are 6
categories of 18 devices in the Table 2, where the workload required for device installation
is expressed as {C1 k, C2 k, C3 k, . . . , C18 k}, from the actual construction process, the rate of
cost loss due to misoperation of devices is positively related to the number and price of
devices. As the fatigue of workers increases with time, the rate of misoperation increases.
The higher the price of most devices, the lower the cost loss. Due to the uncertainty of
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 9

device selection in the installation process, in order to ensure that the establishment of the
model conforms to the actual working process, this paper adopts the Bayesian probability
model to construct the ordering deployment model.
Assume that A, B, C are three random events.
Event A: select the jth device of class ith.
Event B: device installation is only based on the number of devices.
Event C: device installation is only based on device price.
The probability of selecting one of these i types of devices for installation can be
expressed as Formula (5), in the scenario set in this paper, the value of variable i is 6.

1 Nij
P(A) = . (5)
i Ni

Since the maximum quantity or price of each device is equally possible in advance, the task
design process contains a total of j commonly used devices, and the probability of each
device being selected may occur. The probability of selecting installed devices according
to the quantity and price of devices can be expressed as Formula (6), in the scenario set in
this article, the value of j in the formula is 18.

1
P(B) = P(C) = . (6)
j

In the case of selection based on the number of devices, the probability of selecting a certain
device for installation can be expressed as the ratio of the number of selected devices to the
total number of devices. The possibility of selecting a certain device under the premise of
considering the number of devices is expressed, that is, the prior probability of selecting
installed devices based on the number of devices is expressed as:

Nij
P(A|B) = . (7)
N

In the case of device price selection, the probability of selecting a device for installation can
be expressed as the ratio of the amount of the selected device and the total amount of the
device. The possibility of selecting a device on the premise of considering the price of the
device is expressed, that is, the prior probability of selecting the installed device based on
the price of the device is expressed as:

Nij
P(A|C) = . (8)
M
 j j
In the formula (8), M = ni=1 k=1 Mij , Mij = k=1 dik Aik . Mij denotes the price of j devices
of class i, M denotes the total price. In actual construction, the number and price of devices
should be considered as a whole to select devices. Based on these two conditions, the
probability of selecting device installation needs to be solved by Bayesian formula.
The Bayesian theorem is as follows:

P(A|Bi ) ∗ P(Bi )
P(Bi |A) = n . (9)
i=1 P(A|Bi ) ∗ P(Bi )
10 J. ZHAO ET AL.

In this algorithm, a device is selected based on a combination of two conditions. Therefore,

using the generalisation of Bayesian theorem, the above formula is converted as follows:

P(BUC|A)P(A)
P(A|(BUC)) = . (10)
P(BUC)

The expression P(A|(BUC)) is expressed as the posterior probability of device selection,

which is determined by the conditional probability formula:

P((BUC)A) P(AB) + P(AC) − P(ABC)

P((BUC)|A) = = . (11)
P(A) P(A)

In the formula above P(B) > 0, P(C) > 0, the same is true,when the number and price of the
devices to be installed exist at the same time, the probability of the device being selected
can be expressed as;
P(ABC)
P(A|BC) = . (12)
P(BC)
In this algorithm, event A is determined by event B and C. Event B and C are independent
events when event A occurs, so P(BC) = P(B)P(C).

P(A|B)P(A|C)
P(A|BC) = . (13)
P(A)
P(A|B)P(A|C)P(B)P(C)
P(ABC) = . (14)
P(A)

Through the calculation of the above formula, it can be finally expressed as:

P(A|B)P(B) + P(A|C)P(C) − P(A|B)P(A|C)P(B)P(C)

P(A|BUC) = . (15)
P(BUC)

3.3. Fundamentals of particle swarms

The basic idea of particle swarm optimisation algorithm (Song, 2022) comes from the
research on the foraging behaviour of birds. It is an optimisation tool realised by imitat-
ing the clustering behaviour of birds and widely used in function optimisation problems.
Each individual in the bird swarm is regarded as a particle, the potential solution of each
optimisation problem can be imagined as a particle point in the multi latitude search
space, the position of the particle is a candidate solution to the current problem. The state
of a point of a particle in a multi-dimensional space is characterised by its position and
velocity. According to the update mechanism of the particles themselves, the group inter-
action information and social communication behaviour, the optimal individual positions
of the particles and the global optimal positions found by all particles are continuously
updated and iterated, all particles in the particle swarm optimisation algorithm (Emambo-
cus et al., 2021) have a fitness value determined by the objective function, and each particle
has two iterative position and velocity vectors in the search space to move towards the
optimal solution. Particles can be represented by vector groups as (− xi −
→ →
, vi , −
→
pi , −
→
gi ), where
−
→xi = (xi1 , xi2 , . . . , xid ) and −
→
vi = (vi1 , vi2 , . . . , vid ) represent the position and velocity vectors
of the ith particle, − →
pi = (pi1 , pi2 , . . . , pid ) represents the individual optimal location of the
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 11

particle, which we call pbest , and −

→
gi = (gi1 , gi2 , . . . , gid ) represents the optimal location for
population exploration, which is the global optimal vector, which we call gbest .
The position velocity update formula of the particle swarm optimisation algorithm:

Vik+1 = wvik + c1 r1 (pkbest − xik ) + c2 r2 (gkbest − xik );
(16)
xik+1 = xik + vik+1 .

r1 and r2 are random numbers that are evenly distributed between 0 and 1, c1 and c2 are
learning factors, represents the search ability of the particle itself, c2 represents a social influ-
ence factor, and c1 is usually equal to in values between 0 and 4, w is to avoid an unlimited
increase in particle velocity with time-dependent inertial weights.

4. Proposed a heuristic two-stage optimisation approach of MERD

4.1. Algorithm of MERD
Aiming at the deployment of electrical resources in construction and installation engi-
neering, this paper proposes a heuristic two-stage optimisation approach, namely MERD
approach. Firstly, this approach constructs the working hours matrix according to the dif-
ferent construction complexity in the construction area and the man-hour consumption of
workers in different areas, and takes it as the feasible domain to solve the problem. Then, the
sequence of construction combinations of different construction areas selected by work-
ers is considered as a particle, and the optimal particle in the feasible domain is found
by solving the fitness function, and the idea of group intelligence (Rostami et al., 2021;
Saberi-Movahed et al., 2022, November) is used to obtain the approximate optimal con-
struction scheme. According to the optimal scheme, personnel with different proficiency
levels are assigned to the region. The personnel with different proficiency are assigned to
the area according to the near-optimal scheme. On the basis of the personnel allocation,
the installation sequence (Rifai et al., 2022) relation of the devices to be installed in the area
is determined by the mathematical model constructed, so as to reduce the randomness
in the construction process. The overall purpose of reducing construction time is achieved
through two-stage optimisation. The MERD approach is described as follows:
Step 1: Set the initial solution.
Give each particle a random solution to represent the worker’s choice of area number
arrangement, set Xi = [x1 , x2 , . . . xn ] and the empty switching order are the initial velocities.
Step 2: Calculate the next position of each particle.

(1) Firstly, the difference between the local optimal solution and the current particle posi-
tion is calculated, and the result is treated as a commutative order ss1 = (pkbest − xik ),
finding the index of the same value between two particles will exchange the corre-
sponding position values ss = swapx(i, j), and retain the exchangers with probability
u1. The difference between the particle’s current position and the global optimal
solution is then calculated and stored in the exchange order ss2 = (gkbest − xik ), with
probability u2.
(2) Then, the current velocity of the merged particle, the exchange order ss1 and the
exchange order ss2 , and the merge result is updated according to Equation (16).
12 J. ZHAO ET AL.

(3) Finally, the velocity is applied to the current position of the particle, and the position
is updated according to Equation (16), which means that a particle passes through the
exchange sequence to get a new sequence.

Step 3: Calculate the particle function fitness.

Operate m construction areas, J indicates the area to be installed, nj represents the total
j
number of devices in the selected J area, Ci denotes the unit workload to select a class I
j
device in J region, K denotes the measure, sx indicates proficiency in selecting worker X in
area J. The fitness function of the particle is as follows:
nj

m 
n j
i=1 kCi
min j
. (17)
j=1 x=1 nSx

Step 4: Complete the assignment if the global optimum does not meet the criteria, go
back to step 3; otherwise, the output will end the iteration.
Step 5: Determine the ordering relationship according to formula (15).
The pseudocode of MERD’s algorithm has been given as follows.

4.2. Discussion
In the process of construction installation and construction, cost control plays a key role in
enterprise profitability, in most cases, the construction unit first thinks of cost control from
the field of engineering management and carries out cost control through project manage-
ment means. This traditional method makes people ignore the close connection between
construction personnel, installation equipment and construction area in the construction
process, and only think from the macro perspective of construction quality, labour expendi-
ture, material cost and so on, and can not effectively deal with the cost output in the actual
construction. Through analysis we find that the construction units usually separate work-
ers and construction area, single handle electric resources from the angle of construction
workers on the installation problem of the person, device, and the relationship between the
construction area, if we can through the installation of construction personnel and operat-
ing area order relation, made under the same conditions to reduce the construction time
consuming, this will be of great significance to the control of project cost, for which we
introduce an installation and deployment strategy to optimise it.
On the whole, the process of MERD approach is consistent with the idea of heuris-
tic algorithm, this is mainly because the solutions found by heuristic algorithms are not
necessarily the best judgment. However, by constantly searching and modifying, it will
become more and more accurate in its judgment of the target, from the point of view of the
algorithm objective, it aims to realise the optimisation of the task allocation and scheduling
problem in the construction process. Traditional approach that rely on the experience of the
construction workers cannot achieve sufficient scheduling performance, so only through
continuous optimisation of the construction scheme can we achieve a satisfactory accu-
racy, and MERD approach can ensure that in within a reasonable time to obtain the good
results.The current handling of construction scheduling problems is all through manual
random assignment, which organises the process in a chaotic and disorganised manner,
in which a large number of redundant and repetitive processes are superimposed and the
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 13

Algorithm 1 MERD
Input: Proficiency of construction S,Construction area workload C;
Output: Construction scheme gbest ;
1: for each particle i do
2: Initialize velocity Vi and position Xi for particle i;
3: Xi = {num1, num2, . . . numn};
4: Evaluate particle i and pbest = Xi;
5: k = 1;
6: end for
7: gbest = min{pbest };
8: while i < N do
9: for i = 1 to N do
10: for j = 1 to size do
11: Update the velocity and position of particle i;
12: if xi = xbesti then
13: ss1 = get− ss(pbesti, xi, r1);
14: ss2 = get− ss(gbesti, xi, r2);
 
15: vik+1 = wvik u1 SS1 u2 SS2 ;
 k+1
16: xik+1 = xik vi ;
17: Evaluate particle i;
18: end if
19: if fit(xi ) < fit(pbest i) then
20: pbest i = xi ;
21: end if
22: if fit(pbest i) < fit(gbest ) then
23: gbest = pbest i;
24: end if
25: end for
26: end for
27: k = k + 1;
28: end while
29: Return determine device sequencing, gbest;

scheme is confusing. The proposed approach is novel in dealing with the resource schedul-
ing process of construction and installation, and it achieves fusion innovation by combining
traditional industry with new generation information technology, which makes a huge leap
in the construction process. In the process of analysis we found that the installation prob-
lem can be seen as a specific environment resources deployment of near-optimal allocation
strategy, different regional construction complexity combined with workers’ proficiency, by
combining combined particle swarm optimisation algorithm to the optimisation of differ-
ent proficiency workers assigned to different areas, to find the near-optimal configuration
order to make it a personnel under specific resources to achieve the effect of construction
cost the near-optimal, thus minimising the cost of installation, and then selected area of
14 J. ZHAO ET AL.

the device by its quantity and price factors to calculate the selected probability, to calcu-
late the probability value of reducing device selection of randomness so as to improve the
work efficiency and work quality of installation.

5. Performance evaluation and analysis

We will evaluate the task assignment processing capabilities of the proposed MERD by com-
paring the performance of specific indicators of each approach. The MERD was tested by
five different groups of experiments. The final result shows that the MERD shows better
accuracy and stability in dealing with the construction task assignment and scheduling
problems for installations in an area. The programme of the proposed MERD is imple-
mented by Python Programming Software.

5.1. Comparison of construction time in the same construction area

In this section, we validate the feasibility of MERD through analysis and experiment, and
compare the work hours generated by traditional random approach with those allocated
by MERD according to the processing of related data, then evaluate and test them through
comparative experiments. This experiment comprehensively compares the processing per-
formance of each approach by observing the construction time of each approach under
different data sizes, and verifies the processing performance of the proposed MERD in the
experimental environment. As we all know, construction time is an important indicator of
project progress, the construction time should be as short as possible and make it eas-
ier to popularise and use.The allocation of resources between tasks is determined by the
functions required in the construction area, and the equipment needed to complete the
functions is assigned through personnel. The difference between tasks is the amount of
human resources, and the experiments conducted in this paper are to find this relationship.
Taking the construction area of a building as an example, the number of experiment
assignments is 10 and the construction and installation area is 4, the construction electrical
resources in the area are shown in the following Table 3:
The construction tasks in the construction area are shown in Table 4:
The results under MERD are verified by comparing the construction time under tradi-
tional approach, the following Table 5 shows the order of some workers in the arrangement:

Table 3. Proficiency of different workers.

Class One Two Three Four Five Six Seven eight nine ten
Personnel 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Proficiency 1.5 2 1.75 1.6 0.75 1 1.6 1.5 0.74 0.5

Table 4. Task volume in construction area.

Class One Two Three Four
Construction area 0 1 2 3
Tasks 73 74 64 55
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 15

Table 5. Arrangement sequence of some workers.

X0 X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9
1 0 1 2 3 3 0 2 3 3
2 2 1 0 1 0 0 3 3 1
2 1 0 2 1 1 1 3 3 1
0 0 1 0 1 2 2 3 1 0
3 2 0 1 1 1 2 0 3 1
0 1 0 2 0 2 3 3 0 0
1 0 2 0 1 3 0 2 3 1
2 1 0 2 2 2 3 3 3 2
2 1 0 2 1 1 2 3 3 1
1 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 3 1

Table 6. Task volume in construction area.

Class One Two Three Four Five Six Seven eight nine ten
Construction area 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Tasks 94 73 83 65 98 78 95 66 89 54

Table 7. Arrangement sequence of some workers.

X0 X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9
9 6 8 0 5 0 9 6 2 0
0 9 8 8 6 8 6 3 1 2
2 9 1 5 7 4 7 7 1 4
9 7 4 8 2 9 1 7 4 3
9 8 7 8 0 8 7 9 5 6
3 1 0 7 8 1 9 3 9 3
1 1 1 2 3 4 2 1 9 4
3 2 4 7 7 0 1 1 0 0
1 5 4 5 9 1 7 6 3 3
6 3 8 8 8 5 7 9 9 0

The traditional approach achieves the near-optimal result of minimum construction

amount 252.44. Using MERD approach to find the near-optimal variable for iteration under
worker’s arrangement order is 219.39.
In this set of experiments, a comparison experiment is set up to select the best result
by comparing four parameters with the number of characteristic domains, and different
population numbers and different iterations are taken respectively.
The near-optimal number of iterations was found by comparing the iteration curves of
the algorithm under different iteration times, and then the accurate line of the approach
was verified to expand the number of experimental assigned personnel and the con-
struction and installation area. The division of the area is shown as follows (Tables 6
and 7).
After the test value is updated, the experiment is verified again, the following table
intercepts 10 of these data (Figures 2 and 3).
The experimental results obtained by the traditional approach are 649.7 and 596.3
working hours. It can be seen from the diagram that the time consumption produced by
MERD under different personnel distribution is lower than that of traditional construc-
tion approach. It can be seen that there are significant numerical differences between
MERD and traditional approach on the whole. By adjusting the construction volume and
16 J. ZHAO ET AL.

Figure 2. Iterative curve under different parameters. (a) 100 times. (b) 300 times. (c) 500 times. (d) 1000
times.

Figure 3. Construction scheme comparison experiment(Comparison of performance differences pre-

sented by different solutions in the construction process). (a) Construction time of different experimental
schemes. (b) Comparison of minimum construction hours.
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 17

construction area to compare the difference of construction schemes under the same envi-
ronment variable, the difference between the two schemes is relatively small when the
personnel distribution is small. When the number of personnel allocation exceeds 20 peo-
ple, the gap starts to show a big difference, the construction time of traditional approach
increases to a large extent, and the growth of MERD is slower, with the increase of resources,
the construction time of all methods starts to increase, but the increase of MERD time
is slower. Based on the results of this set of experiments, the proposed MERD approach
have better dispatch optimisation effect, and it has better performance when the num-
ber of samples increases, which can effectively improve the efficiency of the construction
process.
We compare the construction time in a construction cycle by different approach, match
and combine the relevant constructors with each other by random assignment to form
an experimental scheme. Usually, the construction scenarios do not exceed single digits,
and we set 500 sets of construction scenarios as input data for the experimental valida-
tion. We optimise the dispatch under the same construction conditions in the region, and
finally compare the construction results of the experimental scheme. From the experimen-
tal results, it can be seen that the construction time generated by MERD scheme is at the
minimum value marked in red, and the construction time generated by this scheme is the
least compared with other construction schemes.

5.2. Performance comparison of resource allocation under different task loads

This experiment verifies the task processing performance of the proposed MERD approach
in this experimental setting by comparing it with the traditional approach and observing
the results of processing tasks under different task allocation volumes to perform a com-
parison of the final construction results. In this experimental scenario, we compare the
performance of the stochastic and averaging approach used in today’s construction pro-
cess with MERD for processing task volumes, and the size of the scheduling increase reflects
the model’s ability to handle construction activities. By increasing the proportion of tasks
in the experimental data to observe the processing performance of the algorithm in the
face of the increase in pressure, the smaller the proportion of value added in task schedul-
ing, the smaller the fluctuation value of the mobilisation of the construction personnel
assigned in the scheduling process, which in turn shows its overall stability, and the use
of its approach can reduce the waste of construction resources, thus better reducing the
labour costs caused by staffing relationships and making the scheduling solution easier to
popularisation and use.
The experimental results are as follows: Figure 4 shows that, with a small increase
in task volume, the gap between MERD and traditional approach on construction task
processing capacity is small. When the task volume increases to more than fifty per-
cent,the processing performance of both approach increases significantly. As a whole,
traditional approach and MERD can be seen, the difference between them increases grad-
ually in the later period. MERD has a more prominent ability to dispatch multi-node
resources, and the effect of increasing the construction process on MERD approach is
small. This experiment shows that MERD has a good effect on personnel allocation in
construction.
18 J. ZHAO ET AL.

Figure 4. Performance curve of resource allocation under different task loads.

5.3. Cost comparison under different ranking relationships

The purpose of this experiment is to validate the cost control performance under the
selected fold-down relationship in the region. The skillfulness of installers will increase
with the accumulation of workload during the installation process, and different construc-
tion sequencing approach will have an impact on the growth of construction skillfulness.
The skillfulness improvement process can be measured by the skillfulness function intro-
duced by us. The skillfulness function (Peña et al., 2022) of installers is expressed as follows:
θ = KX −α , α = lg(1−p)
lg2 , the attenuation factor is related to the probability P of choosing the
device.
The coefficient K is the working hour of installing the device, X is the total amount of
installing a device, and the probability P of choosing the device is based on the price and the
number of devices. Because the skillfulness generated by the installation process is deter-
mined by the probability of arranging the devices in the selected order, the skillfulness of
the constructors is obtained based on the set folding relationship. It can be thought that
the more a device is installed, the quicker the accumulation of proficiency in the installation
process will be, and the price of components will affect the installation decision in the con-
struction process and thus the project cost. Based on the construction proficiency function,
we can measure the cost saved after the proficiency increase.
The traditional approach of random deployment of personnel and the average distri-
bution approach have a poor ability to achieve the accumulation of personnel proficiency,
and it is difficult for construction personnel to quickly accumulate experience from the work
they are engaged in, as can be seen from Figure 5 below, there are obvious differences in
construction costs from the scheduling of tasks in four different workload areas. From the
experimental results, it can be seen that the highest construction cost is for the random
assignment approach, and the second highest is for the average assignment approach, and
it is obvious from the comparison of construction costs that the MERD scheme has a smaller
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 19

Figure 5. Cost comparison curves under different ranking relationships.

Figure 6. Time complexity comparison curve.

construction volume compared with the random and average assignment approach, it can
be seen that the MERD scheme reduces the construction volume by comparing the con-
struction costs in different areas. In summary, this experiment demonstrates that the MERD
has relatively good performance in workload control (Figure 6).

5.4. Time complexity comparison

This experiment verifies the processing performance of the algorithm in time frequency
by comparing the time complexity of traditional approach in the process of installing
20 J. ZHAO ET AL.

and sorting. n is called the scale of the problem, when N changes constantly, it shows
the law, we call it time complexity. Which is known to all, Running time complexity is
an important indicator of the execution efficiency of construction scheduling model. The
running time should be as short as possible to save computing resources and make it
easier to popularise and use. The performance of the proposed MERD in solving device
sequencing problems is verified by comparing the time complexity of the execution
process. Perform device installation for N devices with N construction areas, in the pro-
cess of construction, the time complexity of the traditional random approach to deal
with the device sequencing problem is n2 , the principle of the average approach is sim-
ilar to the idea of quick sorting, the time complexity of the average approach is logn,
while the time complexity of the MERD approach is obviously lower than the traditional
construction approach. The comparison of this performance clearly shows the awkward-
ness of the traditional approach in solving construction problems. With the increase
of n, the traditional approach is far less than the MERD in solving sequencing prob-
lems. Considering the complexity of the algorithm, this approach has better processing
performance.

5.5. Qualitative analysis

This experiment was to verify whether components distribution in the territory under the
scheme on the properties of the cost control of contrast, we compare the construction
processes in four regions considering the ordering approach. Based on the experimental
results, it can be seen that the construction scheme optimised by sequence significantly
reduces the construction cost. In the same construction environment, the construction cost
is reduced due to the construction optimisation during installation phase. This happens
because the MERD gives a determined installation order, which reduces the randomness of
the construction process.
Comparing the construction process within the four regions, according to the experi-
mental results, it can be seen that the construction plan after sequencing optimisation is
adopted significantly reduces the construction cost, and the construction cost is reduced
due to the adoption of construction optimisation in the installation phase in the same con-
struction environment, and the reason for this situation is that the MERD approach gives a
definite installation sequence, which reduces the randomness of the construction process,
and the folding sequence relationship in the installation process is conducive to improv-
ing the proficiency of the installation and deployment operations during construction and
increasing the productivity of the work process. Due to the disorderly nature of the installa-
tion process of the traditional construction scheme, the work proficiency of the installation
personnel in the construction process is not accumulated, which is of little significance
for the promotion of the overall project progress, and the construction approach of the
installation process, which is subject to the assigned work of the construction organisa-
tion personnel, makes the work activities solidified and cannot be effectively fed back and
programmed for optimisation.
Construction costs are reduced due to construction optimisation in the installation
phase in the same construction environment. This happens because the MERD approach
gives a defined installation sequence, which reduces the randomness of the construc-
tion process, and the installation process in a defined sequence relationship facilitates the
 CONNECTION SCIENCE 21

Figure 7. Construction cost under different schemes(Cost differences presented by different solutions
in the construction process).

improvement of the proficiency and efficiency of the construction personnel. The tradi-
tional construction installation process installer’s work proficiency is not accumulated and
the work activities are solidified, which prevents effective feedback and programme opti-
misation. The results are shown in Figure 7. By comparing the construction costs under
four different construction complexities, it can be seen that the installation costs of the tra-
ditional random installation approach are always higher than the installation costs of the
MERD approach when the construction volumes are different.

6. Conclusion and future work

This paper puts forward a approach of intelligent electric resources deployment by a two-
phase heuristic optimisation thought to optimise the layout of the whole construction
process, the approach on the whole used the ideas of swarm intelligence approach and
combinatorial optimisation, formed a kind of on time the global optimisation of human
resources cost control and construction workflow, It effectively solves the important basic
problems related to engineering such as time cost control and optimal allocation of human
resources. We explored the application of MERD approach in the task cooperation between
multiple devices and multiple nodes in the process of building installation and construc-
tion, and achieved good results. The model introduced here can be used in the optimisation
scheme scheduling of resources in related fields, so as to solve the scheduling problem in
the construction process of this field by combining the optimisation of related labour and
corresponding construction objects, so as to save the project cost.
In this paper, the feasibility of the algorithm is verified and analysed from five perfor-
mance perspectives. The MERD approach proposed in this paper optimises the layout of
the whole construction process by adopting the heuristic two-stage optimisation idea. The
approach as a whole combines the use of swarm intelligence approach and combinato-
rial optimisation idea to optimise the scheduling process in the construction process to
achieve the approximate optimal solution of the scheme. Then the installation selection
22 J. ZHAO ET AL.

sequence mechanism is established by Bayes’ theorem to form a global optimal workflow,

which effectively solves major engineering-related fundamental problems such as time
cost control and optimal allocation of human resources, and the feasibility of the proposed
scheme is verified by setting up comparative experiments. To promote the industrialisation
and intelligent upgrading of the construction process has become the mainstream trend of
today’s development, the gap between the crude production approach of today’s construc-
tion industry and the requirements of achieving high-quality development is large, in order
to promote the high-quality development of the construction industry this paper has done
relevant exploration in this direction.
This approach can largely save the construction time consuming in the process of mobil-
ising and allocating related resources, can alleviate the limitation of human resources
tension to a certain extent, promotes the intelligent upgrading of the industrial process,
and to a certain extent promotes the integration and development of traditional indus-
tries with emerging technologies, which will generate huge economic benefits in industrial
applications. If we want to optimise other scheduling problems in the future, we can adjust
and reset the corresponding data parameters, which has a good reference and applicability
for multi-stage resource scheduling problems, and can quickly promote the promotion and
implementation of construction schemes.
The proposed MERD approach still has a large space for optimisation, which needs
further research and improvement in dealing with the resource scheduling problem. Ques-
tions about the complexity of the skilled workers and construction scene, will be the next
research work will be mixed in the practical process of a large number of interference fac-
tors into the MERD approach, we will continue to try in other implementation in practical
engineering, in the follow-up work further for more types of data, and then optimise the
MERD approach makes it more universal.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number
61972054], the Key R & D Project of Changchun Science and Technology Development Plan
[grant number 21ZY53], Jilin Higher Education Teaching Reform Research Project [grant num-
ber JLJY202168939653], the Theme Fund of Changchun Institute of Technology [grant number
320200052, 320200053], the Key R & D Project of Jilin Province Science and Technology Develop-
ment Plan [grant number 20210201127GX], the Industrial Technology R & D Special Project of Jilin
Provincial Development and Reform Commission [grant number 2021C045-6], the Fourth Batch of
Jilin Province Youth S & T Talent Lift Project [grant number QT202001] and the Scientific Research
Initiation Fund for Doctoral Innovation Team. We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers who
helped us by commenting on this paper.

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