PATH forward

When ORNL’s buildings researchers were presented with the task of helping the U.S. rapidly decarbonize buildings, Maldonado was offered the opportunity to help figure out the process for doing so. 

“I didn’t know a lot about how buildings functioned but Diana Hun, who leads building envelopes research at ORNL, had this vision for how to develop and use tools, advanced sensors, new materials and new processes to transform the retrofitting process,” he said. “She gave me the high-level concept, but working in this space was going to be completely out of my comfort zone. Looking back now, that was probably one of the best moves of my career.”

Maldonado joined Hun’s team in 2021 and began working to develop the real-time building evaluator tool that uses ORNL-created algorithms to compare the location of prefabricated panels during installation with a digital twin or virtual model. The twin, generated in minutes using a 3D scanner, provides one-eighth of an inch accuracy for prefabricated component design and installation. An autonomous robotic tracker then generates real-time positioning data and instructions for installers to minimize errors and expedite installation.

Maldonado and other researchers will be using the real-time evaluator in the field soon as ORNL deploys it to guide exterior wall retrofits in a low-income housing development in Knoxville, Tennessee. While the evaluator tool is crucial to automating retrofitting, Maldonado said it’s part of an overall process he’s termed PATH, or Pipeline for Affordable, energy-efficient, and Time-saving Housing retrofits. He estimates that PATH will accelerate the retrofit process by fivefold.

“We’ve developed the sensor technology and the algorithms for control and automation, but what’s missing is the integration and optimization so that the entire retrofit process is fully automated,” he said.

Maldonado’s vision begins with a one-stop software solution to monitor the process, paired with the real-time evaluator tool to optimize the rate of installation, and ends with a slim robotic crane or cable-driven parallel robot that can be installed in construction sites and accurately controlled from a safe distance.

“Right now, we’re at the stage of designing and assembling the robotic crane, but much testing has to happen in the lab,” Maldonado added. “Ultimately, the goal is to design a flexible platform that can be used on any construction site.”

Maldonado said he pictures using the robotic crane to quickly retrofit high rises in dense areas, like New York, in which it is not feasible to use typical construction equipment. 

“It can be automated using computer controls, and with the evaluator tool’s precise measurements, it eliminates errors, decreases costs and does so in a safe manner,” he said.

Building the next generation

As an early career researcher, Maldonado has decades ahead of him to develop innovations beyond fully automated construction. He’s also making sure future generations learn about the impact of math, science and technology professions.

At ORNL, he’s the vice president for the Hispanic and Latino Organization for Leadership and Awareness, or HOLA, through which he works with elementary school students to encourage math and science careers. His mentoring efforts were recently recognized with the Hispanic Engineer National Achievements Awards Conference’s Most Promising Engineer Award for making significant contributions to raising science, technology, engineering and math education awareness in underserved communities. He also annually serves as a volunteer in the organization of the Tennessee Science Bowl, which is a celebrated academic competition that offers teams of high school students from across the state a chance to match their wits in math and science.

“Mentoring is important, because that’s why I’m here, because others showed me how I could make an impact beyond Ecuador,” he said. However, Maldonado said there’s one accomplishment that’s eluded him so far – getting to watch Formula One races at all the 24 circuits in person.  “I did make it to the Circuit of the Americas and was able to sit down in a demo car,” he said. “That was a big achievement.”

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information visit https://energy.gov/science.

This Oak Ridge National Laboratory news article "Bryan Maldonado: Fast-tracking energy efficiency improvements for building envelopes" was originally found on https://www.ornl.gov/news