Arfat (2016-2018) Erasmus+ Program
European project for the training of formwork assembly and scaffolds, through an innovative mobile application in which augmented reality is used.
Designation: ARFAT: The Augmented Reality formwork assembly training.
Project: Belonging to the European Union Erasmus+ Program, 2016 Call, of the Key Action 2 of Cooperation for Innovation and the exchange of Good Practices.
Project Identification: 2016-1-PL01-KA202-026102.
Duration: 24 months, since December 2016 until November 2018.
Budget: 266.698,00 €.
Coordinator of the Project: Politechnika Warszawska (Poland).
Partners: Fundación Laboral de la Construcción (Spain), Polskie Stowarzyszenie Menederów Budownictwa (Poland), Technische Universitat Darmstadt -TUD- (Germany), Peri (Poland), Universitat de Valencia (Spain).
Website: http://www.arfat.il.pw.edu.pl/
Falls from height are one of the most common causes of serious, often fatal, accidents in the construction sector in the European Union. It is therefore necessary to increase the level of Safety and Health of workers, since this problem has also been raised in the European Directive 2001/45/EC, which requires that appropriate measures are taken to improve safety and occupational Health.
The European Arfat project, Formwork Assembly Training, through an innovative mobile application in which Augmented Reality is used, will address these issues of Safety and Health, to prevent accidents at works. These accidents are mainly caused by falling from height, especially from scaffoldings and formworks.
Working in works at heights (that is, in formwork and scaffolding) is one of the most dangerous activities that exist for the employees of the sector. One of the main reasons is because the current training methods are insufficient, since as a previous research shows, workers are not interested in classical training.
Innovation applied to teaching
The use of mobile devices (smartphones, tablets), the innovative technology of Augmented Reality and multimedia support files can make training through the Arfat methodology much more interesting and unforgettable.
The need for the development of the Arfat project was confirmed by the questionnaires that were carried out in an earlier project called ARCW Health and Safety Procedures for curtain walls with the use of Augmented Reality Technology. In the responses, both construction employees and employers stated that there is great interest in completing construction training with innovative Augmented Reality tools and resources.
The results of the Arfat project are contemplated in the creation of a training system along with a course manual, as well as an application for mobile devices, based on Augmented Reality and support multimedia files. The training will be open to all stakeholders and anyone interested and will use innovative methods that adapt to our digital age.
A solid, reliable and complete European pedagogical tool
The aim of these products is to develop an up-to-date offer tailored to sectoral needs, modern training for scaffolding and formwork, suitable for integration into existing VET offerings or to serve the European community as an independent training. These products will address the needs of construction engineers, construction workers, stakeholders and associations in the construction sector, construction companies, VET providers and technical universities, offering a pedagogical, solid, reliable and complete tool.
Project resources
Download the Arfat application.
Guide for the Arfat application use.
Download the Augmented Reality training manual for formwork and scaffolding assembly.
The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.