Automatically process Construction Blueprints into structured Google Sheets entries with VLM extraction
What this workflow does
- Monitors Google Drive for new blueprints in a target folder
- Downloads the file inside n8n for processing
- Sends the file to VLM Run for VLM analysis
- Fetches details from the
construction.blueprint
domain as JSON
- Appends normalized fields to a Google Sheet as a new row
Setup
Prerequisites: Google account, VLM Run API credentials, Google Sheets access, n8n. Install the verified VLM Run node by searching for VLM Run in the node list, then click Install. Once installed, you can start using it in your workflows.
Quick Setup:
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Create the Drive folder you want to watch and copy its Folder ID
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Create a Google Sheet with headers like: timestamp, file_name, file_id, mime_type, size_bytes, uploader_email, document_type, document_number, issue_date, author_name, drawing_title_numbers, revision_history, job_name, address, drawing_number, revision, drawn_by, checked_by, scale_information, agency_name, document_title, blueprint_id, blueprint_status, blueprint_owner, blueprint_url
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Configure Google Drive OAuth2 for the trigger and download nodes
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Add VLM Run API credentials from https://app.vlm.run/dashboard to the VLM Run node
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Configure Google Sheets OAuth2 and set Spreadsheet ID and target sheet tab
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Test by uploading a sample file to the watched Drive folder and activate
Perfect for
- Converting uploaded construction blueprint documents into clean text
- Organizing extracted blueprint details into structured sheets
- Quickly accessing key attributes from technical files
- Centralized archive of blueprint-to-text conversions
Key Benefits
- End to end automation from Drive upload to structured Sheet entry
- Accurate text extraction of construction blueprint documents
- Organized attribute mapping for consistent records
- Searchable archives directly in Google Sheets
- Hands-free processing after setup
How to customize
Extend by adding:
- Version control that links revisions of the same drawing and highlights superseded rows
- Confidence scores per extracted field with threshold-based routing to manual or AI review
- Auto-generate a human-readable summary column for quick scanning of blueprint details
- Split large multi-sheet PDFs into per-drawing rows with individual attributes
- Cross-system sync to Procore, Autodesk Construction Cloud, or BIM 360 for project-wide visibility