B4: Term Project Topic
Chris and I are doing our term project
on intelligent appliances, and how they connect to a residential building automation
system to create an intelligent home. We chose this topic because we are both
big fans of the Disney movie Smart House. In the movie, a home is designed
utilizing intelligent appliances and an AI automation system to create an
intelligent home for a lucky family to live in. Unfortunately, in the movie,
the AI takes over and becomes evil, but that’s besides the point. We hope to
research ways to create an intelligent building step-by-step, in a way that is
accessible to many homeowners. Unlike the movie, it is not every day that a forward-thinking
family wins a contest to move into a smart house. Because of this, it is
important to provide ways to achieve this status on a budget and in a methodical
way that doesn’t require large capital input or luck.
Purchasing, installing, and connecting
intelligent appliances is a great method for achieving the status of an
intelligent building on a budget, over a period of time. Intelligent buildings do
not have to be built from the ground up. It is possible to renovate and
retrofit existing buildings to function better and be “smarter.” Per Professor
Mitchell’s definition of intelligent building, “intelligence” may exist in any
system or phase of the building process. This clearly includes retrofits and
renovations, as well as adding intelligent features, or appliances, after a
home or other building is already complete.
There are some challenges we expect to
face for this research. First, most information regarding intelligent
appliances and residential building networks will most likely be sponsored by
manufacturers who provide those products and services. This might be biased information which we
should be careful of. I also suspect that there is much more information about
building intelligent buildings from the ground up, as opposed to making changes
and additions to existing buildings. Additionally, there is a huge range of
appliances in a house, and we will have to narrow down to the most important
and interesting ones for purposes of the paper. We have not dove into the
research that far yet, so maybe these challenges will be minimal, but they are
some of the things we expect to face.
Comments:
Jordan: This topic is really interesting! We're at a point in the construction industry where we cannot fully function without some physical information, such as old documents, books, or CDs - we are not fully digital. This idea takes that reliance on physical media and updates it to be as efficient as possible while we still require those documents. Not only does this idea make the space or building it is in more intelligent, but it can be used for intelligent building design and lean design and construction practices to improve efficiency.
Jordan: This topic is really interesting! We're at a point in the construction industry where we cannot fully function without some physical information, such as old documents, books, or CDs - we are not fully digital. This idea takes that reliance on physical media and updates it to be as efficient as possible while we still require those documents. Not only does this idea make the space or building it is in more intelligent, but it can be used for intelligent building design and lean design and construction practices to improve efficiency.
Mark: Attempting to follow the process of design followed in industry is a great idea for this project! I think you'll probably learn a lot, and the process of doing this for just one project will stay with you as you begin your career. I think it is also really interesting that there is a heavy focus on sustainable design with your project, which I'm sure will impact your intelligent building design process in an interesting way. I'm in no way a Revit expert, so I am excited to hear about what things you learn through this process.
Tom: This is a super cool project topic. It is very interesting to think about how we would create an ideal civilization from scratch on a new planet - it is essentially saying how we would re-do our life on Earth if we could. It gives you the chance to correct all of the things you don't like about the way life functions on Earth. Your idea to have the foundation and structure put in place completely automatically is truly the definition of intelligent building construction - a building that can build itself! You make a great point that not only can you use what you learn from construction on earth to improve construction on Mars, but the opposite is true too. Things learned through this process of attempting to build on Mars will provide ample insight for construction on earth. Your challenges seem well thought through, and it's great that you already have some possible solutions to those challenges.
This is a super interesting topic that fits perfectly with the spirit of the course! In my mind, it’s making progress towards Tony Stark’s household becoming a reality. I really like that you are choosing to focus on appliances rather than an intelligent building from the ground up. This allows your discussion to lean on the question of “how can your average family make their household an intelligent building little by little.” On Instagram, I follow the page “Interesting Engineering.” Last Friday, they posted a video featuring smart bathroom appliances. It included an app that remotely controlled the shower (so you could prep the shower before leaving the comfort of bed) and it learned your preferences over time. The appliance would record shower duration and water usage as well to help build awareness of the resources being used. The video showcases it better than I can explain… I can send it to you. It is right in line with the theme of your project and I’m excited to see the cool, techy appliances that you find!
ReplyDeleteSmart House is an amazing movie, and I love that you're using it as inspiration for your project! Beyond that, I think it's a really interesting topic that I really don't know too much about. I think you're really smart to narrow down which appliances you'll be looking into, and there are definitely multiple ways to choose which to use - the most-used appliances in the home, appliances in one room or part of the house (such as the kitchen or bathroom), or even a single system (such as the HVAC system and all of its components). I'm interested to see how you end up deciding!
ReplyDeleteKerry,
ReplyDeleteI think you chose a very interesting topic. Technology is not something we can only use to improve the way we build, but also to improve the way we use our building. I think that appliances is something that definitely falls under ways of using our building. It could also be fun to look into other technological improvements that you can add to a construction. A good example is induction charging for electrical vehicles. It was actually implemented in a residential building for the first time here in Philadelphia, in the building Walnut 500, which opened this year.
Kerry,
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember that movie. Mostly, I just recall the nightmares it used to give me, but also a major interest in automation. I don't think capital is going to be a major issue simply because of how small and affordable computers are becoming. Having a computer powerful enough to automate the appliances in a house during the production of that movie may have seemed crazy, but now the automation can be driven through cloud computing or even simply the appliances talking to each other.
I also like how you highlighted the clash between good information and biased information when dealing with the many appliance manufacturers and am interested in how you are going to overcome different manufacturers trying to monopolize on the technology, or at least make it harder for other brands to interface.
Kerry M,
ReplyDeleteI remember watching that movie! It was actually one of the movies that sparked my interest in buildings and the idea of a "smart" house. I like how you addressed the idea that only new construction can be "smart", since most people don't have the money to move into a new place. Intelligent appliances would be the easiest way for an existing home to turn into a smart home.
Kerry,
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of the movie "Smart House", but it sounds interesting! I hope your report talks about the life cycle analysis and "initial costs" of green appliances. For example, if every person goes and throws out their old dishwasher to buy a new green one, the overall environmental savings might not outweigh the wasted embodied energy of the thrown out dishwasher. I've heard this argument been made somewhere before, but for cars. Where people who get rid of their perfectly serviceable cars to get green ones actually do more harm to the environment than help. I can't find the article that said this, but it would be interesting if you investigated it.