Odorizzi - Project Description Blog Post

Zac Arnold and I are a team for the term project: “BIM Model Following Industry.” We are in the process of fully modeling a building in Revit in a manner similar to the practice followed in industry. We have created an architectural model and have recently started the process of building a structural model based on the linked architectural model.

A little background - the building that we are modeling is named “The Keep” and is the building that we are in the process of designing for AE 391. The program that the building provides includes (25%) commercial, (25%) retail, and (50%) academic use by gross area. Our design yielded a total building square footage of 60,000 sq.ft. The theoretical site of the building is F-lot, and there is heavy emphasis on creating a sustainable design. Hence, we chose this project for AE 510 to justify diving into deep detail with our AE 391 Revit model and work with aspects of Revit that we may not have spent the time working on otherwise. Plus - it will benefit our AE 391 presentation from the additional time and detail we plan to put into the model.

Enjoy this nice perspective picture of our architectural model below:

The architectural aspect of the model is finished at this point. Obviously, the floorplan is slightly dynamic as we progress through designing the structural and MEP systems, but we are happy with how the architecture is showing in Revit right now. We ultimately want to model the landscape and furnishings fully as well - potentially making some families to use as we populate the space. The architectural model came together nicely. One aspect that is frustrating is that we cannot utilize one of Revit’s most valuable features. In order to workshare and have multiple people in the model at once, you need to either “collaborate within your network” or use A360. We haven’t pursued A360… Are there any senior design groups that have set up worksharing in Revit using A360 that could offer any insights to this?

We took a first stab at linking the architectural model into a new project file to start building the structural model. There were no problems there, but it looks like a primary difficulty is going to be controlling the visibility/graphics. Initially it looked like only the doors and random families imported when we linked the architectural model - but then we changed the view template and everything was visible. I anticipate a bit of a learning curve until we have messed with it enough to understand how to control everything the way we want to see it. Once we get to the MEP model, the big challenges will start to reveal themselves as we start learning how to model ductwork (this will be something entirely new for both Zac and I).

In conclusion, this project relates to Intelligent Buildings in all the ways we have been discussing the past two weeks. Revit is the most prevalent BIM program used in industry presently and this project is the perfect way to dive deeply into the capabilities of the software. Depending on how quickly we develop the models, we may be able to explore some ways that we could mess with clash detection software and some of the more particular aspects of BIM that Derek discussed in his talk. 

Comments:

To Kerry Milligan

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!

To Jordan Shuster

I’m glad that you picked a topic that blends two topics that fancy your interest! It sounds like you will really enjoy diving into some research. It is very interesting to think about how robots could augment the efficiency of archival space. Robots aren’t claustrophobic and can be crafted to navigate tight spaces - so it makes sense to me that these archival spaces could consequently be rearranged to store more. I also think of historic archives and wonder if a robot would be trusted to handle delicate items that are stored there. If archives take this route and implement robots as a retrieval tool, this starts to beg the question as to whether or not we become dependent on the robot to retrieve everything from the archive to optimize space efficiency, or if access for personnel will be maintained, which may sacrifice a more efficient storage arrangement. This is a topic I don’t know much about - so I’m excited to see what you discover in your research.

To Thomas Sisson
Wow wow wow this is a awesome project! I’m very interested in hearing the goals and scope of your senior design project! If you have not done so, you should stop everything you are doing in life and read “The Martian” by Andy Weir (And if you’ve only seen the movie - that’s not good enough. Get the book. Read it. You’ll love it.) The reason I bring up the book is because it is entirely a tale of problem solving on Mars. Similar to items you described, the book (which is obviously fictional) describes Mars exploration through a series of launches - the first of which is a fuel cell that can recharge once it reaches the surface such that resources can be provided for the next arrival. I think the challenges you discuss are going to be difficult to deal with - and I’m anxious to see the level of detail that your project will consider, because I would imagine that the scope of these problems grows very rapidly. A deployable, self-assembling structure sounds like an immense step forward to establishing colonies in desolate areas. Will the automated-AI team include robotics for surveying and preparing the site? If the idea is to set up a pre-established living space for astronauts, will part of the robotics team be dedicated to agriculture and establishing a farm? It is super fun to think about the different avenues this project could go. I’m very excited to see where you take it!