For my project, I am writing a paper
on the use of robotics in archival spaces. To clarify, an “archival space” in
this context is any room where materials are stored for inconsistent, specific
use. This could be an archive of historical documents, city plans, CDs with
backups of critical information, books being kept in storage and more.
Arguably, the ideal archival space is one with the most efficient use of space
possible. Currently in some large-scale, highly-funded archival spaces, such as
the ones outlined in this article, designers
have already found ways to use robots to give the design significant
efficiency. Once told what item it is looking for, a robot can make its way
through the archival space to the specific location of that material, pick it
out, and bring it back to the person who requested it. While this technology is
largely used in large-scale capacities now, I plan to explore how it could be
implemented in the future in smaller-scale applications. Additionally, while my
paper is about robotics, it is not possible to describe the applications of
robotics in archival spaces without discussing databases as well.
I chose this project in part because I
have a lot of interest in library sciences and thought it could be interesting
to combine that field with the field we’re studying in this class. I also chose
it because I think a big part of intelligent building is finding ways to make
the system more efficient, in terms of time, materials, and more. The project
I’ve chosen is related to intelligent buildings because it has to do with
changing how we design building spaces based on emerging technologies. While an
archival space isn’t necessarily an entire building in itself, it does have the
capacity to become an “intelligent space”, which I believe is comparable to
intelligent building, but on a smaller scale.
I predict having challenges with this
project when it comes to predicting the future possibilities of the technology
I’m researching. It’s easy to research what’s already been done and how it
works, but it takes a thorough understanding of the technology to be able to
realistically predict how it might be adapted for future use. I’m hoping that
I’ll be able to get that thorough understanding through my research so that my
predictions actually make sense!
Source: A. Nagy, The
Giant Robots That Serve the World's Largest Library Archives, Gizmodo, 2015
[Online]. Available: https://gizmodo.com/the-giant-robots-that-serve-the-worlds-largest-library-1700712936.
Comments:
Mark,
Good thinking to link projects for two classes! There's no point in inventing the wheel when you already have a solid base. Your architectural model already looks great, and I think you're headed towards a really useful project if you can master Revit's learning curve, which I'm sure you can! Knowing BIM software better, which in this case means Revit, will definitely suit you well moving forward in your career, so tackling the learning curve now while you're still in school will mean you can catch up to whatever industry standards are in place when you're ready to start a post-grad job, or even co-op!
Kerry,
Smart 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!
Cody,
I think your topic idea of 3D scanning in a construction context is really interesting! I hadn't really considered it before, but your example of using a 3D scan to generate an existing conditions plan could potentially save so much time (and thereby, money!). I've personally spent so many hours compiling existing conditions plans for new construction projects, based on survey points and city plans, and it would be so great to have mainstream technology that makes the process a lot less labor-intensive. I'm excited to see what other applications you can find for this technology.
Comments:
Mark,
Good thinking to link projects for two classes! There's no point in inventing the wheel when you already have a solid base. Your architectural model already looks great, and I think you're headed towards a really useful project if you can master Revit's learning curve, which I'm sure you can! Knowing BIM software better, which in this case means Revit, will definitely suit you well moving forward in your career, so tackling the learning curve now while you're still in school will mean you can catch up to whatever industry standards are in place when you're ready to start a post-grad job, or even co-op!
Kerry,
Smart 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!
Cody,
I think your topic idea of 3D scanning in a construction context is really interesting! I hadn't really considered it before, but your example of using a 3D scan to generate an existing conditions plan could potentially save so much time (and thereby, money!). I've personally spent so many hours compiling existing conditions plans for new construction projects, based on survey points and city plans, and it would be so great to have mainstream technology that makes the process a lot less labor-intensive. I'm excited to see what other applications you can find for this technology.
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.
ReplyDeleteJordan - 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.
ReplyDeleteJordan,
ReplyDeleteI really like your take on what an intelligent building is capable of. I have forgotten that not everything is digital, and some things will be impossible to simply store in a database. Such a space seems like it would be incredibly important for museums or libraries that are storing older documents or items of interest, where the librarian can simply select the item they want on the computer and have it delivered to them safely and without damage. This could also allow warehouse designs that are much more compact and do not need to account for much human traffic. I am very interested to see what kind of technology you implement. I have a brother who is working on the large scale applications that you mentioned, where they use drones to automatically tag and search for items in a warehouse. For the smaller applications I would like to see what kind of technologies you come up with.
Jordan Shuster Comment: Jordan i like your topic very much. it explores a specific building technology. My problem is that i cannot fully understand the concept of robotics in a building space. Does implementation of robotics in a building space make it intelligent or is a space just making use of a robot. I am sure from reading your paper i will have a better picture of your idea and its relation to intelligent buildings. Best of Luck.
ReplyDeleteJordan S,
ReplyDeleteI like that you are incorporating one of your interests with this term project. I think the idea of having robots in an archival space such as a library is very interesting and is most likely another step in the way of intelligent buildings. I'm assuming that these robots will be using some type of code to locate the book required, but what would happen if the book is misplaced? I'm sure this issue would come up in your research, I look forward to reading more about it!