Lovett: Week 2 Discussion

Chapter: BIM for the owners

Chapter 4 of this text focuses on the benefits the BIM process can offer owners and managers.  This is at first aimed at the delivery of a product in the most efficient method possible, mostly relating to cost incurred upfront (capital and the estimation of costs), during issues (change orders and scheduling liquidation damages), and throughout the lifecycle of the project.  This concept is restated several times over in different manners, though the fact that the BIM tools are directed for use of architects, engineers, and the like.  

To address the construction process as seen by the owners, the adaptability of BIM has become a benchmark in the construction industry.  It has not only made the capability of large-scale projects possible, but the process of integrating large change orders in a project has been simplified by the possibilities of families and being able to carry-over more complex assemblies from one job to another.    

The increase in efficiency for the structures can be carried over from commercial to residential projects seamlessly, which allows for a growing diversity of larger firms offering new opportunities to individual home owners. 

3-D Printing with Steel Bridges
It has been long-sought after to build larger scale objects utilizing 3-D printing but this approach to build a bridge is still a modest ambition.  It will be used for foot traffic, ideally, and will actually be composed of a composite steel.  The reason this is such a large undertaking is that the generic 3-D printing usually requires a boundaries box and with this installment of innovation by MX3D, there are no boundaries to speak of.  This is a monumental leap forward considering the potential applications of 6-axis automated welding.  The possibility of structural repairs using this method are incalculable. 


Citation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITCneG2GnO4


3-D printing with Building Envelopes
Building envelopes have evolved over time from simplistic cladding to flowing pieces of art that incorporate a degree of the same qualities as its predecessors due to its inherent nature.  Layering these "sheets" have similar effects of geosynthetics in that the qualities of each layer can be seen as a whole, cohesive unit.  The flexibility of the materials involved also allow for more artistic liberties to be taken during the design process, which can also lend to a warmer feeling for the inhabitants.  The main concern for large-scale production of these features is the inevitable waste created when non-degradable polymers are disposed of.

Citation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMWsqo82I4


3-D printing entire structures
Bringing the concepts mentioned above together is the ultimate goal of engineers working with 3-D printing.  MIT has developed a prototype for fully designing a structure.  This approach is currently limited by materials needed for the structure that are not necessarily available for 3-D printing yet.  Ideally this will become a completely autonomous process so uninhabited areas (particularly relating to space exploration) could be constructed without the need of human labors or the excess resources they would need during this time. 

Citation:
https://scitechdaily.com/mit-develops-a-system-that-can-3d-print-the-basic-structure-of-an-entire-building/


Comments:

Dung,

I appreciate your candor on the matter, particularly pertaining to feeling haunted by many school not offering guidance with this software, especially Drexel of all.  This is a clear gap in knowledge that our graduating class will certainly be penalized for.  Knowing more about the company and its origin is a helpful start to the process.



Jordan,

I couldn't agree more concerning the handbook's take on efficiency being paramount for today's field.  Scheduling is obviously an important factor, though when the inevitable changes occur mid-project it is comforting to know how simplistic the updates to design and the subsequent integration into the construction can be when approached in this manner.  You bring up another imperative point concerning the international factor that is forever-growing.  Helping bridge the language gap by the use of universal software is nothing short of a miracle and will save everyone involved the time and money that the problem may otherwise cause.


Kerry,

The complexity of BIM software and its related databases are certainly growing as the product and environment evolves.  I enjoyed your honesty when addressing the learning curve for users to be acclimated to the layers of BIM that you mentioned.  The convenience cannot be exaggerate at this time, though fully understanding an assembly and furthermore how the BIM tools utilize and update in real-time is a challenge in and of itself.  This chapter makes a decent attempt at fleshing out the conceptual side of BIM and you took it a bit further so thank you.  

Term Project Subjects- Amisial

Green Building vs Intelligent Building, 3D Printing, AI

Bach Tran

Robotics

The article introduces the new robot named, Vestri, which has been developed by researchers at UC Berkeley. Scientists observed how babies play with toy and as the same time learn how their bodies move to manipulate objects. These observation of babies motor babbling were used to program Vestri. Researchers let Vestri play around with toys before asking it to perform a specific task, such as moving an object from point A to point B. The robot imagines what it should do to get the best result. It predicts what would happen if it pushed the object a certain way.
Source: http://www.kurzweilai.net/new-technology-allows-robots-to-visualize-their-own-future

AI

The article by New York Times talks about how Sweden embraces AI development without hurting to workforce. The article uses mining industry in Sweden as an example. Robots are replacing human in mines, in which the working environment are extremely dangerous. The workers now can sit back in an office and control robots to do the job. I find it is interesting that the workers have great trust in their employers and the government. In an interview, the Swedish minister for employment and integration stated that “The jobs disappear, and then we train people for new jobs. We won’t protect jobs. But we will protect workers.”
Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/27/business/the-robots-are-coming-and-sweden-is-fine.html

3D printing

I have seen 3D printer produced building elements but today 3D printing has gotten to the next level. It is impressive that people can now 3D print the whole building. The researchers at MIT used system consists of a tracked vehicle that carries a large robotic arm to build the basic structure of the walls of a 50-foot-diameter, 12-foot-high dome within 14 hours. According to the article, the system will soon be able to prepare the surface and obtain materials. I am excited to see in the near future, robot can be used widely to build much more complex structures.  
Source:https://scitechdaily.com/mit-develops-a-system-that-can-3d-print-the-basic-structure-of-an-entire-building/

Response

Jordan,

The article you refer about 12 robots being develop for the food industry is really interesting. Robots are now being used in China to not only serve food but also cook dishes. I think it’s great to have a robot that can prepare a simple meal for us but on the other hand I believe cooking is an art and robots can never replace a chef. 

Marino da Costa,

I think that applying AI technology to a building so hat it can respond to human's voice and control temperature as well as lighting is an extraordinary. However, I feel that this trend of AI technology will make people expose to a great risk of privacy violation.

Xiaoyu Liu,

The article I read about 3D printing introduces a similar system of 3D printing building envelop. I agree with you that this technology still has a lots of room for improvement such as acoustic reflection or visual connection. I believe in a near future, these system will be able to print 3D structures with more than a single material. 

Xiaoyu Liu

Robotics&The future

The other day I went over my friend's house and we were playing a card game that was similar to Monikers. So bascially just one person describes the name on the card with one or two sentences and the other person guesses the answer, very straightforward. I have the card said "Robot" on it, so I told my friend that there was only one word. And my friend asked, "Does it have a gender?" I said, " It could be male or female and it is artificial mechanics and programmed by computers." No doubt that my friend guessed the answer right immidiately. It was a silly game but the point I am trying to make here is that how commonly the concept of robot already is in our everyday lives. Everyone knows what robot is and it is already accepted in the society mostly as a tool to replace some of the human works such as the use in construction field for building structures and the use in health care for assisting patients and so on. Very common term until I had to think about the future of it and where robotics will be leading us in the next decades. In the article I read, it introduced "the machine that grips objects with an octopus" designed by Festo. What makes it interesting is that its joints are powered by air and it gives the freedom of grabbing any shape of objects compare to other robot arms. As mentioned in the article, this new innovation will open up more opportunities in the construction fileds due to the fact that the materials are more safe for humans. I like this design a lot because it is creative and bring some real use into the real life. However, I think both form and function and equally important and it is a good start on the next level design but hopefully it could be improved more on its look.


Resources:

https://m.curiosity.com/topics/the-octopusgripper-is-an-oceanic-addition-to-factory-automation-curiosity/

AI&The Future

As we all know, computer engineering or computer science has become the most popular majors these days which means machine learning has become more and more mainstream. It is interesting that the article is making a point on how realiable the information provided by the machines is. For sure it is a question that worths the thinking, like it questioned in the article, "people won't trust an AI unless it can expain itself." One example I found it interesting in the article is that a few researchers tried to make AI explained it itself by describing its thinking process such as describing the content of a picture. What the researchers did was to create two deep neural networks, one reconize the image and one translate the language, so that it could explain itself the activity it is doing to humans. However, after the presenting to some computer scientists, it was questioned again by saying that the techniques he presented would never be explainable. To sum up the story, the answer is "The solution to expaninable AI is more AI." I found the example very interesting because seems like theres no way for humans to explain the technology that humans invented on their own. So what do we do? I agree with the second article I read where it talks about that people should work on giving more trust on AI but obviously it will require a lot of efforts due to the lack of the sense of morality. The solution meantioned in the articles were creating transparency such as through education programs.

Resources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/magazine/can-ai-be-taught-to-explain-itself.html
"Can AI Be Taught to Explained Itself"

https://www.ibm.com/watson/advantage-reports/future-of-artificial-intelligence/building-trust-in-ai.html

3D Printing&The Future

3D printng is getting more advances nowaday. This youtube video introduces the new teconology of printing building envelops with 3D printing machines. It is just mind-blowing to know the fact that the development of 3D printing has become so powerful. With taking the bulding envelop class last term, I was able to learn the very complicate process of designing building enevelop and there were so many factors that designers need to comsider when it comes to design the envelop. I have some positive feelings about this printable envelop teconology and for sure it still need to be improved more such as its visual connection, acoustic reflection, and it aesthetics, but overall I believe it will bring building design to the next level.

Resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMWsqo82I4

https://www.nytimes.com/video/science/space/100000005449852/3-d-printing-for-space-exploration.html

Hi Allison! We watched the same video about 3D printing! Isn't it so cool to see that building envelop can actually be printed with 3D printers nowadays? I agree with you that I also think 3D printing can bring building design to a bright future and I am really looking forward to it. However, I think it is also important to think about problems like sound insulation and visual connections.

Hi Jordan. I found your point about the robotics very interesting. I agree that we need to consider more about the fact that a lot of people are unemployed while robots are replacing the jobs they could possibly do. However, example like robotics being used in healthcare industry in Japan proved an opposite point such as there were not enough workers in the healthcare industry in Japan due to its small population. I think for almost all technologies it has two sides of it and it was interesting to see your point of view.

Hi Luciana! I found the second article you mentioned in your article about AI very interesting. I agree with your point about the fact that AI is on its path to superseding both average and intelligent humans. One of the articles I read was about scientists tried to seperate the neural networks in AI to two so that one could recognize the image and the other translate the language. The whole point of this experiment is to make AI explained itself. I just think it is also important to think about the solutions towards the trust issues between people and AI.

Blog Post 1

Amisial B-1

Three Tech Trends Shifting the BIM Industry in 2016

By Dennis Williams       

http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2016/issue_80.html

July 21, 2016

HVAC

In this article, some of the new advanced features in building information modeling (BIM) were discussed by informing how they are shifting the trend of this industry in a new age. Particularly, HVAC which is a field that I believe could be more explored to improve building efficiency and performance, decrease the impacts on the environment and increasing occupant comfort was well presented. In fact, I was interested on how the addition of these followings: smart thermostats, talking fridges, reactive lighting units, sensors and software to monitor occupant’s activities while adjusting room temperature, building GPS location to affect lighting and air conditioning in saving energy for when there is enough natural light for a side of the building, are changing our views regarding buildings. I think that it is only the beginning of a new era in HVAC because if we think for a moment in implementing similar features on bigger level such city, states, or countries; we could truly step into some radical changes for a brighter future.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Leave AI Alone

By Andrew Burt       

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/opinion/leave-artificial-intelligence.html

January 4, 2018

This article addresses the controversies regarding AI and discusses the general concerns about implementing regulations on AI; while this last idea is the most challenging for our generation, I must admit that I totally support such opinions. Since, AI has been in used around the 1900s, it was never properly defined, and even currently, the industry is struggling to accurately define it because AI does not represent one single technology or development. On the other hand, I have enjoyed the multiple uses of AI such as 3D printing, financial algorithms, and self-parking and looking forward to new inventions, however, while some might argue that it is too premature to start regulating AI; It would be beneficial to start investing more resources into analyzing the different impacts of AI in the world. It has been reported that AI performed higher in multiple human intelligence areas, so the question remains: will we compete against them or increase our intellectual capacity to better use them?

Comments: 

Carlos,

I have enjoyed your approach on the 3D printing, your information on the main advantages were efficiently presented; however, one the main advantages retains my attention: reduced costs. I have enjoyed the benefits of 3D printing, but I think in some areas, it increases costs in some part of the construction. Compared to developed environment, when there is no need for using the materials produced; it is used most of the time as a markup for future development or construction.

Allison,

Your post on robotics is quite enjoyable, and honestly by implementing autonomous on-site robot, the construction industry would maintain its edge in the world of inventions. I totally agree that such methods will efficiently facilitate the construction process. However, my concern is what is the impacts on human involvement within the construction industry, and since they do not have the inspiration to create or design; what will be our point of view of this aspect. Lastly, I don’t think that we are fully prepared to step into this new era and their implication on a more general level is far beyond 10 years.

Nay Ye Oo,

Your writing on computers related to the future is very interesting; one could clearly see that the trend of this industry for the past decades has been the creation of more portable and comfortable computers while maximizing their performance. The same observation could be made about cellphones, but one thing that got my attention was the multiple or limiting features that most of them have. This genuinely makes me think about what are the consequences or impacts for such computers.

Blog 1 - Sarah Hollis BIM, 3D-Printing, Structures, Future

BIM

http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2016/issue_80.html

BIM is fast becoming one of the most widely used software's in the engineering sector. It provides a solid, unified platform on which to organize, design and discuss. The most recent development in BIM has been the integration with the internet of things producing smart thermostats and talking fridges.
These innovative technologies, when used effectively, can save money and energy, amongst other things, making our planet safer and more sustainable. These technologies are predicted to increase further, using BIM to develop motion sensors and heat sensors.

3-D Printing

http://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/1281737/3-d-printing-a-building/#

3-D printing is talked about a lot in current media, its progression in recent years has been vast and it is predicted to keep advancing. The future for 3-D printing seems clear and has already begun; can we 3D print a building, one which can be lived in comfortably and shows elements of style and design features.
3-D printing has the ability to, if designed right, eliminate human errors hence reducing amounts of quality control which need to be undertaken.
NASA is currently using 3-D printing to print identical parts for new space crafts due to its accuracy, efficiency and reliability. At present, its use in NASA's space craft development is for producing parts of a bigger structure, but in time, 3-D printing could have the ability to print an entire space craft.
The article above talks about the current uses and possibilities of 3-D printing but it fails to talk about the major problems and downfalls associated with 3-D printing. Architects finishes is one of the main downfalls; when observed building a concrete wall it is not smooth but bumpy. Another issue is the problem of height, in Philadelphia especially we need the ability for the 3-D printer to reach at least 50 floors otherwise it simply would not be a desirable solution.

Structures

https://www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510#st=p&x=house%2520structures%2520future&n=e609fb0b-28eb-4452-9b0a-b4c0d5d3c701

In the last 30 years, what we perceive as a house has changed dramatically, very few masonry detached cottages are being built and instead we are leaning towards taller sleeker reinforced concrete structures. Thanks to the growing population, we have more people to fit in a smaller space, meaning space saving solutions such as taller buildings are being utilized. 

W appear to be using less books, tapes, CD's and newspapers instead spending money on the development of apps which enable us to carry out the above; listening to music, reading newspaper articles etc. In this same way, 3-D printing is predicted to replace hand construction and BIM may eliminate hand drawing.

Future

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/12/577688125/gm-says-car-with-no-steering-wheel-or-pedals-ready-for-streets-in-2019

It appears as if we are aiming for a future with less human interaction. 'General Motor' have already designed and are starting to mass produce fully automatic cars, there will be no foot pedals or steering wheel. The Amazon Alexa is also being developed to control the temperature of your bath. Despite being a fully automatic car, there is still a stop switch and the car will safely stop at the side of the road at a convenient point and for the Alexa, it can still be overridden by manually altering which taps are switched on. In my opinion, no machine can fully perceive information in the same way that a human can; this will always be the downfall of such mechanical power.