Team 1 - Things we learned from our Presentations

Sarah Hollis was the first to present in our team. We learned about the history of automated design. It was enlightening to learn about the world before Autocad and Revit existed. She walked us through the way Autocad broke into the world of draftsmen and eventually evolved into a comprehensive, 3D model. Before Autocad, she said that designers would try NOT to change designs because it would simply take too long for the draftsmen to propagate the changes throughout the drawing sets!

Dung Tran presented about his Revit model of the Glass House, where he modeled with immense detail each of the systems within his building. Dung explored some extensions of Revit such as the structural analysis that we had never seen before. He was also very thorough in modeling subsystems such as the plumbing!

Brad DiGiovanni and Cody Johnson gave a super interesting presentation on laser scanning and BIM. They gave an overview of the applications of 3D scanning and the benefit of generating a point cloud. It was crazy to see how 3D scanning can survey, in one day, a space that would have otherwise taken multiple weeks to survey. The point cloud is super accurate - and they were discussing the future potential of putting 3D scanners on drones.

Zac and myself presented on our interdisciplinary model that we constructed in Revit based on our AE 391 design. Building a Revit model as we progressed through the design phases helped to visualize how the various systems interacted in 3D, and definitely helped to identify conflicts as they arose.

Overall, all the groups walked away with a better understanding of modeling processes. We received the whole gamut of knowledge about modeling. We started with the origins of Autocad and Revit, saw two projects utilizing the interdisciplinary capabilities of Revit, and also learned the ways that 3D scanning can be integrated with BIM to incorporate detailed, field information.

Johnson - B7 Course Reflection

I really enjoyed taking this course.  It was very self-guided, which was incredibly satisfying.  You certainly got out what you put into the class.  The research was really interesting because it is information you would never get from another class.  We got a glimpse into the future of our industry by studying how A.I., robots, and BIM will all be integrated, and they are all basically in their initial stages.  The class made me not only consider my future profession in contracting, but also made me think about how it will be different in 5 to 10 years.  Understanding the technology that will be used in the future will keep me prepared and hopefully a more valuable employee.

The freedom allowed from the final project basically allowed for us to research any topic or work on anything we wanted, so long as it fit into the class categories.  This allowed my partner, Brad, and I to research a topic that was not only interesting but also a technology that may end up becoming a norm in the construction industry.  Our research project was on 3D laser scanning and how it connects all professions within the construction industry.  If we ever see scanning being used on a project, we will know how to handle it with knowledge that a typical engineer may not have. 

In addition to the new research that I was able to do, the class also provided a great foundation of knowledge within both BIM and databases.  Revit is a crucial part of any concentration of architectural engineering, so it is important to graduate with as much knowledge of the program as possible.  Creating and editing families is a crucial part of Revit and will be used across all disciplines.  It certainly would have helped for my past coop experiences where I edited families incorrectly.  In addition to BIM technologies, it really helped to have a base knowledge of what a database is, what it does, and how to make one.  Databases can help connect different categories and record certain values for future use.  After the database is created, it is simple to add new parts to the table to expand upon historical data.

Overall, the class is a really good experience.  It allows the students to do independent research based on their own interests due to its “loose” structure.  Its refreshing to take a class that is not strictly by the book.  It also helps students understand that the industry is constantly changing.  To be successful, we must accept change and adapt to new work environments.  There are so many technologies we learned about that are just being started up that will probably be in regular practice 10 years from now and will probably be outdated 10 years after that.  It is important to continue researching so that we do not fall behind the times.

Comments:

1) Deutsch
Alyssia,
I thought you made a good point about not really thinking outside your concentration. Since you are structural, you always think in terms of structural design. I think the class did a good job of pushing students to see aspects of the industry from different perspectives and how other aspects can apply to you, even if they are indirect relationships. I also agree that the research and collaboration aspects of the course were some of the most helpful as they helped you hear how other people view the topics. Overall, it gave a great base knowledge and helped build understanding for other's views.

2) V. A.
Mariano,
I agree that it was tough to understand how sensors and robotics would actually have a great impact on the future of the construction industry before taking the class. Understanding sensors and what they do is crucial for everyone in our line of work. We had a motion sensor on site for one of my coop jobs that would constantly go off. My company would get calls trying to figure out why they were getting high activity readings which was actually just because of wind and not our work. Sensors are important for regulating but it is also important to understand what could be causing different readings when you are on the wrong end of it. They will only get more prevalent in construction as people want to always know what is taking place.

3) Anibaba
Malik,
I absolutely agree that the blog posts were helpful in not only making us research a weekly topic but also getting feedback and seeing different perspectives. This is not only good for the class but also helps when we need to work with others with different backgrounds in the field. The class helped us understand more about our future work and what we will end up dealing with in terms of technology. AE410 was able to teach us both new technical skills with BIM and databases, as well as develop an understanding of what technologies we will face in the future as we advance in our careers.

Course Reflection - Hillinger

Course Reflection - Hillinger

Carlos Hillinger -AE410 - B7

Final Reflection

          AE 410 has successfully given me a better perspective of not only intelligent buildings, but the construction world as well. I believe that teaching us different technologies and emerging systems in the present world, was like giving us the tools we need to have a better understanding of how the construction world is evolving and how we can evolve with it. I would also like to share that in my opinion the course is structured perfectly. We are given an introduction to Revit with an assignment, that will later help us understand the way BIM programs work. Then, we were asked to create a database in Access, which not only taught us a new software, but also served as a great introduction to database programming, and sensors. The database assignment helped us begin to understand how Intelligent buildings work, by having databases, sensors and a software that allow us to manipulate the building's constraints. 

          Adding on, the guest lecturers and the videos were all very interesting and helpful, they would relate to a certain topic introduced by Prof. Mitchell, and at the same time explain a whole new topic. I believe that no other class had given us an introduction to futuristic technologies like AE 410. Even though we might have heard of some of them, we had not really dug into topics such as concrete 3D printing, BIM, Drone Scanning, Artificial Intelligence, etc. If I had to choose my favorite thing about this course, I would certainly choose the Database assignment and the in-class videos. The database assignment introduces a not only unknown, but very practical topic for an engineer, and in-class videos provided vast explanations of the topics Prof. Mitchell introduced in class. On the other hand, if I could change something about this course, I would probably try to make the class more engaging and increase participation. For example, some in-class videos could be watched at home with a short reflection, and we could use that time in class for activities related to futuristic interesting topics. An example activity could be a breakdown sketch of how 3D printing concrete works. 

          All in all, I believe that classes like this are the ones that set Drexel apart from other universities. Most universities will teach you the same subjects with very few variations, but courses like Intelligent Buildings give Drexel students an advantage over other graduates, since it makes us aware of how the construction world is evolving, and how we can and should evolve with it. 

Main Source:

Carlos Hillinger: in-class experience.

Comments:

Joshua:

Joshua, Thanks for sharing your reflection with us. I see that you liked certain things about the course that I also included in my post, such as how green structures can be innovated. I also liked that you particularly mentioned energy capture for sustainability, it was certainly one of the most interesting topics over the term. Your post is very specific and self explanatory, good work.

Allison:

Allison, I believe that that your post is very honest and accurate. I also found Derek's lecture quite interesting, BIM is definitely one of the topics I was looking forward in this class and he made an excellent job explaining it. The online guest lecturer we had on intelligent building was also helpful to introduce the BIM topic to the class. I agree on your comments about the database assignments and how it relates to INFO 210. Great post!

Thomas:

Thomas, In my opinion your post was very accurate and specific. I like how you used your own real life example from  your future job to show how useful this class is and how the construction world is evolving. I agree, Dynamo is a tool that we will be using more and more, especially for structural members. Maybe it would have been helpful to have a short assignment related to Dynamo as a short intro to what we might encounter in our jobs. Thanks for sharing, great post. 

Advancements in BIM and Changing Workflows - Sarah Hollis

Blog Post 4- Project

The title of my paper is ‘How are the advancements in BIM altering the standard workflow in engineering and architect practices?’.

I am going to write a paper on how the major advancements in BIM, namely REVIT and AutoCad, have changed the design workflow that small and large companies adopt. I will then see what those in the field think is going to happen to the workflow in the future. With the future of BIM potentially requiring much less man power what will happen to the workflows. Will this differ in large and small companies. From preliminary research, it appears that projects, in general, are speeding up due to many factors, but most notably due to automatic copying between sheets.

The main part of my paper is split into two parts, previous changes to BIM and what may happen in the future. I want to also make note of what is considered a ‘good workflow’ and how this definition may become something different entirely with advancements in BIM. I will also make reference to how fast these advancements in BIM are being made, can small companies keep up with these rapid changes in BIM which ultimately result in new workflows required.

I am hoping to get opinions from those in large and small architect practices to establish where workflow is currently at and where they envisage it going.

In the conclusion I hope to be able to answer the following question, what is changing to common practice workflows and why is this change occurring. Having done only a small amount of research so far, it appears that workflows are shifting to be much more computer based, meetings are taking place virtually. There also appears to be much more fluidity between professions (electric, plumbing architecture etc) as we are leaning towards one master model for the entire project.

Some links I have used are:

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1278800

https://www.enventive.com/en/mechanical-design-workflow/

Brad,

I like your idea that 3D modeling is not relevant for everything It is important with these new technologies to be extremely sensitive to people who have been doing their trade for many years and are extremely good and efficient at what they do. I had never really considered 3D scanning before, I think this is a really neat idea and could be extremely useful at determining overlaps within mechanical piping.

Allison,

I like the idea of your project due to the completely different challenges that will be faced. The different conditions on Mars and its distance from Earth will make this extremely interesting and extremely relevant due to the increasing population and decreasing amounts of space on Earth. If automated construction can be achieved on Mars, then there is no reason as to why we could not adopt this on earth, to help with the lack of construction workers to meet our current demand on construction.

Johnson - B4 3D Laser Scanning

            For our project, Brad and I will be looking into 3D laser scanning and its applications within the construction industry to improve the process.  With the improvements of technology today, the construction and design fields are starting to fall behind.  Typically, 2D CAD is still used for as-built drawings and for existing drawings.  The use of 3D scanning is already being implemented to put existing conditions into 3D models, but there is still much room for improvement and development.

            With the use of 3D scanning, we could improve the field work without hindering standard labor practices.  Although a 3D model helps designers and owners picture how the building will be built, contractors typically just need the 2D CAD drawings to put everything into place.  3D scanners would help bring the two sides of the construction industry together.  My group will investigate how current practices could be improved to make the relationship between constructor and designer better and onsite measurements more accurate.

            One example of 3D scanning currently in use is scanning existing conditions to be put into 3D BIM models.  This allows designers to go out into the field, scan the room in question and automatically have a 3D BIM model created.  This does not require the designers to take measurements and sketch up what was found during the visit, which may be inaccurate compared to the scan.  This technology can be improved upon for as-builts to be sent directly to the designer with a BIM model so that they can adjust their design accordingly.  The field personnel would have less communication issues and the designers would not have to spend as much time making multiple site visits.

            Another example to improve upon is the use of drones in the field.  Currently, drones are being used to fly the same path of a site every day.  This will be recorded in a video to show site progress daily.  This is the current practice that could be improved with a 3D scanning system.  The video is currently just a visual recording of the site and investigations must be done to see the differences every day.  With 3D scans, different survey points and elevations could be measured.  This would help contractors have a more definite idea of how the site is changing every day and give them real values to report to the owner.

References:

Link, Jeff. “Drones in Construction Are the Next Big Technological Boom.” Redshift, 30 Oct. 2017, www.autodesk.com/redshift/drones-in-construction/.

Speakman, William. “3D Scanning for Better BIM: An MEP Firm's Search for an Alternative to Laser ScanningAECbytes Viewpoint #77 (February 11, 2016).” 3D Scanning for Better BIM: AECbytes Viewpoint, ACEbytes, 11 Feb. 2016, www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2016/issue_77.html.

Responses:

1) Dung Tran
I like your idea for this project. I think it poses a challenging task while integrating all aspects of Revit. One thing that might make your project more interesting is to try to make the current building more energy efficient. Maybe you can look at doing an energy analysis of what you design for the original building and then trying to make it more efficient. It might be a good challenge for you if you end up having time for it at the end of the term. Other than that, I look forward to seeing what the finished product looks like.

2) Allison Abad
I like your topic since it directly relates to your senior design project.  For some of your challenges, do you know if there is any research or development into any of those factors?  Such as if there were to be developments into creating a colony on Mars, would there be any possibility of setting up GPS systems for these automated builders?  I am certainly interested in hearing about how you and Tom combat these problems and what the possible solutions are.  Good luck!

3) Carlos Hillinger
It seems like your topic is a little broad.  For your own benefit, you may want to try to narrow it down since you are essentially trying to improve all aspects of these countries.  I think the construction development research is very interesting, however.  I would be interested in knowing how to help these countries develop with a budget.  I am sure that this is something that would have trouble funding, so it may be important for you to figure out the least expensive, most effective option to supporting these countries.  Best of luck on your project and I look forward to seeing how your project develops.

B4 - 3D Modeling and Intelligent Buildings

My AE 410 project is to discuss how 3D modeling scanners and software can be used to assist the construction industry and even the in parts of the design industry that are "behind the times:". The point of this is to be able to increase the technological complexity of new and existing buildings alike. By doing this, a wider range of buildings will be able to become smarter and environmentally friendly.

Starting with the construction industry, many aspects of that industry are considered old school or outdated. Many tradesmen and women have been doing the same job for 20+ years, and introducing new technology infringes on what they've come to know and perfect. Criticism of this old school mindset has been pretty well documented, and my group believes that there is plenty of room to improve. However, some of this criticism is unfair in my opinion. For example, an iron worker doesn't need a fancy 3D model to set steel. From my experience, all that the crew needed was a few sheets of paper and a competent foreman. Why mess around with a tablet and fancy 3D graphics when a line on a sheet will accomplish the same task. This is one of the reasons my group decided to focus heavily on 3D scanning. We believe that scanning can be used in conjunction with current construction practices, instead of totally replacing them, to improve the industry overall. For example, 3D scanners can used to scan the MEP system in a new building. This as-built data can be compared to the design model for review and comparison. This gives the owner a complete model of the building that has just been turned over to them, so any design work done on the building going forward has an exact representation of what is currently above the ceiling. These 3D scans, done after installation is already complete, do not change how construction workers do their basic tasks. Instead, it provides valuable construction information to the owner. I believe that a building with an abundant of as-built 3D model data can be considered an intelligent one due to the huge long term advantage it provides, as mentioned above. My group also plans on discussing how 3D scanners can be used in the pre-construction process to speed up the design process. Surveyors are slow and not always precise, so using a portable scanner to get an accurate measurement of a site is valuable.

Citation:

Link, Jeff. “Drones in Construction Are the Next Big Technological Boom.” Redshift, 30 Oct. 2017, www.autodesk.com/redshift/drones-in-construction/.

1) Carlos, I like how you will talk about the technology development levels for different countries. It will be interesting to see what challenges some countries face, while other countries are able to avoid the same problems. As someone who was born in America and have only been immersed in our construction industry, it may be eye opening to me seeing some of the things we take for granted, being a novelty elsewhere. I hope you don't stay too vague in your report, as you mentioned above, just so there is enough substance and information for each country.

2) Kerry,

I 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.

3) Mark,

Thank you for sharing your project and 3D model. It seems very detailed and I look forward to seeing how the project progresses. I hope you document the MEP design process well because it would be cool to see how you laid out the system. I've done design processes for civil work and for structural projects, but never for MEP. Even though I've done some in class layout work, seeing how a system comes together starting from scratch really interests me.

B4 - Project Description

For my term project for AE510, titled “Revit House Model with Major Systems”, I am working independently to create a 3D Revit model of Glass House in New Canaan, CT. Designed by Phillip Johnson as his own residence and a weekend retreat in the future, Glass House has affected the architect in many of his further designs. Influenced by ideas of German architects “Glasarchitektur”, the structure of Glass House features a steel-framing system with mainly glass panels anchored in place [1]. It inspired the modern architecture in design open floor plan and using steel and glass in residential house design. Before his death in 2005, Johnson donated his property to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the building is now an art museum stored David Whitney’s collection, and furniture designed by Mies van der Rohe. These gentlemen have developed partnership in art world through years. Figure 1 features the current Glass House in CT, and below is the current model that I have done so far.

Figure 1. Phillip Johnson's Glass House [2]

Figure 2. Glass House architectural model at its current state

I chose to create a Revit model including primary systems: architectural, structural, and mechanical to expand my BIM skills through the course and learn about how these systems integrate within Revit and BIM. It is also a great opportunity to gain skills from modeling structural and mechanical system of the building, which I wish to expand while taking AE 390/391 sequence next year. The simplistic design of Glass House provides a good individual practice for modeling structural system, as it was not hindered inside wall system. In fact, Architectural drawings found in Glass House’s homepage provides a nice reference to accurately create its architectural and structural models. lively reflections created by glass panel are also interested to figure out through shading in Revit. I aimed to finish the architectural model within Week 5 before working on other systems.

Expectedly, several challenges have emerged since I started working on this project. Learning a new software and applying it into a certain problem is a time-consuming task, as I am still watching tutorials to solve some Revit problems while modeling the Glass House. Moreover, once I start working on structural and mechanical models of the building, it will be more challenging to discover how elements within each system connect with each other to generate a workability model. In fact, connections between structural members such as beam, column, etc. are tricky to assemble with details provided on the technical drawings. For this project, HVAC system will be newly customized into the building model for learning purposes as it was not included on the technical drawings provided by Glass House’s homepage. Moreover, multiple components that are not stocked in Revit libraries must be created to closely accomplish the accuracy in modeling the historic house. For example, the brick cylinder, served as Glass House’s bathroom, may consume a good amount of time. Therefore, the past assignment was essential to learn about creating a workable family to depict those components.

Upon project completion, I hope to accomplish a final model of that can accurately describe the existing structure and provide a possible plan to install HVAC system into the historic house. For example, several mechanical elements are attached to the ceiling of many Drexel’s historic buildings including Randell Hall. Furthermore, one of the possible outcomes of intelligent building is using computer technology to understand building. Therefore, depending on how quickly I can finish the complete model, structural analysis and energy analysis will be aimed for inspecting the functionality of the structure. Finally, I wish I could discover about the fact that Glass House has not been used as a daily residence throughout the project.

Reference

[1] Pierce, Lisa. (2010). "Through the Looking Glass", pp 1, A4, The Advocate, Stamford, CT.

[2] Perez, Adelyn. (2010). "AD Classics: The Glass House / Phillips Johnson".  <https://www.archdaily.com/60259/ad-classics-the-glass-house-philip-johnson> (Feb. 5, 2018)

Comments:

Zac A and Mark O

I am looking for your future update, and presentation of your project at the end of this term. Your project is even deeper than my goal as building a project from a sratch. A design following the industry standard would benefit largely in your Senior Design as well as your professional  practice after graduation. I have never touched to the MEP side of the building (AE220 is the basic of the basic), so I wish you two could finish your model to enrich my reference. Good luck!

Thomas S and Allison A

Martian settlement is a new, but ambitious topic through years, with a boost from the movie "The Martian". Your post already emerges a solution on using automated technology to construct structures in Mars without human intervention, which is very interesting even though human still have to control the robot to construct a dwelling right in Earth. You also clearly describes your challenge in your research, as supplying power for automated systems are a big problem in such an isolated situation (140 million miles away from us). However, please keep up with your work, since your idea is very innovative.

Carlos H.

I am coming from a developing country, so I can understand your statement about difficulty in applying new technology to improve lives on these countries. In fact, lack of investment, group of interest and law regulations in construction are tightening any innovative idea that is trying to emerge to the public. There is one problem that I want to share with you. It is about operating and maintaining those technologies which you will present about in Week 10. There is a huge probability that it would require high budget, and high-skill engineers to maintain technological devices, and the local government would practice corruption while operating those devices. Anyway, I am looking forward for your presentation, which I will reserve as one of the options to discuss while going back to home. 

Term Project Description

Mark Odorizzi and I are working together on the term project. We chose to do a project which entails creating an entire Revit model for all three major design areas of a building. We are doing this in conjunction with AE-391 which many of you are familiar with. We were originally working separately on different term projects, but realized after talking that we were doing very similar projects where we were going to be using Revit to create various models of a building we designed. Also, we are working together in AAE-391 so it is only fitting that we work together in this class as well.

What we will be doing with this project is keeping a log of what we do in Revit for the AE-391 building we are designing. We will be discussing what we did that day and the challenges we had faced. We will discuss some of the new things we are doing in Revit which we haven’t done before. At this current moment in time we have completed the Architectural Model for our building, which can be seen below. The shape of the first floor of our building gave us the name for it, “The Keep.” There are a few challenges we had to overcome when creating this model, like how to go about creating the amphitheater or add a continuous clerestory of windows. The overall Goal for our project is to have a set of plans that have been generated from Revit that include the architectural plans with furnishings, landscaping plans, structural plans, mechanical plans, electrical plans, and plumbing plans. Then, if time permits determine where we have clashes in the design and attempt to both show them and fix them.

“The Keep” – 3D Model of our Architectural Design of the Building

This relates to this class because more and more each day architectural and engineering firms using Revit to design buildings. This is to help determine if there are any design flaws that most likely would not get caught on a set of 2D plans until the General Contractor or Subcontractor points it out in a meeting or even possibly while they are constructing it.  This is also why almost every general contractor that I have spoken with are implementing the use of BIM tools to estimate a job. While a project is in the estimation phase it is critical that the GC or subcontractor not miss anything major costing them or the owner a lot of money. There are many abilities that a BIM Tool like Revit has that can be implemented in the construction field much easier than the design world because as of right now Revit is simply creating a model (picture of the building in 3D) that is not producing any data that a structural or MEP engineer can use.

An example of when having a 3D model is essential is when there are two GC’s competing for a job and one of them has produced a fully modeled building in Revit that they can show the owner.  I can guarantee that 95% of the time the owner will go with that contractor because they know they are getting a better-quality product, there will be less change orders (surprises), and that this company is more serious than the other because they took the time to create a model of the building. I have worked in the estimating department of a heavy civil construction company where many times they were chosen by the GC because we were able to show them that we knew the job. We were able to point out the potential design issues with possible solutions to the problem.

COMMENTS:

Cody Johnson

Your project seems to be very interesting and you are correct in saying that if 3D scanning could be an industry standard it would save a lot of people a lot time both in the construction and design industries. I also would like to point out that to this day, many of the sites are scanned by drones to get the initial elevations for both the CAD drawings and the plans. There is still a lot of needed improvement though because if the site has a lot of brush or trees, the initial scan will come up with elevations 2’ higher than what they actually are. Having this ability in the construction industry would help tremendously.

Carlos Hillinger

This is a very interesting topic to focus on. I believe that the main area to focus most of your time on is the 3D printing. In many underdeveloped countries their infrastructure limits their abilities tremendously. I believe looking further into 3D printing of bridges for countries like this is time well spent. Will we ever get to the point where it will be more economical to send a team of 2 or 3 guys and some “robots” to construct bridges for these countries? I believe looking at some of the economic aspects of all of these new technologies is also a beneficial route to look into. I only bring this up because in this country, I believe the main reason as to why the construction industry has not changed is due to the fact that technology is expensive and we don’t need it. We have been building buildings, roads, bridges, etc. for hundreds of years without robots, scanners, and more so why change it?

Dung Tran

You seem to be doing a very similar project in which Mark and I are doing and I too look forward to seeing your final presentation and how your building turns out. I have spent a good amount of time using Revit and learning how to use the Architectural Modeling tools but have not personally worked on any of the structural or MEP capabilities Revit has. I believe learning a new program for yourself is a very rewarding and intensive task, but once you learn Revit it will only benefit you in the long run. I personally am excited to learn how to link models, and create the other models. I believe that Revit will continue to be the leader in 3D modeling, and that AutoDesk will ensure that Revit can talk to other programs. I believe that Revit will be in the construction industry for 20+ years. Owners love to see models of their building, and GC are using it to solve problems. 

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!