Object Oriented Databases

First thing first is to find the definition of "object oriented databases" through browsing on the internet. From wikipedia, object databases is defined as a database information system in which its information is represented in the form of "objects" as used in "object oriented programming". It is different from relational databases which is defined as "table-oriented". Well, the definition seems a little overwhelming to me because I don't understand the meaning of some terms that are being used in the definition such as "objects" and "object oriented programming"...

What is an "object"?

The article I found did a great job on explaining the concept of an object. It starts with leading me to think the definition of object in the real-word. Examples are like dogs and bicycles, which both share two similar characteristics: state and behavior. States like breed and color for dogs, current speed and current gear for bicycles. Behaviors like barking and changing gears. Object in computer language apparently shares the similar concept such as it also has two states: state and behavior. The state is stored in fields, meaning the variables in CS languages and the behavior is exposed through methods, meaning functions. 

"Methods operate on an object's internal state and serve as the primary mechanism for object-to-object communication. Hiding internal state and requiring all interaction to be performed through an object's methods is known as data encapsulation - a fundamental principle of object-oriented programming." 

 

With knowing the concept of object, the next question is:

What is an "object oriented programming" (OOP)?

OOP is the most modern server-side scripting languages that is used by back-end developer to write software and database technology. OOP tells web applications or website how to behave and build the platform for a site to interact with its database. To put it in a simpler way, if a website uses object-oriented logic, then it is designed to consider data as "objects". Another term that needs to mention is class. Class is like a template to the object. It does not contain data or methods but it defines the the data and methods in an object and it creates the object. Some benefits of the OOP are reusable, less developing time and more accurate coding, data is safe and secure, and shareable. 

Object Oriented Databases

Also called object database management system (ODBMS). Objects store objects rather than data and objects contains two things - attributes and methods. Attribute are data that defines the characteristics of an object. Methods are the behavior of an object like mentioned above. In traditional databases, date controlled by the application is impermanent and is stored on a permanent storage device. However, in object databases, the application has the ability to control both impermanent and permanent data. Object databases are used when there is complex data/data relationships and it should not be used when there is a big amount of simple transactional data.



References 
https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/concepts/object.html
https://www.upwork.com/hiring/development/object-oriented-programming/
http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/database/basicdb/dataobject.html


Comments:

Hi Sonny! I did my reading topic on object oriented databases and through the reading, I realized that there was another type of databases which is relational databases - which is also the topic you discussed about in your post. I found your post very helpful and informative dut to the fact that you introduced the concept of relational databases very clearly. One of the advantages of object oriented databases is also data security so it provides certain users access to all the datasets with preventing some users the same time like you mentioned.


Hi Deedee! I enjoy reading your post a lot because I think you did a really good job on making the structure of your post to maximum explain the term clearly. I like how you started the post with the question of asking what database is and personally I would like to know the definition before reading anything else. I also like how you analyze the use of databases in design office in different perspectives. I agree with you that database is very important and helpful towards a lot of things: example like amazon and google, which give people the access to the enormous databases. Not sure what people can do without it.


Hi Marino, I agree with you that there are a lot of benefits of object oriented database as I have also researched the same topic. Some of the benefits that I found are the application has the ability to control both permanent and impermanent data and it is mostly used when there is a complex data relationships. And it is not the best to consider when there is a big amount of simple transactional data. I agree with you that this could be very confusing to the users who do not have a good understanding of the computer languages.

Term Project Outline - Building Automation on Healthcare Facilities

My original term project idea was to write a research paper on researching the different applications of Internet of things for building automation. After being suggested in the class last week of narrowing down the topic, the new idea would be researching the building automation applications on specifications of healthcare facilities. The reason of picking hospitals was that I am doing senior design on the north expansion of a children’s hospital and I think it would be interesting to research the applications of building automation on hospitals.

Since hospitals have environments that are hard to manage, the researching points will be focusing on keeping the hospitals healthy especially in the areas that require room pressurization for disease control. Also things like restrict areas and how to management them easier with no keys needed and alarm notifications. Healthcare facilities are not too updated with the new technologies especially with the design requirement with following the standard design code. The use of automation will be one of the few ways to make the healthcare design innovative; therefore I want to address it in my research paper.

Some directions I will be addressing in the paper will include energy management, HVAC systems, security & emergency response like fire systems, intercom systems, mass notifications, and video surveillance.  I will be listing the areas that are using/need building automation in healthcare facilities and also will be researching some care study examples to show the real life applications of building automation in the healthcare facilities.

Some useful resources I found:

http://www.computrols.com/what-we-do/our-clients/hospitals-healthcare-facilities/

https://www.deltacontrols.com/vertical-markets/healthcare

Comments:

Hi Sonny! I really like your idea for your term project idea. I agree with you that although the term of intelligent building has been used so many times but the explanation/definition of intelligent building has never been that clear out there. I am glad that you chose this topic and I can’t wait to know more about it at your presentation!

Hi Bach! I enjoyed reading your ideas and I like how ambitious you and Marino are for researching this challenging topic! I agree with you that nowadays building are going taller and taller and it would be awesome to know some alternatives like the topic you will be researching – underground intelligent buildings. Looking forward to seeing your Revit model!

Hi Dee! I like your idea of comparing the green building and intelligent building. These two types of buildings might be the ones that are mentioned the most of times and I never thought about the similarity and differences of these two types. I agree with you that this topic is a little broad plus I know a lot of people in our class are doing the comparison of intelligent building versus green building. Just out of my pure curiosity: what do you think that your research paper/project will be different than the others who are researching the same topic?

Possible future advantage of BIM/Revit:

Possible future advantage of BIM/Revit:

There are a lot benefits already nowadays with using BIM process. With the fact of having more information contained buildings in the future, BIM could be a great tool to capture the completed process in a way that the tradition pen and paper aren’t able to do. Using BIM drawing tools are way faster than the 3D drawings tools. With having the family feature in of the BIM tools, Revit, the project can automatically update the information with different numbers and sizes being changed, which would make the design process much more efficient and easier. Another example, with using BIM, it can improve the collaborations between architects, engineering, and the owners. Autodesk 360 is commonly used nowadays in the design field with having the feature of integrating all of the different disciplines.

Also, there are simulation tools out there for designer to visualize things such as daylight and different weather condition and the software would generate the peak conditions with analyzing the data. In the future, it would be ideal if the BIM software could also predict the extreme weather condition so that it could incorporate the needs into the design process. Despite the fact that BIM is and will be making the design process cheaper, more efficient, and safer, but there are still people are used to the old ways of working. From the article I read, seems like the solution could be summarized a three-pronged approach: processes, policies, and people.

Resources:

https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/building-information-modeling-top-10-benefits-of-bim/

https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/future-of-bim/

Comments -

Abad: I enjoyed reading your post about the future of BIM uses. I agree with your point that BIM could reduce building energy and makes the building sustainable and it is something traditional paper and pen can never achieve. And I believe with the use of BIM getting more common and common, it will for sure to reduce the construction cost and increase the efficiency a lot more  in the future.

Shuster: The point you brought up about BIM not being building information modeling but building information optimizing is really interesting to read. It would be ideal if designers don't need to code every aspect of the building in the future and only need to put in the parameters to let the program generates on it own. For sure it will save so much time and cost but it also makes me worry that if humans will eventually lose our creativities one day or decrease creativities with fast phase development of the technologies.

Nay: The points you listed there are very interesting and unique. I actually agree with all of your three points. What I will be discussing here will be your third point where engineers will be no longer needed in the future. This is the aspect that I worry about the most also. Like jordan mentioned in her post, it is most likely that designers are not necessary to code every aspects of the building and instead only some parameters will be needed to make the design happen. It makes me worry that one day our humans creativities will be going to a down curve.

Liu: B2 - Chapter 4: BIM for Owners and Facility Managers

As the name of this chapter states, chapter 4 is about discussing the BIM applications of building owners and facility managers. In chapter 4, the discussion first begins with the benefits of BIM applications for all types of building owners and facility managers, then it follows by the explanation of how different types of applications address issues for different types of owners. Third, it discusses the impaction of different methods of project delivery on different BIM applications. And then, the chapter provides a guide on BIM tools that are more suggested to the owners and discusses the details of the owner's perspective of BIM. Lastly, the chapter ends with the different solutions for owners to better implement BIM into their projects with certain risks and technology barriers.

The relatively interesting section of this chapter I found is section 4.4 - how owners build, where it introduces the three main facility delivery processes: design-bid-build, design-build, and collaboratives. Figure 1 and 2 below shows the comparison of the three main process. Design-bid-build is more like a traditional way which involves a different competition that involves various organizations at each of the phase without integration process. Design-build involves overlapping process as shown in figure 2. Some of the design and build processes are happening at the same time to shorten the project time. The collaborative is similar to design-build but with a much earlier overlapping process of the involvement of all the key participants in the project.

Figure 1 - Design-bid-build process (traditional Process)

Figure 2 - Diagram of three different main delivery processes

Since the communication of BIM-based project is related to exchange the BIM data instead of exchange the traditional paper-based information, it was interesting to learn the different ways to exchange the BIM data among the owner and project teams. Four types of exchanges were introduced in Chapter 4: published snapshots, published BIM views and meta-data, published files of the BIM, and direct database. Compare to the published methods, the direct database is still less common in BIM practice. A followed example scenario shows that the project uses a central repository and the owner, architects, and engineers have the access to the central model. Architects published the model for owners and snapshot for interested parties to review while exchanging model file with engineers such as .rvt, .dwg, and .dgn files. And contractors could pull out the model views in PDF and give the data to their subcontractors. This process seems much easier, transparent and efficient compared to the traditional paper-based documents. 

For sure there are many benefits that BIM can bring to a project, but as mentioned in the BIM handbook, there are also some risks associated with the exchanges in the work process. There are issues such as the project is already financed and therefore "it's not worth it to implement BIM", the high cost of training and learning curve, difficult to ensure everyone associated with the project has the willingness to learn and adopt BIM, and issues of model ownership. I believe that BIM is a very important collaborative process and it is much needed as a communication tool between not only owners and architects, engineers and constructors but also the relationship among all the people who are involved with the design. I think choosing to use BIM is not the main issue nowadays but the issue of which BIM method can bring the most values to the project could be something the owner and facility managers to consider about. 

Sources:

C. M. Eastman, “Chapter 4: BIM for Owners and Facility Managers,” in BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors, 2nd ed., Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012, pp. 93–147.

Comments: 

Hi Jordan! I found your comments on Chapter 4 pretty interesting especially your point of view on the benefits that BIM can bring to the owners and the project. I think BIM is for sure a collaborative process that helps the project maintain in a 3D world and I am surprised to know that although with the efficiency and accuracy, BIM is still not yet being accepted by some project owners yet due to the risks it can potentially bring such as the high cost of training and the issues of model ownership. And I agree with you that a project becomes a lot simpler with using BIM process.

Hi Kerry! I enjoyed reading your post a lot because I like how you summarized the long chapter into very clear and understandable sentences. I agree with you that it could take a long time for the users to learn the BIM process and I have a few examples from past coops that I think might help with the efficiency of learning. There was a "BIM person" at my last coop and he is more like a technical expert on BIM, so he was in charge of teaching the engineers on how to use the BIM model or central file accurately and efficiently. I also know some architecture firms would schedule lessons with their BIM software provider such as AutoDesk and Bentley System to learn the efficient way to implement their design into BIM.

Hi Cody! I found your post very interesting about discussing how we can walk through a 3D model with VR new technologies nowadays. I did not know that the VR has been this advanced now and has been adopted into the building design. I agree with you that it will help owners have a better understanding of the space arrangement and let users experience the space before it gets to the construction phase with the VR headset technology, which should be able to save the project budget and shorten the project timeline.

Help Please

Hey guys! Does anyone know if we should answer the discussion questions at the end of Chapter 4 as the content of our discussion post or just reflections of the whole chapter in general?

Implications of AI & robots abilities for building forms

Implications of AI & robots abilities for building forms

AI could make buildings operate automatically in the future. Starting from small, maybe there will be some sensors connected to human bodies and then the sensors would adjust the indoor temperature based on humans reactions. In a bigger scale, there might be systems that operate the building envelop and window shading to automatically get the maximum sunlight and natural ventilation into the buildings. And also there might be a way to solve the extra heat that heat pump system produced to the environment. There might not be any control buttons once entering a building because everything is automatically controlled. And once the location and use of the building is firmed, all the systems will be designed and constructed on its own. No designers and construction workers needed. I'm imagining there will be like a machine for owners to order buildings and every building process will be starting on its own.

Intelligent Building Definition

"One which provides a productive and cost-effective environment environment thru optimization of four basic elements: structure, system, service and management, and the interrelationship between them." From Intelligent Building Institute 

Group C - Robotics & AI Relevancy

We believe that the use of robots and artificial intelligence is highly relevant in the field of engineering.

On the construction side, robots can be used to streamline processes such as brick laying, automated concrete pouring, and material fabrication.

However, the design side is still largely dependent on humans therefore the use of robots and AI is not as relevant today. As smart buildings advance and become more common, the use of robotics and AI will increase.

Xiaoyu Liu's Introduction

Hello everyone! My name is Xiaoyu (Sherry) and I'm currently a senior major in Architectural Engineering with a concentration in HVAC at Drexel University. I'm taking Intelligent building this term because I need a professional elective class and this course seems interesting and I have heard really positive feedback from the students who have taken this class in the past. Another reason why I chose to take this class was that I worked for Bentley System for one of my coops as a BIM consultant intern for a short period of time and that was the first time I learned about BIM.

My expectation for this course is to learn more about the technologies that are associated with my major and also learn more about one of the three topics: database, networks, and BIM through researching in the group project.

One interesting Evernote I found was called "Teleoperating robots with virtual reality: getting inside a robot's head". The article talked about a new VR system being developed by MIT research teams for people to teleoperate a robot. And the system called "Homunculus Model" would embed people in a control room with sensor displays and make people feel like they are inside robot's body and from there they could control the robots matching movement. I found it interesting because it reminded me of one epistle from Black Mirror that I watched. It was about a husband who agreed to a procedure to transfer his vegetative wife's consciousness into his mind. It is just crazy to think how close that is to happen in the real life with the fast phase of the development of technology.

I don't know much about intelligent building yet but for now, I would define it as the use of technologies such as building information modeling, database, and network to make the process of designing buildings more efficient. 

Last Names For Tags - Part II

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