Interoperability is the ability of a system,
typically for health information, to collaborate together within and across
organizational boundaries in an effort to advance the effective delivery of
that system for an individual and the communities it affects. By having this
within a system, it can help ease the workflow and promote some semblance of
automation.
In the third chapter of the BIM Handbook, written by Charles M.
Eastman, this concept is discussed in further detail. Eastman states that the
minimum application of interoperability is to eliminate the need to manually
copy data which has been copied in another application. This makes sense as the
very essence of this concept is to have working communications between various
applications, in which case their corresponding data would be shared. If this
is not done properly, it causes people to essentially have to repeat previous
work, and created the potential for errors when data between programs fails to
line up.
How this translates to the BIM environment
is simple. Current BIM applications such as Revit, and CAD has advanced to the
point where we are creating models that hold vast amounts of information
outside of their appearance. This data needs to be transferred properly within
a system in order to ensure that it is processed accurately. If any relevant information
is lost, it could lead to cascading issuing within the design of a structure.
One such example would be having a
complex CAD drawing which is a compilation of various other drawings. In order
for interoperability to be successful, we want each of these drawing to be
communicating with each other at all times. If the utilities for a building are
their own separate drawing, then it is important that if a CAD technician makes
changes to these drawings that they are updated in all other drawings that
contain a link to utilities. If this is not properly done it could lead to a
failure in design and wasted time and effort on the engineer’s part. Having
worked with CAD in my previous COOP I know all about dealing with improper
links between files (this is an issue that can occur often when transferring
files across a network for a large company, file connections can get broken and
this can lead to drawing not being able to update properly). The concept of
interoperability is simple at its core yet it is one of the most fundamental
applications of a current BIM system in order to ensure that it operates smoothly
and intelligently in today’s demanding world.
Sources:
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=da4563e0-e15d-4cf3-8b8a-eee24671dc73@sessionmgr113&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_99&rid=0
Comments:
[1] http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-dianna-vogel-interoperability.html?showComment=1453219581137#c317623145001822017
[2] http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-alex-palma.html?showComment=1453220006496#c8980641226284012825
Sources:
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=da4563e0-e15d-4cf3-8b8a-eee24671dc73@sessionmgr113&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_99&rid=0
Comments:
[1] http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-dianna-vogel-interoperability.html?showComment=1453219581137#c317623145001822017
[2] http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-alex-palma.html?showComment=1453220006496#c8980641226284012825
Kai,
ReplyDeleteI also read Chapter 3 for my initial post. Converting between different companies products (i.e. Bentley to AutoDESK) can be difficult even though it is in essence just copying over the relevant information. The data beyond its outward and structural appearance is greatly important in the proper use of BIM and could be substantial if any information is lost in the translation from one program to another.
You also brought up a good point about multiple sheet spaces used in one CAD drawing linked to a central model space. Just like in terms of sending a letter to another person, if one link (or part of the sending process) is broken, the rest of the linked files will not properly update.
Kai,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog post about interoperability very intriguing. In my previous experiences with BIM and working for an engineering firm during coop, I would say that it is the most important aspect of having an efficiently functioning engineering team. I have come to realize that having systems linked to each other properly saves a great amount of time and work. I remember coming across an issue when I tried linking a Revit drawing to an HVAC program that calculates cooling and heating loads. The Revit model did not have the proper design inputs so I had to change all the imported inputs to inputs I calculated manually. It was a waste of time and energy.
Kai,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mac that an efficiently functioning engineering team is the most valuable aspect to a firm. Going with what you said about improper link and outdated models, it can be a huge nightmare when the model you have been working in is really an outdated model. I've learned the hard way to try and update the model every 5 minutes if you are working in a large firm. Also like you said, the data has to be transferred properly, if not it can cause a huge waste in time and energy trying to find the error in the model. When all along, it was just that the model had incorrectly transferred information.
I also liked that you talked about sheets being linked into a 'central' model, or where one aspect of a sheet is changed, it is updated in the whole model. This allows for multiple people to work on the same model at the same time and can greatly speed up the project.
Kai,
ReplyDeleteYour example is pretty well thought out and would probably require some sort of cloud saving program like the ones for Google Docs. I guess the major problem with implementing this for CAD programs would be that the programs are much more complex than simple word or spreadsheet files and often require a minimum amount of computing power to run in the first place which would probably need to be increased if cloud saves were also integrated. This could be a problem if a file was being viewed on a computer that was different from the computer that created the file and it caused the viewing computer to crash.
Also, I can't tell you how many times I ran into a problem at my last co-op when trying to open an AutoCAD file while using an outdated version due to compatibility issues.