B7 - Course reflection - Cristian Almendariz

            This class ended up being completely different from what I expected.  Going from its name Intelligent Buildings, I originally though would a lecture/project-based class in learning different BIM software.  Instead it was a more informative, analytical, and writing intensive class.  Although I would have preferred it to be the other way, I did learn a lot in this class.  Each lecture touched several different but important facts about the evolution of the construction industry and its current state. 

            Overall, the lectures were really informative and interesting.  I think that the guest speakers were the best part of them.  Each guest speaker came from different parts of the industry and had different perspectives the evolution of construction.  For example, before taking this class I did not know that robots and drones were already being used in construction.  Drones are really useful in several tasks of construction for example in site supervision and project control.  Now construction managers, owners, and designers can check the project progress from their home or office.  Additionally, it was really interesting to see what different professionals think about BIM software.  BIM software is definitely revolutionizing the construction industry and it has outstanding future potential.  As of now, most of them have realized that they must keep up with its evolution and learn how to use it.  Bentley’s lecture was the best.  I was amazed with the program capability to merge the architectural with MEP models and its ability for clash detection between elements.  This is a huge step forward in construction because it allows the detection of costly errors before construction.  In order to exploit this technology’s potential, all construction parties should be completely involved and work as a team.  I believe that BIM software training should be part of all engineering, architectural, or construction management undergraduate programs.  Professionals without software knowledge will definitely be in a disadvantage in the future. 

            The Revit project was an excellent introduction to the program.  Before completing the project I did not know how to use Revit.  Fortunately, prof. Mitchell’s video tutorials were really useful and easy to follow.  Moreover, it was an excellent foundation for the term project.  As I mentioned in B5 post, prior taking this class I did not know what databases were.  The lectures, blog post, and database project were an excellent introduction to them.  By completing the database project, I was able to accurately know what databases are and how they work.  Although my database was not too related to AE, I was able to develop a database that could be used in my dads company.  I develop a database to keep track the company’s cars and computer hardware.  This database could be expanded to become more complex and keep track of more assets. 

            The term project was an excellent opportunity to improve my senior design project house. I decided use Revit to develop, modify, and improve the original model of the house.  With little Revit experience, this project was quite challenging at the beginning.  It was really difficult to get used Revit’s toolbar and tools.  I had to watch several youtube tutorials to be able to modify the house roof, floor, walls, and furniture.  While completing the project, I noticed that Revit’s 3D visualization tool is really useful.  It help me a lot to modify and improve the overall house model and choose material finishes.  Overall, this term project was an excellent experience and opportunity to take my senior design house model to the next level.

            Although this class ended up being different from what I expected, it was really useful.  It brought me up to date in construction and its tendencies.  I was able to realize that technology is evolving at a really fast rate and I must keep up with it.  I can definitely conclude that the knowledge gained in this class is an excellent asset for my future architecture master degree program and profession.  I will definitely recommend all civil and architectural engineers to take this class.

Responses,

Mridul,

            

I also think that the guest lectures were one of the best parts about this course.  By having speakers from different sectors of the construction industry, I was able too see the impacts BIM, AI, and robots has had in them.  These technologies are definitely going to take over our industry and we must be ready to accept it.  In order to take full advantage of this technology, all construction parties must be involved and working as a team to develop the BIM models.  Moreover, I believe that architectural, engineering, and construction management undergraduate programs should include training in this technology.  

         

Alexis,

            I respectfully disagree with you that AI, robotics, and 3D printing will not be used in HVAC in the near future.  My dad owns an HVAC company in Ecuador and Asian companies like LG and Samsung are definitely starting to use this technology.  I will like to add that Robots and AI are going to become really useful especially for the installation of these ducts.  I believe that 3D printing and AI can potentially be used for the systems ducts.  Ecuador is a little behind in this industry and ducts are built manually from galvanized steel sheets.  This is really time consuming and labor intensive.  AI and robots can definitely be used in order to easy the process.  I am really looking forward for this technology to be applied in Ecuador. 

     

B5 - Group C - Sean Coffey - Object Oriented Databases

Object Oriented Databases

Before researching object oriented databases, I did not know what object oriented databases were and was not aware how they were extensively used for to enable BIM software. Object oriented databases simply put are databases made up of complex objects that are defined by simple data and algorithm attributes. These attributes can be edited and modified manually and automatically.

Differences from Other Databases

Object oriented databases are unlike traditional databases in some important ways. They contain simple and complex attributes while more traditional databases like relational databases only contain simple data. The simpler databases store data in tables that are often reference other tables to return useful information.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Object oriented databases have their advantages and disadvantages over other less complex and traditional databases. Some of the advantages include their programmability to act more intelligently and automatically than other databases. This is accomplished with the embed code and algorithms. This code and how the database interacts with other databases makes object oriented databases more complex and due to the increased complexity they are harder to maintain and edit. On the other hand, if object oriented databases are setup properly they require less maintenance, while more traditional databases require regular maintenance. Also object oriented databases are work better when implemented to communicate and interact with other databases.

BIM’s Use of Object Oriented Databases

One of the best ways to use object oriented databases is when programing CAD and BIM software. Autodesk leverages the advantages of object oriented databases to make the intelligent programs such as Revit. Object oriented databases are fundamental to how Revit acts parametrically. An example of how this database type is implemented in Revit is to create families that are intelligent and modifiable. Revit families are defined by simple and complex properties or attributes. Example simple attributes are the dimensions of a door. They can be quickly and easily modified by user to customize the door to match the actual door that will be installed into the real life building. While a complex attribute would be how the door interacts while placing the door on walls with different widths. The frame for the door has to have an intelligent algorithm that determines how the door will automatically modify its width to match the wall width. The use of object oriented databases makes Revit seemingly simple, work intelligently and nearly flawlessly.

References

http://www.archdaily.com/302490/a-brief-history-of-bim

http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/database/basicdb/dataobject.html

Comments

Mohammed Alqallaf
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b5-mohammed-alqallaf-group-e.html

Bridget Frasca
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b5-group-d-frasca-uses-of-databases-in.html?showComment=1455059965158#c2225312694583606569

Week 4 BIM Discussion - BIM makes the Engineer's Jobs Harder vs. BIM makes the Engineer's Job Easier

BIM has made the engineer’s job harder because there are greater expectations of the engineers to multitask, collaborate, understand others disciplines, perform non engineering tasks, build increasingly complex buildings, using multiple sophisticated programs. Fear of missing a mistake made by the computer. BIM also makes an engineer’s job easier and allows them to get more done at a higher quality because of the complexity of BIM and its capabilities. It removes the tedious design  tasks from what the engineer normally does and indicates where they need to pay attention. The easy problems are solved automatically, but the complex problems are not. Designers are able to make better building designs and gain a realistic understand understanding of the building by making collaboration, communication, and visualization easier, but leads to more complicated problems.

B3 - Group C - Cristian Almendariz

In the past and even today many projects suffer great economic losses and schedule delays due to errors and omissions in the project.  Most errors and omissions in construction are due to the outdated software architects use.  Although AutoCAD is really good, it is too “basic” because as Christopher G. Hill says, “Only draws lines, circles and arcs which can be copied and pasted by the user”.  AutoCAD has no design capabilities or fundamental intelligence.  Furthermore, errors and omissions were complicated by the increasing trend of architects replacing designers who had a great knowledge of construction and using AutoCAD.  They were more likely to detect errors and omissions in construction prior construction.  Therefore, now architects produce construction documents that have a lot of errors regarding door and window schedules, errors in elevations, and other. 

            If used adequately, Revit has the potential of preventing such errors and omissions in projects.  Revit is based on parametric modeling built on top of a relational database.  As Christopher G. Hill says “you basically see what you get”.  After Autodesk purchased Revit, they have expanded it into Revit Architecture, Revit Structure, and Revit MEP.  It now has the ability to be able to put all these elements together and find errors, omissions, and conflicts between components.  For these reasons, the use of Revit can prevent significant economic loses and delays in a project.

            Revit and other BIM programs have a bright future in front of them.  A major contribution to its bright future is the fact that BIM programs like Revit are starting to be required in the construction industry.  Therefore, now architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, and owners are learning how to use BIM programs.  Additionally, BIM is opening the doors for the use of Integrated Project Delivery IPD contracts.  Charles Cook defines integrated project delivery as “a collaborative group of individuals and/or companies working toward a common goal, sharing skills and assets to deliver the complete project”.  In other words, IPD is a type of contract, which forces all parties (e.g. architects, engineers, consultants, etc.) to work and collaborate under a master contract.  It stops parties from working separately and makes them a team.  Either all the “team” succeeds or fails deleting fault blaming between parties.  BIM facilitates this type of contract because it allows all construction elements and components to be put together into a single “file” so that the program detects crashes and errors between them.  Additionally, it allows us to get a real 3D representation of how the project is going to look and we are able to visualize how changes will affect the final product. 

            As explained above, Revit and other BIM programs have a bright future.  As their use becomes standard in design and construction, it is going to bring a lot of advantages to the construction industry.  The main advantage relies on the prevention significant schedule delays and economic losses by of errors and omissions.  Additionally, as this technology further evolves and gets improved, projects are going to be able to be built much faster.  Moreover, these programs have the possibility of reducing or even deleting human labor at worksites by replacing it with machines or drones.  This can bring significant economic savings and a significantly faster construction.  Construction methods, materials, and practices can be significantly improved by the use of these technologies.  This opens the door to the possibility to construct any architectural design that is now believed structurally “impossible”.  Given the fast rate that technology is evolving, this future might be closer than what we think.

References

BIM and REVIT- The Way to the Future. N.p., 17 June 2013. Web. 26 Jan. 2016. <http://constructionlawva.com/bim-and-revit-way-to-future/>.

Cook, Charles W. Successful Contract Administration: For Constructors and Design Professionals. New York: Routledge, 2014. Print.

Alexis,

I think you made an excellent point by mentioning how BIM is now allowing project engineers quick access to existing conditions or progress on site.  I think this is a main future advantage for BIM programs because it opens the door for offsite project supervision.  Possibly, no longer will engineers, architects and other site supervision officials will be strictly required to be onsite.  They will be able to supervise a project from their home office.  Additionally, this might allow them to now be able to supervise multiple projects in the same time.   Additionally, even the owners can use this tool to visualize the construction of their project in real live.

William,

            I also believe BIM has the potential to revolutionize the construction industry but BIM’s evolution is dependent on the collaboration from other markets.  Imagine the great potential of BIM if it is merged with the Microsoft HoloLens technology, which has the ability to display a virtual reality.  All contractual parties, even owners will not be limited to see their projects in a flat screen, instead they will be able to see it in real life.  This brings design stage of a project to a whole new level.  As we know, it is different too see a project in a flat screen than when it is completed.  For this reason, many owners decide to make changes along construction.  In some instances they might require parts of the project to be redesign a rebuilt bringing economic and schedule losses.  This technology has the potential of moving these changes during the design stage and making sure the owner is satisfied with the design from the beginning.