Class Reflection - Rebecca Lynch

Like many other students, I too found this class very interesting. I came into the class with very little expectations as the topic seemed so broad that it was hard to determine what we would be learning. I also had almost no experience with Revit or any other BIM software, besides from using Bentley products for structural design. I found the class projects to be a great way to demonstrate the tools that are available to us and how they work. The Revit project taught me a lot about the benefits and potential of these kinds of software in drafting buildings. This was further emphasized with the guest speakers who demonstrated the usefulness of these products in the professional world through showing how they use them every day, although my favorite speaker was the one who had his own firm and talked about the faults in new technologies. The database project then taught a lot about the uses of databases and how they are used. It also exemplified the importance of planning in databases as making changes to tables then must be propagated in the design of the queries and forms for ease of use of the database. However, the project then showed that once the database is properly designed and built, the insertion and editing of data becomes simple for the users as changes only need to be made once and everything else will update. Finally, I found the blog posts and term report to be an interesting way of allowing us to branch into the topics that were interesting to us. I learned a lot about the future technologies that are being developed that will improve our way of life and simplify the design of structures.

The most important thing that I learned in this class, however, was the benefits of BIM programs and their growing importance in the buildings industry. While I do not work at an architectural engineering firm, it is clear that the industry is moving towards the integration of all relevant models into one for the construction of structures. Even this past week, one of the clients my job works for requested that the structural information be put into their Revit model. This will be useful on all sides as it will be easy to visualize the finalized building, make sure there are no clashes, and provide a quick bill of materials for the project, to say the least. I plan to continue to play with Revit in my spare time to become accustomed to these types of tools for the future.

Comments:
Mark Lodato
Adrian Kuzniarowicz

B5 Relational Database Theory- Rebecca Lynch (Group A)

Relative database theory is a method of storing and manipulating data that simplifies these processes so that the user can access information without knowing the exact structure of the database and having an advanced knowledge of programming. The basic principle behind the theory is the grouping of objects into tables, referred to as relations, which share the same defined attributes. In each table, a row represents an object, that can be either a physical entity or abstract, and is given a primary key that is used to reference to other tables. Each column then represents a specific attribute of the object. The definition of each attribute must fall in the same domain and follow the same constraints in each table. This allows for a definition of constraints for all members of a relation, rather than each individual and ensures all objects are defined with the right type of value, such as making sure it is defined with a number or letter. Derived relations can then be created by referencing other relations with relational operators to create a new table that is then treated as a single entity. This can either be done as a one-to-one link, or a combination of different objects using functions such as union or difference.

As Laura Worley mentioned, relational databases are widely used. This type of database is useful because it allows the user to link changes to the relevant objects so only one change needs to be made for the entire system to be updated. In addition, indexes can be used to obtain data quickly and easily, in the way that you want it to be presented. For example, banks use relational databases to store customers’ information, where each row is a customer and each column is more information for that customer, such as the name, address, and financial information. This allows employees to search a customer’s name or account number and obtain all the relevant information for that customer. In addition, the use of splitting the data into derived relations that can be classified as confidential and non-confidential information allows for increased security as the users can be allowed to see only the tables they are granted access to. In the bank example, for instance, a bank teller can add money to your account without being able to see your private information such as your social security number.

Sources:

"Advantages of a Relational Database." Teach-ICT. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <http:// www.teach-ict.com/as_as_computing/ocr/H447/F453/3_3_9/database_design/miniweb/pg8.htm>.

Hull, Sean. "RELATIONAL DATABASE – WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?" Scalable Startups. N.p., 05 July 2011. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <http://www.iheavy.com/2011/07/05/ relational-database-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/>.

"Relational Database." Icons of Progress. IBM100, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/reldb/>.

"Relational Database." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Jan. 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relational_database>.

Comments:
Yuanjin Li
Haoying Ye

B4- Rebecca Lynch (Group A)

The topic that I chose with my partner Sean Coffey is the use of the internet of things in increasing the sustainability of buildings. There is an increasing push in society towards the development of sustainable practices and products that reduce our impact on the environment. Besides from the politicians and spokespeople encouraging this move towards a more sustainable society, the main driving force is the money savings associated with the reduction of energy usage of the building as a large incentive for both companies and individuals. Through research and case studies, we plan to show that the implementation of the internet of things into buildings can increase the sustainability of any building, even those that are LEED certified.

An important aspect in the use and maintenance of intelligent buildings is the implementation of the internet of things. The use of smart devices to monitor and control a building increases the ease of maintaining the building as well as provides optimal comfort with less and less human interference. The ability of products to communicate with each other enables the control and monitoring of an entire building with just one app. With these new capabilities, the sustainability of our buildings can be drastically improved by increasing the ease and awareness of the user in the reduction of energy usage.

Products such as the Nest Thermostat have already been developed and are currently used as an easy way of energy conservation. The system acts as a hub for the control of smart devices through a single app that not only allows the user to change the settings from anywhere, but also learns the user’s preferences and behaviors to predict future changes. This reduces the use of energy through various methods, though the most prevalent is through reducing the energy usage when no one is home. Additional products can be integrated into this system to further reduce energy impacts, such as the connection of the washer and drier to the Nest, which gathers information from the power company to determine when the peak time is, and only run the washer in non-peak times.

As with any new emerging technology, there are many limitations and potential risks of the internet of things. The major limitation at the moment is the integration of existing products to work as one. Currently, the use of hubs attempts to solve this problem by connecting all of the smart devices to a single controller. However, the hubs have their own limitations in their capabilities of connecting to only specific products. The main risk that the public is most concerned about is the impact these systems will have on personal security and privacy. Not only is there the risk of hackers taking control of a smart device to cause harm to the user, but there is a fear of the misuse of the data collected by the companies themselves. For this reason, companies will need to gain consumers’ trust in the protection and use of their data.

Sources:

Amadeo, Ron. "Google Tracker 2015: Everything We Know Google Is Working on for the New Year." ARS Technica. N.p., 29 Dec. 2014. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/12/google-tracker-2015-everything-google-is-working-on-for-the-new-year/#h1>.

Cheng, Roger. "​What Lurks beneath the Internet of Things Hype? Nagging Security Fears." CNET. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.cnet.com/news/what-lies-beneath-the-internet-of-things-hype-an-undercurrent-of-security-fears/>.

Colon, Alex. "The Best Smart Home Automation Hubs of 2015." PCMAG. N.p., 27 May 2015. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2468647,00.asp>.

Cringely, Robert X. "Prediction #7: Internet of Things Becomes a Security Nightmare." I Cringely. N.p., 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 31 Jan. 2016. <http://www.cringely.com/2016/01/13/prediction-7-internet-of-things-is-a-security-nightmare/>.

Comments:
Laura Worley
Cristian Almendariz

B3- Rebecca Lynch (Group A)

The main problem that I see in the future of BIM/Revit comes from the current problems that came up in class. As Laura Worley discussed, the major issues with BIM and Revit currently is the errors that occur when converting from one software to another. I think that because of the competition inherent in capitalism, companies will have more of a push to develop their software to compete with the others by offering the same program capabilities, such as structural and HVAC design for a model created in their particular interface, rather than creating more compatible programs that allow users to switch from one company’s program to another’s. For this reason, I think the main problem with BIM/Revit in the future will be companies competing against each other through broadening their products’ scopes and capabilities rather than specializing in one field, such as creating a program that is the best in steel design, that can then be transferred to and from other company’s interfaces that focused on the other aspects of the building’s design. The second would be more beneficial to the field of engineering because the programs that exist are already better at one thing over the others. If companies could focus on those specialties that they have already established, they could improve our abilities to model the real world, and improve our design abilities overall through the use of multiple different programs that have been fully developed to accurately and easily model and design for their one field specialty.

Another future problem that I think will be a major issue is the problem discussed by Laura Worley that engineers will become too dependent on these programs for our calculations rather than learning the basic principles and equations ourselves. In my graduate classes, there is a significant emphasis on not just putting things into our programs and taking the output as it is. Instead, our teachers have us check our work using the programs to make sure we obtained the right values. The reason for this became apparent to me in CIVE701, when my friends and I would create the same exact structure with the same loads and would somehow get different results, even though we cannot find any differences between the models. There are clear errors in the program interface and human inputs. As we use these programs more and more, it becomes dangerous how much weight we put on their answers.

Comments:
Laura Worley
Derek Zaccheo

B2: Rebecca Lynch (Group A)

As a student who has only used a BIM software once in one of the introduction CAEE classes, chapter two was both overwhelming in the uses and explanations of the BIM applications and tools as well as intriguing in that I never knew the full potential of BIM. As mentioned by Laura Worley and Gary Reiff, there are predefined base building objects that can be inserted into the model, either through definitions in the system or external online sources. In addition, the benefits of BIM in the ability to set parameters that allow objects to update as the design progresses, rather than needing to manually change everything with CAD programs is incredible. In my co-ops, we use AutoCAD for all of our drawings and deal with mostly residential and smaller commercial buildings. Even with only having four stories and only working in 2-D, the tedious nature of having to change every drawing and all of the walls associated with one change can be frustrating.

In order to allow for these easy updates later as design progresses modelling ability, care must be taken to first define the rules and parameters. The parameters can either be a location relative to another object, or rules that can be checked as the design develops to ensure that new changes. This would be helpful in ensuring that changes in one section do not cause other sections and objects to violate codes or minimum requirements desired. An additional benefit that is unique to BIM is the modelling of the design space that, with the addition of labeling of object properties, allows for environmental conditioning applications. The properties can be used to assign occupancy and equipment performance needs to a space; thermal control and loads to zones for structural and HVAC designs; and materials and quality specifications to an object for purchasing. As with parameters, the better defined the model is in its properties, the more accurate the BIM tools will be in the calculation of loads and necessary materials for different systems.

With the accuracy of the parameters and properties, BIM is becoming increasingly used in fabrication and construction. The ability to define object as layers with parametric layout of nested elements, such as studs allows for generation of detailed framing and cut lumber schedule that is a more accurate measurement of materials needed. Similarly, in large scale structures, each floor has similar framing and structural layout. To simplify the model, systems such as, structural or electrical, can be modelled as objects that have defined rules in order to determine the layout of the components. In addition, connection designs can be completed based on loads applied and the connecting members. These will greatly decrease the time needed to model any size buildings and determine the materials needed, as well as reduce the waste generated from ordering too many materials.

As mentioned, the more parameters and properties assigned to the BIM, the more accurate the model. However, large projects can cause storage problems as larger buildings require more objects, and even small buildings with many properties and objects modeled can use too much data for storage and propagation of updates. For this reason, there must be a balance between modelling enough objects and, assigning only the important parameters and properties, so that the model is as accurate as possible without the use of too much data too reduce the speed and efficiency of the program. For large projects where a lot of data is necessary, the lack of storage capacity can be fixed with the use of multiple files in which updates in one file affect the others, but not many BIM tools have this function yet. An additional problem that the author discussed was the need to choose a BIM platform that works best for your application because each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. An option that the author recommended to increase the functionality of the BIM model was to use external spreadsheets to define parameters. This allows for the changing between systems in order to use each for its unique strengths so you can use the best program for any given task.

References:

Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook : A Guide To Building Information Modeling For Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers And Contractors. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 18 Jan. 2016.

Comments:
Gary Reiff
Laura Worley

Rebecca Lynch (Group A)-B1

The field of AI is changing the way that we as humans perform daily tasks ranging from how we drive to how we work and collaborate. The interesting thing that I found in the advancement of AI was the change in how these systems are programmed. The article entitled “The End of Work?” discusses the changes that are occurring, and are expected to occur, in the workforce due to the advancements in AI. This integration into the workforce is due to new methods of deep learning where computers are able to teach themselves based on experience through pattern recognition and trial and error. These methods are demonstrated in the article “How to teach machines to see.” In this article, a program was created using these methods that recognized patterns in images to identify and group objects in order to identify the surroundings. This was done by labeling each individual pixel in thousands of photos. After enough photos, the computer is able to group the pixels into the preassigned groups, such as pavement, buildings, and pedestrians, based on the prior experience. This will enable a more accurate determination of a self-driving car’s location and surroundings compared to the current use of GPS and sensors.

The expansion of deep learning methods will allow for the in integration of AI into the workplace through programming computers to perform simple tasks that can be checked and modified by humans. This will free time for professionals to work on the more interesting or difficult tasks. These capabilities are limited, however, in that computers lack human intuition and creativity. They are also task-specific and lack the ability to perform generalized tasks. These limit the uses of AI to programmable, task-oriented jobs. The push towards use of AI in the workplace will change the nature of the job market. While many are worried that it will increase unemployment with the decrease in people needed to run a business, it will also open the door to more people in the field of robotics and programming, as well as create new fields. In addition, there will be a greater push for higher education and a continuation of learning after entering the workforce in order to compete with the emerging technologies.

In addition to allowing systems to be programmed through learning, there is also a change in how systems are programmed to interact with people. As Janet Tran discussed in her post, computers are better at performing specific tasks and organizing data from individual inputs into an overall solution. The majority of human-computation systems today are based on this ability of computers, with the computer assigning micro tasks to individuals, then organizing all of the results of these tasks to complete the main objective. However, this method limits the ability of the users to interact and collaborate, which allows people to build off of each other’s ideas, and does not allow the expansion of creativity that occurs when humans work in groups. In new human-computation technologies, the computer acts more as a sharing platform where the work of one individual is sent to the next to be evaluated and revised while the computer continues to integrate each individuals work into the overall goal. This new method allows individuals to build off of each other to expand the potentials of working together from far away with the potential to solve the world’s major problems.

With the new advancements in AI, people are becoming optimistic in their views of how they will live in the future. As Laura Worley discussed, the article entitled “AI will replace smartphones within 5 years, Ericsson survey suggests” demonstrates the populations desire to move away from smartphones to more integrated system of appliances and accessories. These technologies varied from 3D virtual reality around the viewer and holograms to AI doctors and teachers. While these technologies are possible in the future, I agree with Laura that the five –year timeline is unrealistic with some of these applications, such as doctors and teachers. This is mainly because the people surveyed were laypeople who were optimistic in what they want in the future, rather than the expert opinions of the possibilities and timelines.

References:

"AI Will Replace Smartphones Within 5 Years, Ericsson Survey Suggests." Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence, 09 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.kurzweilai.net/ai-will-replace-smartphones-within-5-years-ericsson-survey-suggests>.

"Can Human-machine Superintelligence Solve the World’s Most Dire Problems?" Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence, 05 Jan. 2016. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.kurzweilai.net/can-human-machine-superintelligence-solve-the-worlds-most-dire-problems>.

"How to Teach Machines to See." Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence, 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http:// http://www.kurzweilai.net/how-to-teach-machines-to-see>.

Shisan, Ji. "The End of Work?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 Dec. 2015. Web. 11 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/10/opinion/the-end-of-work.html?ribbon-ad-idx=8&rref=science&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Science&pgtype=article>.

Comments:
Yuanjin Li

Janet Tran

Week 1 videos

What changed between the first and second?

There seemed to be a large difference between the first and second in terms of the fluidity of the motion. The first structure relied on precise movements, whereas the second flowed in relation to both the ropes and the other drones. The second structure also showed greater promise for teamwork, with both drones working in close proximity of each other. These three improvements combine to create a more feasible building process, however it did lean heavily on human constructed elements.

What implications does this have for the future of our industry?

• Speed up time 
• React to environment
• More feasible structure
• Safer, possibility of creating tethers for harnesses
• Can work at great heights 
• Inspection work, not necessarily construction

Introduction Post

Hello, my name is Rebecca Lynch. I am a senior BS/MS student in structural engineering. In this class, I want to learn about intelligent building systems and how technology can be utilized in, and effect the design of, buildings both now and in the future. My definition of intelligent buildings is: the use of computer software and programming to enhance the design, construction, or use of a building.

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