Course Reflection

Laura Worley

Course Reflection

I have found the intelligent building class to be very interesting and informative. When I first signed up for the class, I was unsure of exactly the type of material that would be covered. I have always had a particular interest in intelligent buildings and innovative technology. We were taught the basis of these systems and also given a chance to explore the systems. In this class, we had a chance to work with Revit and database software. These projects helped me to learn much more about the programs and the user interface. I think that we had an ample amount of time to complete projects and were encouraged to do research through the weekly blog posts. The lectures were also coordinated well with the course material and we were able to learn much about a topic before being given an assignment. I feel as though after the given lectures, I am fully able to understand the concept of Intelligent buildings and the many up and coming technologies associated with these buildings.

Another interesting aspect of this class was the opportunities we were given to collaborate with one another in class. Throughout the term, we were given groups in which we would review material/projects and posts. During this time we would collaborate on our thoughts and the process. This helped to review material and also learn so much more. The given groups were also chosen in regards to our major and program. This was also helpful for us to see the ideas of people with similar interests.

The guest speakers that were brought into our class made it so that the things we were learning in class were more relatable. Many of the guest speakers were very informative and also helped us to gain a better idea of potential career opportunities. I also thought that it was very nice that they spent the time to come speak to us. Many of the employers gave out business cards which could be helpful for networking in the future. The speakers were all in different fields. Some of the speakers were new out of college and have just begun on their career paths whereas others were established in the companies and had many other stories of previous experience as well.

The blog posts were very interesting and it was great to see other people’s perspectives on certain topics. I found them also to be very informative and I have learned a lot about BIM technology that I did not quite understand before. The weekly comments on the blog posts kept us attentive to other ideas and perspectives.

Overall, I found this class to be very helpful in understanding the topics at hand, giving the class new perspectives, and teaching us new material. Even though the Drexel quarters are very short, I felt as though this class relayed a lot of information to the class.

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/course-reflection-farnelli.html?showComment=1457028578629#c6943592498784363696

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/course-reflection-adrian-kuzniarowicz.html?showComment=14570290457

B5, Worley Relational Database Theory

Relational Database Theory was thought of by Edgar F. Codd, who was an educated mathematician working for IBM in the research lab. He initially published a paper explaining how he thought that information could be kept in large databases and accessed without knowing how all of the information was placed in the system or how to access it. Prior to this concept, accessing information took a lot of time and had a high cost. At this time period in the 1960s, mainframe computations could cost up to hundreds of dollars for each minute that is used.

The first idea of relational databases was originally described in math terms. This was due largely in part to the fact that Codd originally studied as a mathematician. Codd then added a computer science major so that he could then program the computer to search for similar information and thus creating databases. The systems were set up so that the same information could be found over and over again rather than being able to search for new information using spark words or other similarities. There are many ways in which relational databases are used today.

Originally many people thought that the idea of relational databases was very simplistic and did not have the capability to perform well. The rational database theory was developed and enhanced and soon became a large database system. These systems were used to track the materials that were used in NASAs Apollo Space Program. There are many other cases currently in which relational databases are used. In most of the popular search engines we can see the use of relational databases. We are able to open up a search engine and type in any information we may need and it will show up with various different options related. Some search engines and databases can populate information that is similar to the searched information rather than just a word search.

In any sense the development of Relational databases has proved to be very useful in many senses and allows for research and storage of information to be much more easily accessible.

Sources:

http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/ibm100/us/en/icons/reldb/

http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~maier/TheoryBook/TRD.html

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/sql-stands-for-structured-query.html?showComment=1454866446006#c5610257769563304987

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b5-group-b-dianna-vogel.html

B4, Group A, Worley

The project that I have chosen to write about with Allison Locke is Dynamic Building and adaptive buildings. Dynamic buildings are buildings in which the façade changes to accomplish some type of goal. Adaptive and Dynamic Buildings are built for a plethora of different reasons. Some are created to be visually appealing whereas others have environmental, cost and occupational aspects. I have always had an interest in adaptive buildings and thought that this would be a great way to be able to learn more about it.

I think that this fits into the intelligent building topic in the sense that they are intelligent buildings and can interact with the environment around them. 

There are many different dynamic buildings that are currently constructed. We will focus on some of these buildings as well as research and the technology that is used within them. We have found many different buildings that we are interested in. One particular building is the ICT cluster of Central Serbia. This building has a façade with sensors that monitor the amount of sunlight on the building. These sensors are also attached to bubble like structures on the exterior of the building. Depending on the amount of sunlight that is hitting that spot, the bubbles inflate and deflate to provide more or less insulation to the building. After researching current dynamic buildings, we will research new innovative technology for dynamic buildings. Phase changing materials are currently being studied for new alternatives to dynamic buildings. Phase changing materials are able to freeze and melt. These materials release thermal energy in the process. This is currently being researched as a method of heating/cooling buildings. There are quite a few other technologies that are currently being researched and utilized such as sensors, and programming.

As the paper progresses, I'm sure that we will find more dynamic buildings and innovative technologies associated with them to write about and discuss.

https://nocloudinthesky.wordpress.com/2014/01/

www.puretemp.com/stories/understanding-pcms

Comments:

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http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b4-group-c-sean-coffey.html

B3: Group A – Laura Worley

BIM and Revit are digital representations of functional and physical characteristics of a building. As discussed in class there are many issues that arise in the use of these systems. The current BIM technology has issues with interoperability. As discussed in many of last week’s articles as well as in class, in the transition from one user interface to the next, some of the special features are lost. When designing a building, it is necessary to use a few different modeling systems.  Many of the newer software updates are made so that the building models are able to be collaborated into one complete model that includes all features. The errors tend to occur when the model is transferred from one software interface to another.

I think that some future errors in the BIM technology and Revit software may arise from the amount of reliability that a person tends to have on it. In the future, there will be many more innovative features in the newer versions of software. Current updates include the detection of errors in the collaboration of building models. Many new BIM features are also working to reduce human error in modeling. If an engineer learns to rely on the system for error detection rather than reviewing their work on their own, many problems could arise especially if the system misinterprets the design or glitches.  As the capabilities of BIM technology increases, people will become more reliant on the technology. Aside from the suggested problem that was previously mentioned, I also think that more innovation in software systems may cause people to stop learning the basics. As we had previously/discussed in class on Tuesday, if a person becomes too reliant on the system for information such as equations and calculations, they may not feel the need to learn the equations on their own. On the other hand, future software systems may encourage people to delve deeper and learn more about other design processes that are not currently integrated into the software and more efficient building styles. This may in turn increase the current efficiency of building modeling and construction.  

References:
Pniewski, Voytek. " Building Information Modeling (BIM) Interoperability Issues." Building Information Modeling (BIM) Interoperability Issues in Light of Interdisciplinary Collaboration. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.

"Interoperability and BIM. Development and Use of Building Information Model." Interoperability and BIM. Development and Use of Building Information Model. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2016.


Comments:

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http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b3-group-b-alex-palma.html

B2: Group A Worley

Chapter 2 introduces BIM technology which was created in the 1980s specifically to aid in manufacturing. The new BIM technology allows users to combine 2D sections with 3D models. Yet, only the objects from the 3D model are included in the analysis and the bill of materials. In the future it may prove to be important to include 2D modeling in the analysis as well. Initially there were two different types, B-rep and CSG. It became apparent that the two methods should be combined. The B-rep model was utilized for interaction and display and CSG model was used for editing. Materials were then integrated into the software to make it easier to calculate loads, material takeoffs and structural analysis. Assembly operations were an important development in 3D modeling software and made modeling more convenient.  

In my experience of using BIM technology, the integration of materials and assembly operations has proved to be very useful. Rather than fully creating every piece of a structure such as doors and windows, the assemblies have preloaded versions that can be dropped onto the structure. There are also a large number of assemblies for furniture and other additional add-ins that makes the software much more user friendly .The implementation of materials into BIM software was also a very important innovation due to the fact that it aided in structural analysis. I have used this feature within many different technology systems and it is useful in many applications as suggested in the textbook but one in particular that I have found this new feature to be extremely helpful was load analysis. In calculating the loads and loading paths of structures, the building material is very important. The fact that these programs allow the user to incorporate the building materials is phenomenal.

It is interesting to note the extensive progress that BIM software has made since it was created. Current BIM software can now account for other systems within the building such as HVAC. This new feature allows engineers to integrate all systems of the building. In doing so, they can be sure that the systems do not interfere with each other and can trouble shoot any issues that may occur due to clashing of the systems.  

References:

Eastman, C. M. (2011). BIM Handbook : A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Comments:

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http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-bim-for-architects-and-engineers.html

B1: Group A: Laura Worley

Many people have different ideas as to what artificial intelligence has in store for the future. Some of these opinions are positive expectations and some are also negative. Artificial intelligence is described as the creation of robots and technology that can function as humans. They can be broken into categories of general and specialist AI and also embodied versus disembodied. General is described as the technology that can be seen in many sci-fi movies whereas specialist AI is the technology that can be seen in many phones, cars and computers today. Embodied AI is technology that interacts with the physical world and responds. A disembodied AI receives input from the internet to use and interpret.

I have read an article titled “AI will replace smartphones within 5 years, Ericsson survey suggests”. The title of this article summarizes the main ideas of this article. Ericsson is a technology and communication provider and they have theorized that in 5 years smart phones will be outdated and artificial intelligence will come to take their place. This is on the basis that people will no longer want to rely on their handheld devices and rather something that is more practical. The article suggests something that has a better battery capacity and is wearable. It also suggests the potential of having better 3D capabilities. I think that this is not completely irrational but I do think that the timeline of 5 years is rather short for the replacement of smartphones.

Some other articles suggest that the growth of artificial intelligence will lead to the fall of mankind. As Alexis discussed in her blog post (http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b1-group-c-alexis.html), Intel has recently made developments in creating robotic devices that utilize human like senses for their own applications. These new technologies use computer programming to tell the robots how to react in certain situations. Professor Stephen Hawking explains how he believes that the creations of machines that can think on their own form a risk to the existence of humans. He talks about his idea of how biological evolution of humans may not be able to compete with the increasing intelligence of computers that are being programmed to think on their own and increase intelligence rapidly. Many people agree with the fact that the current expansions in artificial intelligence have been very useful but could pose a problem in the future, whether it is through the rapid increase of intelligence, or terrorist usage.

Citations+:

"KurzweilAI | Accelerating Intelligence." KurzweilAI AI Will Replace Smartphones within 5 Years Ericsson Survey Suggests Comments. Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence, 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 07 Jan. 2016.

Cellan-Jones, Rory. "Stephen Hawking Warns Artificial Intelligence Could End Mankind - BBC News." BBC News. N.p., 2 Dec. 2014. Web. 07 Jan. 2016.

Quick Access Links:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540

http://www.kurzweilai.net/ai-will-replace-smartphones-within-5-years-ericsson-survey-suggests

Comment:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/group-b-week-2-bryan-cummings.html?showComment=1452521746508#c40287966304612134

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

Laura Worley Introduction

Introduction

Hello! My name is Laura Worley. I am a junior BS/MS student studying Civil/Architectural Engineering. I am currently in AE 510 due to the fact that I am interested in intelligent building systems. I would like to learn more about intelligent building systems. My definition of an intelligent building system is a building that is sustainable and can run efficiently for the life span of the building.

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