Blog Post 6: Course Reflection

I did not have much of an idea of what the class would be like, but I am happy with what I got out of it. I enjoyed the fact that there was a wide variety of topics, especially ones that I did not know much about. I knew about Revit and Building Information Modeling, but I had not taken classes that discussed sensors, robots, or AI much at all. It was very useful to broaden my understanding of what goes into intelligent building and where future technology is headed.

I have a lot of experience with AutoCAD, but barely any experience with Revit. The Revit assignment was very helpful in getting me familiar with the program and the step-by-step instructions, as well as the video walkthrough, was very helpful. I would have liked a second part to this assignment that walked us through using Dynamo as well. The sensor database assignment was useful as well, both in creating a database in Access from scratch and from trying to find data on different sensors.

The lectures and videos on 3D printing, robotics, and AI were all very interesting to me. I had already seen some of the technology that was shown because of my personal interest, however, I had not been keeping up with the new developments. Being able to automatically 3D print buildings and other structures will cause drastic changes in our current infrastructure.

I enjoyed the guest lectures, especially Kayleigh’s because I had never heard of visual programming before. I had been thinking about looking for jobs in BIM so it definitely got me curious when she said, “BIM is dead.” However, this sent me down a path from Building Information Modeling to Visual Design and Construction to visual programming and generative design. Generative design was the topic of my project paper and I learned a lot about it.

Overall, this class was very helpful, and I will use what I’ve learned throughout my career. The discussions and blog posts taught me to research new technology and think/talk about what changes will occur. It is important to learn about future technology and stay ahead of it or else you will be left behind. 


Comments:
To Sean Reifer
I am jealous that you did your project on Dynamo. It was something that I wished the Revit assignment went into. I can learn it on my own, but as you mentioned, it is more challenging to work through it on your own. A video walkthrough detailing exactly what you are trying to accomplish is very helpful in learning quickly.

To Nick Maloney
I agree that we learned about a lot of different topics, but did not have enough time to go in depth with each of them. It was definitely useful to get some information from the various topics, but there are some topics that I wish we went into in more depth. I believe the idea of the project was to allow us to pick what topic we wanted to learn more about during the course and do our own research which worked well.

Yicheng Li
I also learnd a lot of new things about 3D printing, sensors, and databases. I agree that the blogs helped us learn about something new and write about them almost every week as well as read other people's findings. My project focused on generative design which could become a problem when it comes to reducing or eliminating certain jobs. However, I believe some jobs will remain and their tasks will be altered and some new jobs will be created due to the changes within each industry.

B4 - Term project

For this term project Nana and I will look into how 3D printing of houses can be a part of the sustainable development in the building industry. We will have a special focus on how the building technology of a 3D printed house is compared to a traditional masonry house. The 3D printed houses we have looked at is built of one massive wall which have made us think of how the heat and moist is transferred through the wall is and what consequences it will have for the building. In many articles it is written that 3D printing of houses can be more sustainable because of less material used and it is faster to build the house, but if heat is transferred through the wall and moist damages the house it will not be more sustainable because more energy will be used in the operation stage of the house. We have earlier work with life cycle assessments and will therefore look at the project with that perspective.  

1.    Introduction and problem statement (1/2 pg.)

·      How is 3D printing of houses implemented in the building industry today?

·       Which building technology problems can occur from 3D printed houses?

·       Can 3D printing be a way to develop a more sustainable building industry?

2.    Results – The construction process of 3D printed houses (1 pg.)

·       The wall build up

·       Material

·       Time

·       Labor

3.    Discussion (1.5 pg.)

·       Building technology

o    Heat and moist transfer

o   Comparison to a tradition masonry wall

·       Building LCA

o   Material

o   Economic

o   Time

4.    Conclusion (1/2 pg.)

5.    References

·       https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-inside-race-perfect-3d-printed

·       https://www.3dnatives.com/en/3d-printed-house-companies-120220184/                

·       https://www.thenational.ae/business/property/dubai-company-ready-to-3d-print-your-house-says-19-year-old-founder-1.47402

·       https://ac.els-cdn.com/S1876610217346969/1-s2.0-S1876610217346969-main.pdf?_tid=df186325-0045-4a8c-b529-1c309df08a13&acdnat=1549384067_ca255cf08c1776a9009a1e525266cd5d

Aaron Goldberg: It really sounds like an exciting project. I like that you are looking at the 3D-printing with an critical perspective of the construction and that you compare it with the traditional manufacturing. I think it is very important to look at the 3D printing with a life cycle perspective and consider all the process and consequences of it.

Blog Post 4: Project Outline

How Visual Programming Improves Upon BIM and What’s Next

The topic of my paper is going to briefly introduce what visual programming is and how it got introduced to the construction industry. It is interesting to think about because construction and programming historically haven't been related at all. I then will discuss some ways that visual programming currently improves upon BIM. The first use is programmed 3D modeling which allows users to change certain inputs into a program and a model will automatically be generated. This saves a lot of time and makes changes to a design simple which avoids headaches. Another benefit of visual programming is being able to transfer information between different software automatically. Taking data from an Excel sheet and manually inputting it into a different program or vice versa has been a very time-consuming process usually given to interns or new employees. However, with visual programming, the information can be transferred automatically once the code has been written. I will then discuss what the future looks like and what may replace/improve upon visual programming. One thing that could definitely replace visual programming is Generative Design which is AI that can generate many versions of a structure based on your parameters automatically. Architects will need to stay ahead of this so that they do not get phased out by the technology. 3D printing buildings could add to Generative Design in that buildings could eventually be designed and built completely with AI technology by just giving it certain design requirement inputs. Finally, I will summarize the points that I made throughout the report and give my personal predictions for what the future of the construction industry may be like.

Comments:

1. Albert Hanan
I like that you are trying to incorporate Dynamo in different, new ways that will improve your model and make it easier to work with. I think you should definitely take some time to research all the different ways you can improve the model like automatically inserting windows at certain dimensions throughout the building. You have a lot of time to incorporate new things into your project and it will be interesting to see how much more you can do.

2. Hanyan Chen
Your topic is very important for the future of sustainable design. It will be interesting to read the paper that you come up with by the end of the term. Hopefully, adaptable housing and sustainable design will become more and more popular. I am looking forward to hearing about the impact that BIM has on design style, sustainability, construction, and the real estate industry as a whole. 


3. Christian Tait
This is something that I am also interested in and I'm looking forward to hearing about your project at the end of the term. The applications that you mentioned are interesting and AR is already being implemented in other areas today that you could discuss. You may even want to discuss the pros and cons of VR vs AR and how each can benefit BIM in their own way.

B4 - Outine and Feedback

Our topic is about the use of 3D printing in developing construction materials. First, we intend of doing research on current production methods for the main materials. 3D printing is a growing field and due to recent advancements, high performance materials have been produced through these means. The main focus of this project is to examine the feasibility of using these 3d printed materials as structural components for buildings, bridges homes and other structures. There are many promising advantages of using 3d printed materials. A main benefit is the ability to be more flexible with designs, as designers are able to print complex geometries which would have been difficult to fabricate otherwise. 3D printing is generally more expensive than conventional methods, but its efficiency may outweigh the costs. This is something we look to discuss in our paper as well.

The main construction materials, steel and concrete will be thoroughly discussed. There are several different methods for printing these materials and it will be interesting to compare its properties from traditionally formed members. Other, less common materials will be looked into as well, such as binding sands and ceramics. I look forward to learning the different advantages and disadvantages of each method and begin to formulate ideas on how to improve these processes. 

3D printing is only in its early stages, and we haven’t even scratched the surface yet to how it can be involved in the construction industry. As 3D printing/additive manufacturing methods become quicker, easier, and overall cheaper than traditional fabrication methods, it may become an industry standard. Its capabilities are very promising, as large scale printers have already shown to produce high strength materials.

In the world today, 3D printing has been utilized for making homes in less-developed areas. I think utilizing 3d printing in this way is a great way to get the ball rolling on this type of technology, as it both gives a chance to develop real 3d printed structures while simultaneously helping those in need. It works well in these remote areas because since the material can be fabricated on site, there is little need for transport. The components can also be made all exactly the same and parts are able to be interchanged accordingly. This is just one example of the potential impact that 3D printing can have in the construction industry.

Comments on others:

Albert: I really like how you are tying in this project with your junior design project. With the amount of time you guys are putting into that project, along with the knowledge we are learning in AE510, I think you can really make something special. It’s great that you are going beyond the project requirements from 391 and utilizing dynamo to help make the process more automated. Unfortunately, I have no experience myself with dynamo but I was thinking maybe you could use it to help with clash detection in your design. 

Ren: I never really thought about the potential benefits for BIM in a healthcare building model. However, with the amount of complex systems required for those buildings, there is definitely a huge opportunity for BIM to simplify the design process. Your outline is well-structured, and I look forward to learning about the specific processes that BIM can simplify.

Christian: I too was surprised to hear that companies were already actively pursuing Augmented reality (AR) technology and being on the forefront of this change. When learning about AR being used in the CAE industry, I thought we were a few years out at least. Even though contractors are used to using the 2-D plans (which will presumably be created from a BIM model), I think it would do nothing but help them to be able to view the project in a 3D format, using AR software and tools. I wonder if these 2-D plans will ever become obsolete entirely as contractors begin to become more familiar with 3-D layouts.

Blog Post Week 5 - 3-D Printed Steel

I am working on a project with Kyle Breiman that is called “Constructability and Engineering Properties of 3-D Printed Steel Comparing Traditional Manufacturing and Construction Methods”.  We will be examining the engineering properties and constructability of 3-D printed steel as compared to steel that is manufactured using traditional means.  The engineering properties that this project will look at include fire protection rating, localized climate effects on the steel’s molecular structure, compressive strength, tensile strength, and its brittle or ductile nature.  The hypothesis that Kyle and I have created states that we do not believe that there will be much difference in these engineering properties of steel, regardless of manufacturing method, although analyzing this information is extremely important in the event that our hypothesis proves wrong.  The constructability implications that 3-D printers have on an on-going construction project include primarily logistical concerns.  3-D printers, being fairly large, may cause concerns for providing raw material to the 3-D printer, allowing the physical space that the 3-D printer requires to complete its work, and the cost of manufacturing 3-D printed steel as compared to traditional methods.  The cost to produce steel in today’s construction industry is a known value that varies depending on the shape and size of the steel, and must be compared to if it were produced using a 3-D printer.  The final constructability concern is ensuring that the one 3-D printer that a construction job purchases or rents is able to manufacture all of the steel shapes and sizes that a job needs.  Most likely, if a 3-D printer is unable to be flexible enough to manufacture all of the pieces, then it may not be worth its cost. 

To show the information that we will research, Kyle and I will develop a paper that will show our findings about 3-D printed steel, the results of its engineering properties today, and where it will move towards the future (expected values once the technology is fully developed), and the results of its constructability concerns as this technology is integrated to ongoing construction projects to save time, money, improve overall efficiency, and reduce the overall time of project schedules.

Comment 1 – Richard Kimball:

Richard, learning Dynamo is a great task to undertake, and I believe that it will help you significantly as you grow your professional career after Drexel.  For most people, building a Revit model with an HVAC system could be their entire project, but good job working towards the extra goal of including Dynamo in your project.  I am also interested in learning how Dynamo works, and how I could apply it to my job after college, so I will be very interested in seeing how your project develops towards the end of the term, and also how your presentation will show its abilities.

Comment 2 – Kunlun Ren:

Ren, tackling BIM in a specific industry is a good idea that I don’t think I considered.  Each industry has extremely varied requirements in terms of building design.  Healthcare especially has strict HVAC requirements, structural requirements (with large pieces of equipment like MRI machines), and plumbing requirements for human waste, body fluids, and unique chemicals.  Typical plumbing systems would not need to handle large quantities of these fluids typically, and are not designed for them.  Seeing how BIM can be applied to a specialized industry like healthcare is a great idea, and I am looking forward to seeing your presentation.

Comment 3 – Albert Hanan:

Albert, building an in-depth Revit model, and applying Dynamo script to it is an ambitious project to pursue.  I know that there is another group that is working in Dynamo (I believe Richard Kimball in group A), and they may have some input if you are still looking for help (although they are also self-teaching how to use Dynamo).  Like a lot of the class, I have been very interested in Dynamo ever since it was introduced to our class in week 2, although I am not the best at learning how to code.  I am looking forward to your presentation in a few weeks as you develop your project, as I have been learning how to use Revit in the past few weeks for both this class and senior design, and I would like to see more about what Dynamo has the capability to do.

Blog 4

Construction advances along with engineering and one of the most connected ways that they advance together is 3-D printing. Our group project will be a paper taking a look at what the future is in 3-D printing for both engineering and construction.In order to best do this in the allocated space to write this paper it was decided that the best option would be to narrow it down to one material. It was between glass, concrete and steel with the final choice being 3-D printed steel. For the engineering portion of the paper the properties of 3-D steel will be examined such as strength and fire resistance. The other end construction  will be a more qualitative look than the engineering side. It will mostly focus on constructability improvements, cost benefits and then finally if it is practical to use 3-D printed steel at this point or if it should be saved for future use. This is how we plan to examine the future of 3-D printing in construction and engineering.

Comments:

Ren, the outline you have developed is well thought out and will help make writing the paper easier. The crossover between BIM and specifically healthcare buildings is a good approach with those buildings standing to benefit the most from BIM advancements. That all being said I am a little confused as to the why of your paper, I can make some inferences but I may just be missing something.

Yicheng, I think the simple yet clear cut outline will make it easy to further develop your project while also maintaining a specific direction. To me a villa seems like a charming place so I am equally enthused for your creation using BIM. I feel like this type of project has a lot of potential depending on how in depth the details are in the program you use.

Richard, The schedule you have provided seems to have a very clear cut plan which will be of a huge help later down the line. Dynamo is a program that I personally do not have any experience in and it gets me excited to see that my fellow classmates are taking a stab at it. I will be interested to see what you learn from using this program and how user friendly you find it to be.

B3-How far will the AEC industry go in 10 years?

The computers used half-century to walk into ordinary people's life. How long will it take for the AEC industry? There was an advertising slogan for 4G (the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology) when the 3G was commonly used several years ago-"The future is here." However, now, in China, 5G has already walked into our life. Therefore, the future is never far away from us. In Bill's presentation, I agree with his appointment that data optimization is the AEC industry's future. I believe that for one day, those AI BIMs and the robots will take an important role in the building designing process and take some jobs from the designers, but how long will they take? Ten years? Or another half-century?

About five years ago, the 3D printed residential houses were selling in some countries, which were high-efficiency for both money and time, and even environmental friendly since the printer was using construction wastes as the ink. However, for 2019, most buildings are still constructing by human beings. Why? It is because the technology for 3D printing houses is not progressed enough to receive the truths from the public. For the safety reasons, most of those 3D-printed buildings were dismantled in several months after built. It is improving, but not good enough. So we cannot predict how far the 3D printing construction will go in 10 years. 

For the Grasshopper and the Dynamo, which are the BIM programs that Bill mentioned in the presentation, since the sample programs have already been created, and they were only going to feed the applicable algorithmic modelings to the Revit and let the designers choose the model at the last, I am holding a positive viewpoint for their developments in following 10 years. Since human is still the object to make the final decisions, and the program itself is only providing reasonable options, this method is similar for nowadays’ AI working theory. Like the food delivery apps, it will help you to get rid of those far restaurants, the food you do not like, and show up all the options with a rated list. All you need to do is to choose your food at the last step. 

The AEC industry will realize the data optimization, but this will not come true instantaneously, and this might be a long journey so that it can be ten years, 20 years or a half-century. Haste makes waste, so nothing should go in a rush. The human beings already finished a lot of amazing pioneering works in 10,000 years, which is an extremely short period for the Earth, which is about 4.5 billion years old. Bill said in the presentation that we are fortunate for living now because many exciting things are happening. Future will be here, and the future will never be far away from us. 

Works cited:

Allen, Bill. “The Future of BIM Will Not Be BIM—and It's Coming Faster than You Think.” YouTube, uploaded by Autodesk University, 23 November 2016,   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq6yKyauu-o

Comments:


Matt Mullen:

I agree with you that the VR walkthrough will be more popular than the 3D printing models in the future. One is because the VR will cost less money and the 3D printing models might create wastes. The other reason is that the 3D printed model is a static model and VR is an intuitionistic digital model, so if the model needs any change, VR walkthrough model is only going to change the alternative part while the 3D model is going to be rebuilt entirely.



Gabriel Grajewski:

I agree with you because I believe that to realize the data optimization will take a long time for the AEC industry, but I do not have an exact idea about how long it will be. Although they are progressing the data manipulation, the data gathering is still the central part of the AEC industry. Many examples, which Bill provided in the presentation, were the underlying ideas and samples. Therefore, the data optimization is not easy to be realized in only ten years.



Jenny Fretta:

Like you, I doubt that 3D printing will be used to construct an entire building ten years later. Because of the limitation of the materials, the development of the 3D-printing technique for the building was not fast in the past ten years. The limitation of the materials will still be a problem either before founding or creating new material or another printing method. Although the improving speed is ideal, the progress of it never stops. The road is 3D printable now, so it is sure that 3D printing will assist a lot for the construction in the future.

Blog 3- What are the possible future advantages of Revit/BIM?

BIM helps collaborate project information for all parties involved using three dimensional design applications that make it simple for everyone to understand the project expectations. This includes, but is not limited to: scheduling, budgeting, operations, and maintenance. This will give companies a an advantage in organization, accuracy, and precision. This is especially useful in budgeting for projects because it is less likely for human error to occur if the program is taking into account the costs as you're creating it.

The programs included in BIM help make visualizing the project easy for the clients, while also allowing all the subcontractors to see what is expected of them and how their interactions with other subcontractors will be throughout the project. An example of this is creating 3D models and providing virtual tours for clients, which we can only assume will advance over time as the quality of graphics and design technologies enhances.

I think in the next 10 years we will not be able to print entire buildings, but we will be able to 3D print components and possibly expedite the process of materials gathering. I think we also will be looking at very advanced modeling, which can either translate to making Revit even more detailed and user friendly or allowing someone in virtual reality to manipulate and create their surroundings. I don't think that BIM is the only thing advancing in our field but I do think that it will have a significant effect on the productivity of building design.

Cited Sources:
(1) http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Accelerating_BIM_Adoption_Action_Plan.pdf
(2) https://futureofconstruction.org/blog/artificial-intelligence-meets-construction/
(3) https://futureofconstruction.org/blog/how-automation-and-technology-will-change-the-buildings-we-live-in-2/

Comments:
Hailey- I agree with you that Revit is much more common in the structural field than AutoCAD and that it's much more user friendly for people of all ages because it's more intuitive. I'm a little surprised that not many companies you've heard of or have had experience with aren't using these programs as much because I feel that eventually it'll be the standard of design.

Nick- I completely agree that someone without an extensive technological degree would be able to edit the AI parameters set by the user inputs. I think that in the next 10 years, the bugs of BIM programing will not be completely solved. But I do think the advancements will make things closer to realistic and allow the user to design more accurately.

B1: 3D Printing, Robotics, AI

In the construction industry, 2D technical modeling (elevations, floor plans, etc) is used to demonstrate the layout of real life structures. The transition from the use of 2D CAD to 3D CAD can be instrumental in multiple ways. In small scale, one can make 3D physical models layer by layer in order to give a client a visual representation. On a larger scale, there have been examples of 3D printed buildings made of layers of mortar and are designed through 3D CAD programming. The buildings are cheap, quickly made, and require less waste than a standard construction project. The downside to 3D printing is that there will be a huge cut in jobs for the construction material and labor industries since this will be the cheapest and fastest option for construction.

On a similar note, having robotics implemented into construction could make jobs less dangerous for humans by putting the risk on a robot, which can be repaired, rather than a person. This could mean anything from jobs at high heights to lifting heavy materials. The issue with robotics is that it will also take jobs from the industry, which is already struggling as shown by the amount of failing roads and bridges in the United States. Robotics could range from physical robots doing labor to sensors that help monitor the control systems of the building. By implementing computer based systems rather than human interaction, the amount of error could be reduced significantly since a program will consistently do the same thing. 

On another hand, if you implement an AI system then you are putting the computer in a position to develop and change with day to day results. There are many benefits, but also many down sides to AI systems and the direction the industry is headed. Work is faster, there are less errors, things are done more precisely, and AI has the ability to adapt based on the data presented to reduce errors. But AI is also dangerous because humanity will not be able to keep up with the advances of AI and we could end up in a situation where we rely on AI for everything. There is a difference between using AI to help us improve our own knowledge and techniques, and using it at a convenience because we're trying to find the easiest way out of doing it ourselves. The same applies for other AI operated technologies. The thing that is most concerning is how easy it is to feed wrong information to an AI system and create an unsafe situation. If someone were to hack your self-driving vehicle and take you somewhere or crash your car, there wouldn't be a way that the person in danger could stop that. In terms of construction I find that AI is extremely useful in digital building systems implemented into the building (heat control from a device, sensor triggered security systems, etc), but I do worry about the dependence of man on technology. 

Works Cited

[1] https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/3880/6/strathprints003880.pdf

[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43411581

[3] https://www-engineeringvillage-com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/search/doc/abstract.url?&pageType=quickSearch&usageZone=resultslist&usageOrigin=searchresults&searchtype=Quick&SEARCHID=d309a5beM79dbM4505M9143Mce618b1ccea0&DOCINDEX=1&ignore_docid=inspec_M2999691651feb9f11M3dc51017816339&database=8388611&format=quickSearchAbstractFormat&tagscope=&displayPagination=yes

Comments

1. Kyle, I completely agree that people are trying to play God by creating artificial intelligence systems that are far above humanities ability to learn. It's playing with fire to create something that we don't have the ability to completely understand and what it's potential effects are, especially if we create something sentient.

2. Sean, I read a few similar articles to the ones that you wrote about for 3D printing and I find it so interesting how quickly these structures can be created when there are millions of people who don't have homes. At a cost of $30/month, thousands of people in El Salvador can have the opportunity to have a roof over their heads. 

Blog 1 - Robotics, AI, 3-D printing, Future

Over the past few years there has been a significant increase in the use of AI for everyday tasks. Over the years various industries have made advancements and incorporated these technologies into their work. AI is most commonly known for its use in places such as hospitals and warehouses. These robots and drones are used in place of humans to complete tasks and tend to do so more accurately and efficiently. In more recent years AI is proving to be more versatile than it was originally thought to be, proving to have a creative side as well as a technical side. AI and more specifically robots are now being used for art. This includes sculpting, glassmaking, tattoos and music. Not only are these robots able to mimic artists movements to replicate their artwork, some are able to work on their own and analyze materials in order to create artwork. An example of this is artist Prokop Bartonicek and Benjamin Maus use of a robotic arm in order to analyze and organize river rock. The robot was able to sort the stones by their geological age creating a history base art installation [1]. Another project I found interesting from the article, "10 Mind Blowing Projects of Robots in Creative Industries" was the 3D printed rock installation. The rock print was an example of fully reusable structures. The 3-D printer used loos granular material and wraps it in a textile filament as it is constructed. In this type of construction, the material is not changed and upon deconstruction of the structure the material can be reused [1].

Originally 3-D printing was done using a plastic material. Now there are 3-D printers for many different types of materials including: metal, plastic, glass and clay. MIT recently announced their new 3-D printer, G3DP2, which prints molten glass into 3-D structures. The system not only is able to create decorative pieces, but glass structures that can be used for building [2]. These are just a few examples of advancements that have been made with AI, 3-D printing and robotics in recent years. Its expected that these technologies will continue to advance and become a larger part of our everyday lives.

[1] “10 Mind-Blowing Projects of Robots in Creative Industries.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 21 July 2017, www.designboom.com/technology/robots-in-creative-industries-07-23-2017/.

[2] Biggs, John. “MIT Researchers Are Now 3D-Printing Glass.” TechCrunch, TechCrunch, 31 Dec. 2018, techcrunch.com/2018/12/31/mit-researchers-are-now-3d-printing-glass/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%2BTechcrunch%2B%28TechCrunch%29.


Responses:

Jenny, you make a great point about how using AI in construction can reduce risk and improve efficiency. I think another area of construction this technology can help with is when projects run into delays. Often times construction companies will spend money to increase the number of workers, overtime hours and number of shifts. Overtime hours can take a toll on workers and reduce productivity. A solution to this would be to use AI to work the additional shifts and overtime hours. With AI you don't have to worry about them getting tired or have concerns about them working late at night and early in the morning when it's still dark outside. There is definitely still a concern though that over time we will use this technology not only to help with tasks, but we will rely on the robots and drones to do the task entirely and replace people.

Laney, I agree that sensor technology is important for HVAC. I think the Keen Home vents are an interesting use of this technology. In a way this technology advances residential HVAC design by creating zones that are on a schedule. In most homes vents are always open because people don't think to close them when they are done in a room, by automating this aspect of HVAC you improve the efficiency of a residential system.

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Blog Post 1: How Robotics and AI Will Benefit the Construction Industry

Robotics and AI are already being utilized in various industries and are beginning to develop in the construction industry. Many aspects of the industry are going to change dramatically because of construction automation [1]. While some traditional roles will be filled by this automation, safety and efficiency will increase dramatically and new jobs will be created where positions will need to be filled.

Some issues that we currently face are low quality work due to unskilled or unprofessional laborers, safety concerns associated with certain tasks, and deadlines must be met to keep a project on schedule. Construction automation will address each of these issues and more. Robots would be programmed and/or taught how to complete a task and will perfectly execute that task any number of times [2]. They would be able to complete dangerous tasks without the risk of any person being injured or killed on the job. And lastly, construction automation would mean that the job site is active at all hours of the day. Traditionally, three 8-hour shifts would be very costly and overtime would have to be paid on weekends. However, you would only need specific supervisors and technicians to keep an eye on the robots throughout the day which would be cost effective and greatly increase the overall timeline of construction.

3D printing and robots would greatly improve the speed and quality of specific tasks on a job site. Entire structures are already being created out of certain materials and the speed of the printing itself will only increase as time goes on. Also, very repetitive tasks such as masonry work would be more precise and cost-effective [3]. Many of these robots are already being used and developed so that they will be more affordable and more efficient in the future. I believe that these machines will be used on almost every major construction project in the near future.


[1] Robotics Online Marketing Team. "Construction Robots Will Change the Industry Forever." Robotics.org. 17 April 2018. https://www.robotics.org/blog-article.cfm/Construction-Robots-Will-Change-the-Industry-Forever/93

[2] The B1M. “The Construction Robots Are Coming | The B1M.” YouTube. 30 May 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGGHdl3NyQ

[3] Hamakareem, Madeh Izat. "Construction Automation – Applications and Advantages in Construction." The Constructor. 2018. https://theconstructor.org/construction/construction-automation-applications-advantages/16644/

Response 1: Andy Kuriatnikov
I agree that sensors are key to intelligent building operation. I look forward to when buildings will run themselves and will keep occupants safe and comfortable just by using sensors. I like that you mentioned the internet of things because it really is where we are headed. Reducing energy consumption is also an important factor in future building construction.

Response 2: Aaron Goldberg
We mentioned a few of the same things when it comes to AI and future jobs in the construction industry. The industry will benefit a low but some traditional jobs will be phased out. We will need to adapt to the changes or, even better, get ahead of the changes. I like that you mentioned that the quality of work will be better and the cost of the work will be lower.

Response 3: Hailey Ihlow
I like how to mention that we will advance as technology does. You make a good point that we need to think about what the future of technology will look like so that we can understand the pros and cons of them. We are already seeing the pushback against self-driving cars even though the technology is almost there. It will be interesting to use technology that does not need any form of replaceable or rechargeable battery in the future.

How BIM will be used to 3D print structures in the future

This assignment required students to read about each topic separately with regards to an overall theme. My topics are BIM, 3D printing, and structure and the theme is the future. At the end, I will be combining them all into one, “How BIM will be used to 3D print structures in the future.”

BIM:
BIM softwares have only recently started becoming more mainstream. The co-ops I’ve worked at still have a physical archive of their paper drafts. It also may not be possible to scan them if there is a chance that the scanner will miss a very fine detail or mistake a dot for a speck of dust. However, the co-ops all used AutoCAD for drafting orthographic drawings. Now, BIM softwares such as Revit are more relevant since they can contain many aspects of building design in one file. As time goes on, the use of Revit and other BIM softwares will become more widespread because it allows everyone from the clients to the engineers to the contractors to see the same product.

3D Printing:
I would like to start off by saying that my experience with 3D printing is very limited. Four years ago, I got to see the process of using a 3D scanner that used laser triangulation to create a topographic model of someone’s face. From there, the smooth topographic model was converted into a polyhedron made of many triangle faces. Lastly, a bar of soap was cut out to form a miniature soap bust of a head. Obviously, this is the type of basic 3D printing that happens at home or in a class. However, within a few years, 3D printing has advanced very far. The ability to extrude concrete, metal, and glass allows construction of intricate details for buildings or make quick work of constructing simple objects. MIT has been experimenting with 3D printing glass as early as 2015. Where previous attempts created structurally weak and opaque glass, “The high-temperature system developed by the MIT team retains those [desired] properties, producing printed glass objects that are both strong and fully transparent to light” (Chandler, 2015). The high temperature is nothing to shrug off, considering the extrusion nozzle can reach almost 2,000 °F in order to create these pieces of glass. Currently, many new buildings happen to have glass curtain walls that allow a lot of sunlight to illuminate buildings. The use of glass printing may be very useful in the future.

Structures:
The physics behind structural engineering hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. What’s new is the different types of structures that have emerged with better materials and building techniques. For example, the diagrid structure for buildings. With better computers now, there are softwares that are capable of FEM analyses and other calculations that would take humans way too long to process. This allows new ways to analyze the effectiveness of new structures. An example of this is the crew partition in the European Airbus. The current partition weighs 143 lb but with the new design based off of bones and slime molds, the proposed partition weighs 66 lb (Rhodes, 2015). This biological-structure approach is possible with Autodesk software that was used in the medical field. New softwares allow different approaches to the structural engineering field because as long as load paths are accounted for, the software could theoretically be able to optimize paths.

Combined:
MX3D proposed a pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam back in 2015 where the construction would be done by 3D printed metal with aesthetically pleasing details (Starr, 2015). The 12 m long bridge structure was completed in 2018 and is currently being load tested by Arup and others  (Block, 2018). If successful, it may be installed in 2019 over a canal in the Dutch capital. Figure 1 shows a picture of the metal bridge being manufactured in a shipbuilding hangar. This technology is a very innovative process that could change the way modern architecture is created.

Figure 1. 3D printed steel bridge construction (Block, 2018)

Sources:

Block, I. (2018). Robots complete span of 3D-printed bridge for Amsterdam canal. [online] Dezeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/04/17/mx3d-3d-printed-bridge-joris-laarman-arup-amsterdam-netherlands/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].

Chandler, D. (2015). Printing transparent glass in 3-D. [online] MIT News. Available at: http://news.mit.edu/2015/3-d-printing-transparent-glass-0914 [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].

Rhodes, M. (2015). Airbus' Newest Design Is Based on Bones and Slime Mold. [online] WIRED. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2015/12/airbuss-newest-design-is-based-on-slime-mold-and-bones/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].

Starr, M. (2015). Gravity-defying 3D printer to print bridge over water in Amsterdam. [online] CNET. Available at: https://www.cnet.com/news/gravity-defying-3d-printer-to-print-bridge-over-water-in-amsterdam/ [Accessed 15 Jan. 2019].

Blog Post 1: Link Between Sensors, Building Operations, and AI

Sensor technologies are becoming imperative to intelligent building design. The use of thermostats kicked off the beginning of HVAC sensor technology but as other sensors are developed the thermostat must evolve beyond its current binary capabilities. Other technologies such as CO2 sensors, enthalpy sensors, and occupancy sensors have been implemented in building design to reduce energy consumption by HVAC systems. As these specialized sensors become more used, thermostats that at one point in time controlled entire HVAC systems, will become intelligent monitoring systems coordinating the specialized sensors. As renewable energy becomes adapted more widely, terminal sensors will be self-powered, wireless, and communicative [1]. Sensors will report errors in building envelopes, report damage, and report other data that pertains to what they are designed to do specifically.

Home automation and IoT have become buzzwords regarding building automation. As Home automation becomes more economically viable for the average American, data can be recorded and collected to achieve more accuracy for energy modeling and BIM. [2] Using 3-D models of buildings to monitor operating conditions in a building will allow for engineers and occupants to achieve an engaging synergy that encourages energy consciousness.

Additionally, the IoT may allow self-powered sensors to repair and maintain themselves using AI to physically repair damaged or weathered sensors. This could also be applied to a larger scale where buildings are maintained, repaired, and constructed using robots. [3] However, as robots become able to do jobs better and more efficiently than humans, the building industry will naturally require less humans. Naturally, this is an issue for many people and it is a question that has yet to be solved. But with the good news of reducing energy consumption we can think about a greener future instead of an unemployed future.

[1] Stein, Scott. “A Thermoelectric Future: Meet the next Generation of Self-Powered Sensors.” CNET, CNET, 4 Jan. 2019, www.cnet.com/news/thermoelectric-future-we-tried-out-the-next-generation-of-self-powered-sensors/.

[2] Khemlani, Lachmi. “Three Tech Trends Shifting the BIM Industry in 2016AECbytes Viewpoint #80 (July 21, 2016).” Technology Toolkit for Sustainable Design at Orcutt Winslow Partnership: AECbytes Feature, www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2016/issue_80.html.

[3] B1M, The. “The Construction Robots Are Coming | The B1M.” YouTube, YouTube, 30 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKGGHdl3NyQ.

Blog 1: BIM and 3D Printing

The future of the construction industry is BIM in some form. Continuously improving, and becoming more and more dominant as the go to tool in the construction industry, BIM has revolutionized the construction industry by improving visualization, productivity, and coordination, while reducing costs.

The use of BIM in designing high cost, large scale and complex projects has proven its effectiveness. On the opposite side of the cost spectrum, studies have been conducted to analyze the usefulness of BIM in designing low-cost buildings, like temporary housing [1].  According to Lachmi Khemlani, “...we could facilitate the process by exploring how advanced technologies such as BIM can be applied, not only towards improving buildings and processes that are already quite good to begin with, but also in tackling the challenges of housing for the lower half of society” [1].

A key property for effective temporary housing is modularity of the components (leading into prefabrication of elements) and quick construction times. One example of BIM application in low-cost, temporary housing is the Loblolly House, designed by KieranTimberlake Associates [1]. Kieran Timberlake Associates extensively used BIM for the design and development of the building, but also for the fabrication and assembly of the building. Using BIM, the components of the building were modeled in high levels of detail with assigned parameters and then fabricated offsite, to then be assembled physically after being virtually assembled with BIM.

However, the use of BIM in the low-cost housing professional practice is seldom. While it has great potential in its effectiveness to create efficient housing at a lower cost, the industry has a long way to go in actually implementing BIM for the purpose of low-cost temporary housing [1].

I found this article interesting, and I appreciate the research into alternative BIM use, it seems to me that the effectiveness of BIM in producing better designs at lower costs seems universally relevant to the entire construction industry. I felt the answer to the author’s question of “Can BIM enable making low-cost housing easier to build, with more efficiency, lower cost, and improved quality?”, is an obvious yes.

Along with the further development and implementation of BIM in the industry, 3D printing is improving and finding notable purpose in the future of construction.

One innovative use, similar in purpose to BIM used for low-cost housing, is the use of 3D printing to build small, yet cheap and affordable housing, with extremely fast construction times. The construction firm, Icon, and New Story, a nonprofit for housing construction in the developing world, are collaborating to achieve, cheap and quick housing construction utilizing 3D printing. The current created dwelling is a single story, 380 square feet, structure made of concrete that was created in only 48 hours [2]. Similar to small scale 3D printing, the system functions by placing a mortar material, similar to concrete, layer by layer. To form the structure, the 3D printed mortar is held in place by a metal frame till it sets. The frame and construction is modular, and if desired, multiple homes can be placed back to back to create a larger home [2]. The 3D printer uses BIM created floor plans.

The concept is being taken to El Salvador to quickly produce simple, yet highly functional, homes for poor families. The cost for a family to build one works out about $30 a month. In association with the nonprofit, the cost is put towards a pay it forward system, to pay for more homes as well as maintenance for the entire community [2].

As described above, the humanitarian potential of BIM and 3D printed structures is remarkable. While cheap, effective, and quick, the use of 3D printing in the construction field will have a notable impact on the jobs market for construction workers. In the future when the use of 3D printing in construction becomes more widely adopted, I imagine a lot of construction jobs will be rendered obsolete, and the jobs created by the new system will not match the number of jobs lost. I think the transition will be similar to the transition into CAD that rendered a lot of drafters jobs obsolete since Engineers could now draft their own drawings.

Sources:

[1] Khemlani, Lachmi. “BIM in Low Cost and Temporary HousingAECbytes Feature (March 16, 2016).” Technology Toolkit for Sustainable Design at Orcutt Winslow Partnership: AECbytes Feature, www.aecbytes.com/feature/2016/BIM-LowCostHousing.html.

[2] Lee, Dave. “3D-Printed Homes Turn Sludge into Shelter.” BBC News, BBC, 15 Mar. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/technology-43411581.

Comments:

1) Richard,

I agree that while AI provides great convenience and its connectivity has clear benefits, the security threat AI presents needs to be thoroughly investigated and protected against exploitation. AI presents a very dangerous relationship between convenience and safety, and it is clear, especially with the notes on hackers fooling the AI used in self-driving cars to drive at higher speeds, that we must be careful that systems do not become so overly automated that safety is compromised. The idea that hacking and security breaches are becoming more popular due to the lucrative information that is stored online is alarming when considering all of the future tech that has interconnected communication systems. Edge computing is an interesting solution, but again, it becomes an issue of loss of privacy for security. The privacy is up to the developer to be benevolent and I imagine a lot of people will have a hard time trusting developers, especially with all of the Facebook privacy developments recently.

2) Nana,

The potential of 3D printing in construction is remarkable, especially considering all of the 3D printers being developed. In the future, it seems like the cost and duration of construction with almost any material will be greatly decreased. I agree that 3D printing structures in the future is a positive thing, but I think the jobs generated 3D printed construction will not match the jobs lost by it. However, I think the humanitarian potential possible for quick and cheap construction for third world countries is reason enough alone to pursue the implementation and use of 3D printing. Imagine the potential 3D printing could have for a refugee camp. If majority of building materials and components could be 3D printed, the overall construction length and footprint of impact for projects could be drastically reduced. These articles have definitely made me excited for the future of construction.

Blog 1—The Influence of BIM Technology and 3D Printing on Future Construction Industry

BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology is a data tool used in engineering design, construction, and management. The advantage of BIM technology is that it can be used throughout the life cycle of a building. It saves a large amount of information such as design data, construction information, and maintenance information in the information base.

3D printing is a kind of rapid prototyping technology. It is a technique for constructing objects by layer-by-layer printing based on digital model files. The advantages of 3D printing technology are manufacturing complex items without increasing costs, product diversification without increasing costs, zero time delivery, and accurate physical reproduction. At present, 3D printing technology is no longer unfamiliar, and it has become a reality to form a building by printing. Therefore, in the face of new technologies, we need to discuss changes in project management.

With the development of modern technology, the construction industry applies these technologies to real life. At present, a very important feature of the new technologies commonly used in the construction field is that it can be expanded under a single environment. Nowadays, in the construction industry, the application of BIM new technology and 3D printing technology in the construction field is gradually becoming the norm for designers and builders, involving single buildings, architectural complexes, and even urban planning and design. So for the future of construction industry, we need the new technologies. It is more beneficial to strengthen the impact of BIM and 3D printing technology applications on the future.

The BIM design is based on the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) standard and is modeled with the existing standard model's logical structure. Models built is efficient, easy to export, and easier to adapt to other building software. The BIM model construction needs to be completed in four parts: the calculation result model, the structural component model, the material information model and the attribute definition model.

1. Structure construction model. The basic components of the building, including the walls, columns, beams, etc. in the building, through the construction of the model to make the elements organically associated;

2. Calculation results model. The computer-calculated internal mechanical performance analysis results and the architectural structure design analysis results are correlated and combined to realize the optimal design of the structural construction;

3. Material information model. Construct a model of information about the concrete and reinforcement materials used in the building;

4. Attribute definition models. This part of the model establishes the dynamic attribute parameters of the building structure and provides an extensible interface for the model's re-expansion, which is the key to the dynamic adjustment of the entire building structure model.

As for structures, 3D printing technology has advantages:

1. 3D printing buildings can save time. When 3D printing technology is applied to the architectural design model, the building model can be directly operated at various levels, and the elements are automatically generated without the need to waste time copying. A tens of stories high building, ordinary construction, it takes about six months to one year to complete the construction. The current 3D printer can print 10 200 square meters of buildings in 24 hours.

2. 3D printing building materials have better strength. The 3D printed building materials have high strength and light weight, and have a great advantage compared with traditional building materials. Because of the hollow "Z" shape structure, a triangular stable support is produced, and the seismic effect is better.

3. 3D printing buildings are more environmentally friendly. Compared to the waste of resources in traditional manufacturing and the destruction of the environment, 3D printing technologies can completely avoid these problems. The materials for 3D printing come from construction waste, industrial waste, etc., and the waste is used. Because there is no transportation of sand, stones, cement and other materials in the process, it will not generate dust and pollute the environment. And no cutting is required, one molding.

Therefore, I believe that this technology represents a new trend in manufacturing development. Applying this technology to buildings will shorten the manufacturing time, increase efficiency, and strengthen economic and management levels.

The impact of new technologies in the construction sector on the future is important. In the future, it is an information age, the main features of the information age will infiltrate into all aspects of future architecture, including BIM, engineering progress management, building data collection and so on. Therefore, we need to develop our BIM technology and 3D printing technology in the construction industry. What we should pay a attention is that we must implement sustainable development and humanization while implementing new technologies. Building energy conservation must not only be implemented in specific construction, but also to implement the final building during using.

Reference:

[1] Yi Wei Daniel Tay, “3D printing trends in building and construction industry: a review” Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 14 May. 2017, https://doi.org/10.1080/17452759.2017.1326724.

[2] Rebekka Volk, Julian Stengel and Frank Schultmann, “Building Information Modeling (BIM) for existing buildings — Literature review and future needs” Automation in Construction, 10 March. 2014, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2013.10.023

[3] Geert De Schuttera and Karel Lesagea, “Vision of 3D printing with concrete — Technical, economic and environmental potentials” Cement and Concrete Research, 10 October. 2018, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2018.06.001

 

Comment:

Nick Maloney,

 I am very interested in the second paragraph of your blog mentioning the 3D printing robot. So I understand the advantages of more 3D printing robots, easy to operate and high efficiency. As far as I know, science robotic has launched MIT's latest research, 3D printing, to build robots, which was planned by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Mediated Matter lab. The mobile robot took 13.5 hours and was completely independent. It built a dome with a diameter of 14.6 meters. Known as the "Digital Construction Channel", this robot has a crawler-type mobile chassis, a large 4-DOF hydraulic cantilever, and a 6-degree-of-freedom Kuka robotic arm at the top of the cantilever. Ability to replace welding, excavation and printing.

Gabriel Grajewski,

The AI you mentioned in the blog has a negative impact on the employment of people in developing countries. I think it totally makes sense. After AI develops to a certain stage, it will inevitably replace some ordinary productivity, thus affecting the employment rate. In addition, I also believe that under the impetus of market demand, a number of smart companion industries with artificial intelligence "personification" as a selling point must be promoted. Human society is a social society, paying attention to emotional and ethical relationships. In the future, human activities and entertainment will be diversified, but it is important that family and friendship are indelible. When the conditions are met, the orphans or independent children who have lost their loved ones must have a highly anthropomorphic partner who can accompany themselves. Emotional delivery must be different from traditional moral values or subversive. This is a question worth exploring.

Blas Andres Rodriguez Vieira,

In this blog, you have done a good job of BIM's discussion of the future architecture. It shows the characteristics and advantages of the current technology, the development status and the problems that BIM technology may encounter in practical application. However, this blog lacks a discussion of AI technology. If you can briefly introduce the characteristics and current status of AI technology and combine it with BIM technology to analyze their impact on the future construction industry, I believe it will be better.