Taryn Francischetti - B4 - Project

My group consists of Alex Koo and Andrew Ng. Our project investigates the use of virtual reality on construction sites. It seems that from the past, society was supposed to be much further along with the development of virtual reality than it actually it. Virtual reality is finally becoming feasible on construction sites due to the use of BIM software in multiple industries and there is a growing interest in the VR community [1]. This project was chosen to see how the use of VR on job sites could help further buildings to be intelligent buildings. For example, A construction worker could place on a VR head seat while on the job site and visualize what connection would go where for beams. This would greatly reduce the number of errors on job sites. The group chose this project because VR could significantly help the construction industry even though many people are not aware of it yet. The impact of this hopefully will not be far off. There are currently around 419 virtual reality startups, although that is assumed to be greatly underestimated [1].

I think the use of virtuality is greatly related to intelligent buildings. For example, a common VR headset that is used by many gammers, the oculus rift, allows for architects to visualize what their building will look like as if they were an occupant, which cannot be achieved through normal BIM software [2]. If these plans can be used to help building the building on the job site then it really is creating an intelligent building. The use of VR can make intelligent BIM drawings so much simpler as almost all errors can be avoided.

As Professor Mitchell pointed out in his review of the project, it is a very broad topic. The group has to be very specific in exactly what is being researched and why using engineering knowledge. The other thing that is going to be a bit difficult is finding reliable, up to date sources. This is a very new technology so there is not always a lot of diverse information.

[1] https://aec-business.com/virtual-reality-construction/
[2] https://www.viatechnik.com/resources/50-virtual-reality-technologies-in-architecture-engineering-and-construction/

Comments
Elga Qori - I really enjoy that you and Arthur are using this class to help with your senior design project. I think it is a great idea to create families of similar beams, columns, and the like. I know autocad uses a similar feature that is called blocks. I structurally designed an apartment building with very similar rooms and therefore similar structural plans for each one. This made it so if I edited one item all of them edit just like the families in revit. I think this project will greatly benefit you.
URL: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/02/b4-team-project-smmary-egla-qori.html

Andy Dinh: I think you and Ronald park have a good project idea. I personally have used a Bentley product before, RAM structural. having experience in both programs I can see a lot of similarities. The nice thing is that it seems where one leaves off the other picks up. For example, Revit allows almost unparalleled architectural design while RAM can fully design all structural members given one button click. It will be very interesting to see how the rest of the Bentley products tie into the RAM software and if it could maybe even be better than Revit.
URL: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/02/b3-andy-dinh-term-project.html

Ronald Herazo: I like your project with Zhijing Zheng and Joe Chaudhari. It sometimes seems that surveyors are almost forgot when thinking about intelligent buildings. In reality, the foundation of the entire building and site layout relies on them. If their job can be made easier through the use of 3D scanning and newer robotic devices, it could really help out the entire building.
URL: https://ae-410-510-ay16-17.blogspot.com/2017/02/assignment-b4-group-ronald-herazo.html

Assignment B4 - Group B - Maria Raggousis

Describe your project 

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Why it was chosen, relation to Intelligent Buildings, & Challenges

The project that I will be working on is with my group partner, Rachel Frank, and we will be writing a paper. The title of this paper is: Emerging Technologies in the Robotic Assembly and Construction of Buildings. 

I think what we really want to focus on is three-fold, firstly, what technologies have been used in recent history that are robotics-oriented (~1980's to Present), secondly, what are the types of projects that people are working on currently and implementing, and finally, what is the feasible direction that these robotic technologies will go in our immediate future of 5-10 years. Through these items, we wish to discover the groups that are developing these systems, what they are used for, and how they work. In addition, we will make a distinction between robotics in the actual construction of structural components and robotics inside the home for interior design purposes (easy layout and configurations like movable walls). 

Why it was chosen:

This topic was chosen because we had a hard time believing it had potential. Once we were exposed to it through this class, it got us wondering if this was actually something that could be used widespread. Doing more research on the blog posts, I found something that mentioned how we could use robots to "mass-assemble" small shelters that may be temporary for emergency situations and I really appreciated that. We want to look deeper on things that are relevant and almost coming out in today's world - not things in the far future. The reason for this is because we want to see what the change will be in our immediate careers because the far future feels like empty dreaming. 

Relation to Intelligent Buildings:

The relation to intelligent buildings is more clear with the interior components - when there are robotics integrated inside the building, things like partition walls can be customized and the building becomes intelligent - if there is an interface where you can choose your room purpose. Maybe there is robotics that can say, I want to have X people over in this room and it sets the chairs and tables and walls for you! In terms of the actual robotic construction, an intelligent building is wholesome and if there are robots that can build these buildings by themselves, I would consider that intelligent. The less human input in the process, the more intelligent the building gets. 

Challenges:

I think the biggest challenge with our research paper will be to clearly define what the topic is based on the information that we find. I am not even sure what is out there so based on the peer-reviewed sources we find, the paper will take shape. I also think a challenge will be to write concisely, not get off-topic, and stay reasonably near the word count - I do not want to provide Professor Mitchell with something that is way too long! I think there is a discrepancy between what technology we think is out there and what is actually in practice and exists. 

Comments on other Posts:


Brandon Mengel: I did not even realize that we could attempt to create a Revit family as a project. Reading your plan of action and potential challenges, I think I am actually happier that I chose to go with the paper. We have been using Revit so much in all our classes lately that I don't think I could handle doing another project because exactly the way you said it - it can suck up all your time without you even noticing. I think that your skills are much more honed than mine and I hope that YouTube can help you when working with the different materials. I am not sure but I think that you would have to have a counter-top family and a cabinet family and a lighting family and then finally there be a family that places the components together. I wish you the best of luck and I really think you can complete this project successfully - just don't get too bogged down on all the intricate details! 


Joseph Chaudhari: Your topic is super super cool to me! I was exposed to a lot of site surveying technology from companies during co-op and I thought the way the 3D point clouds were made and all the scanning involved for the terrain was amazing. The technology in my head is so far advanced but that just goes to show how much further it can go. Definitely on the leading edge of what technology we use in the "building" world. If this technology comes in to fruition in our lifetimes - which I suspect of all the technologies, this one will - the efficiency and accuracy in which buildings can be modeled will increase. Although the AI may decrease overall jobs - I think it will just make a shift towards what kind of jobs there will be. 



Maissoun Ksara & Drew Hovey: I have a feeling your paper will be both fun to write and informational. You will learn many things in the process of the research but I also think that there is a hint of opinion in there that will make this a great paper in the end. I agree with your general statement that intelligent buildings does not suggest green buildings. But, I think they could be subsets of each other - intelligent buildings can lend themselves to be green - for example monitoring the sun, controlling shades or insulation or window tint to reduce HVAC loads - but things like using recycled materials to make a building sustainable does not necessarily mean it has become intelligent. Interesting items to discuss... discussing the future of these two items and how they relate will be a challenge. I hope the future is extraordinary, intelligent, & green!

Term Project - Robotics in Operation

Team Members - Brennan Connolly

Term Project - Qori & McCloskey

Team Members
Egla Qori
Arthur McCloskey

Potential Project Idea
Creating Revit Families (BIM) in order to take a generated Reinforced Concrete framing and structural plan and export typical structural properties (i.e. reinforcement detailing, dimensions for casting, etc.).  This will make the construction drawing generation easier when going from a simple BIM model to a complete set of structural plans.  We hope to use this technology to aide us in our Senior Design Project, where we are designing the structural system for a 40-story hotel building.

Term Project

The team project I want to develop is the database in design. To expand the ideas from the simple database project (A2) we use in class to develop a working database that can help in the design process - e.g. product information; change order logging; document management.