The latest Autodesk University user conference, held in London in June with an estimated 2,000 attendees, showcased some of the recent achievements in the automation of design and construction. Touting a theme of “the opportunity for better,” the construction software firm updated users on the coming convergence between construction and manufacturing processes. It offered real-world examples, including the mapping of jobsites via autonomous robots, the benefits of using manufacturing practices on a project site, as well as developments in the fields of generative design and machine learning.

Sam Ramji, vice president for Autodesk’s Forge cloud platform, outlined the industry’s challenge of meeting the demands of the built environment. By 2050, for example, the global construction industry will need to produce an estimated 14,700 buildings per day to support the world’s growing population, despite workforce and environmental obstacles, he noted.