Photo Courtesy of Conti Construction Corp. Contractors survey the heating, electricity and hot water of a Superstorm Sandy-ravaged home by using iPad minis and e-Builder, a construction program management system. Screenshot Courtesy of eBuilder Inc. Related Links: e-Builder To define the extent of Superstorm Sandy's damage to residential properties, New York City and the Federal Emergency Management Administration last fall issued a request for proposals for a rapid repair program. One of the winning contractors now credits its use of a mobile construction program management app and a fleet of iPad minis for its ability to meet the city's exacting
Related Links: Critics Can't Find the Logic in Many of Today's CPM Schedules The Future Of Forensic Schedule Analysis: The Good, the Hard and the Scary Successful construction projects live or die by the quality of the schedule, yet some 20 years after scheduling software became the dominant tool for tracking a project's critical path, experts say it's still not to be trusted.Andy Ness, a construction attorney for law firm Jones Day, often talks to industry groups about the trouble he finds at the intersection of law and project scheduling software. In his opinion, legal disputes that rely on forensic
Photo Courtesy of Simon Floyd/Microsoft The computer giant is hoping to ramp up sales of its Surface Pro for Windows 8 by enticing engineers with its ability to work with many types of CAD filestwo simultaneouslyand the versatile, sleek design of the device. Microsoft is also promoting its 3D Viewer for JT app. Photo Courtesy of Simon Floyd/Microsoft Related Links: Construction IT Managers Eying Microsoft Surface Pro Release Microsoft is wooing the construction industry with its new Surface Windows 8 Pro, a touch-screen tablet that can act as a desktop workstation for an engineer in the field or in transit.
The attendees this year's COFES (Congress Of the Future of Engineering Software) in Scottsdale, Ariz. last weekend witnessed examples of across-the-board engineering brilliance that will transform the garment industry, and which have implications for many industries, including construction.One presenter demonstrated a smartphone application that captures a complete set of body measurements by taking two pictures of a person fully clothed, and turning those pictures into a 3D model. Another presenter demonstrated a new weaving method called DPOL (Direct Pattern on Loom) which only weaves the cloth needed for a pattern, thus eliminating the 30% loss generated by weaving bolts of
Photo courtesy of DPR Construction The laybot system uses robotic-total-station technology to speed up drywall layouts before installation. The project team has set a goal for the robot to draw 1,000 linear ft per hour. Related Links: DPR's Laybot Demo (YouTube) Subs, Engineers Clamor for Collaboration at FutureTech ENR FutureTech Conference Turns Heads With Process Innovation A unique industry collaboration has produced a new robot that could increase the speed and accuracy of layouts with the help of virtual design and construction technology.Called Project Lion, the technology is the brainchild of Redwood City, Calif.-based DPR Construction and Westminster, Colo.-based Trimble.
In an increasingly digital world, AEC firms are challenged to eliminate costly and time-consuming paper-based processes. Requirements for “wet” signatures and seals interruptelectronic workflows and compel even the most digitally integrated teams and processes to fallback to paper, delaying project delivery and limiting the industry’s potential efficiency.The end-to-end adoption of a digital signatures and seals–based process can eliminate that digital interruption and significantly improve industry productivity.In current practice, AEC documents morph from digital format to print over the course of projects. Documents are created electronically, but are then printed for review or approval, wet signed, scanned back to electronic form,
Related Links: Autodesk's Brian Mathews Introduces ReCap (video) Autodesk's Suites 2014 Announcement (YouTube) Autodesk is launching a new suite of products designed to bring point-cloud scanning data into building information models with greater precision and clarity. Chief among them is a new product called ReCap, which is designed to incorporate 3D point-cloud technology into BIM with greater ease.The San Rafael, Calif.-based company says ReCap works with traditional design-based desktop software as well as cloud-based applications to create intelligent 3D models from laser scans and captured photos. "If you don't have a laser scanner, you can use your [camera] phone," said
A new photo management feature turns jobsite photos into jobsite data that is searchable in a content management system. Related Links: Viewpoint's Construction Imaging Viewpoint Reels in 4Projects While smart phones with great cameras make site documentation a cinch, it can be a challenge to manage thousands of construction photos. A new photo management feature in an enterprise content-management software update addresses the problem by turning photos into mineable data assets.The management feature allows users to tag and categorize photos by site number, employee number and user-defined tag names."Companies turn to consumer tools, like [Google's] Picasa, for photo management, but
Image Courtesy of Bentley Systems Bentley System's iPad app can capture images and file code-compliant transportation infrastructure asset reports on the go. Related Links: ASCE Infrastructure Report Card InspectTech Collector App More than two hundred million vehicles cross deficient bridges in America's 102 largest metropolitan areas every day, says the American Society of Civil Engineers' most recent report card on the nation's infrastructure. Although the ASCE gave bridges a C+ overall—better than the other infrastructure categories rated—there is still much bridge work to be done. Using data gathered from state departments of transportation across the nation, ASCE's report calls for
Related Links: Top Apps Recommended by FutureTech Readers and ENR Editors AEC App Showcase by Case/SOM Nine Noteworthy Apps for Construction Something big is happening in construction technology. It goes beyond the recent rampant growth of smart devices on jobsites and the explosive development of apps around the globe. It even goes beyond the growth of cloud computing, helping to manage large project files with faster networks that connect far-flung work crews.As big as these trends are, an even bigger shift is happening: Collaboration and web services are becoming the norm on more and more projects and transforming how the
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