ConTech: Disrupting the Next Ten-Trillion Dollar Market
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Looking closer at BIM again, it is far beyond a solution solely for design simulation, but to be seamlessly functional in supply chain management, collaboration management and document management throughout the entire construction life cycle. Recently, it is also not difficult to find new tech solutions integrated with BIM to provide even more advanced approaches. Above mentioned Revizto is a good example focused on the 3D design simulation with BIM. Another example is the Norway-based startup Imerso, which enriches BIM with field 3D scan data empowered by drone, laser scanning and mobile capturing technology, to create a digital twin, monitoring the construction process onsite, as well as analyzing the data ahead of risks. The similar integration is also happening among new industry disruptors. The reality capturing platform HoloBuilder has lately integrated with the collaboration management platform Procore via RFIs and Observations, to better update the documentation with the real-time construction process.
Demo of integrated HoloBuilder & Procore platform (Source: Procore) This integration offers a great case of productivity improvement by linking the different parts of the value chain, and we would surely like to expect more integrations between solutions to create more synergies for deduction in time waste and cost waste, miscalculation and miscommunication during the entire construction process in the near future. Cross-industry innovation Zooming out for an even bigger picture of the tech innovation, there are a few sectors around construction: smart living, civil engineering, autonomous driving, etc. Given the close connections in between and the great driving-force placed by those more disrupted sectors, we have every reason to expect some even more cutting-edge solutions to come in construction. End of 2018, Volve Trucks unveiled its first commercial autonomous solution, piloting six autonomous Volvo FH trucks to transport limestone over a five-kilometer stretch in a mine with both tunnels and outdoor environment. What it brought to construction industry is not just a possible solution that could be quickly tailored for construction logistics, but also a push for more integrated and efficient solutions for construction supply chain management and project scheduling. When it turns to smart living, which is even closer to construction, the innovation it could drive will be much further from just a technology integration, to even conceptional changes pervaded from the very beginning of the construction work. For instance, the design work will have to take into consideration of the smart home solutions to be implemented later on, and the digital tools used for construction process could also be integrated with smart home control systems to manage building's entire lifetime; the material selections might give more weight to the energy saving solutions or renewable sources, and the energy control system will need to be part of the simulations during the design;and the modularity could go even further towards flexibility and dynamic to be adaptable to multiple needs of the users. Speaking about which, I would like to mention another potential game-changer, which might completely alter the way how modern construction operates onsite, with the power of revolutionary materials science solutions, 3D-printing. Chinese pioneer Winsun has been dedicating to improve 3D printing techniques with developed construction materials, and its supported project "The Office of the Future" in Dubai has already claimed to be fully functional and inhabited. Together with the capability of implanting wireless sensor into the wall of 3D printing, it has huge possibility to turn the buildings into real smart buildings.
Chinese 3D printing construction firm Winsun is behind the world's first 3D-printed office in Dubai. (Source: Dubai Future Foundation) And now guess what is more mind-blowing, which is back empowering the materials science? Yes, 4D printing, which prints self-assembled programmable materials that could interact with world around it, thinking water pipes which could adapt itself for different flow rates, or roofs which could control the airflow. And this technology developed by MIT Self-assembly Lab, is stated to be uniquely useful in extreme building environments, such as, space.
Self-assembly in extreme building environment (Source: Self-assembly Lab) Balfour Beatty has ever created a scenario of the construction site in 2050: Robots will work in teams to build complex structures using dynamic new materials. Elements of the build will self-assemble. Drones flying overhead will scan the site constantly, inspecting the work and using the data collected to predict and solve problems before they arise, sending instructions to robotic cranes and diggers and automated builders with no need for human involvement. The role of the human overseer will be to remotely manage multiple projects simultaneously, accessing 3D and 4D visuals and data from the onsite machines, ensuring the build is proceeding to specification. The very few people accessing the site itself will wear robotically enhanced exoskeletons and will use neural-control technology to move and control machinery and other robots on site... Can you see it coming? I can, but maybe a bit earlier than 2050. ----------------------------------------------- The article is written by @Helen Han, edited by @Dido Pong. Please note source and hyperlink when reproduce. Follow us now on Twitter @tmtpostenglish, Medium @TMTPOST and Facebook @TMTPOST. 更多精彩内容，关注钛媒体微信号（ID：taimeiti），或者下载钛媒体App （编辑：温州站长网） 【声明】本站内容均来自网络，其相关言论仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本站立场。若无意侵犯到您的权利，请及时与联系站长删除相关内容! |
