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Autodesk University 2012: watching an industry grow up!

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Attending and exhibiting at shows like Hexagon, Spar, and Autodesk University is always fascinating because you get to interact with clients all over the country and see what’s new in the industry.

This was our first time exhibiting at Autodesk University, but having been to three conferences in Las Vegas in one year, I was quite familiar with the surroundings. At this year’s show – which was attended by over 8,000 people from 102 countries – what I saw was an industry that has grown up and is beginning to make a real impact on design and construction.

I remember in 1986 when a new drafting program named AutoCad came out and everybody was debating if it would become the standard…it did. And it brought with it – along with the digital age and computers – the plotters and all that went with the introduction of this new paradigm.

Most of us waited to see how it would be received in the industry, but then – as now – it proved to be a very valuable tool.

And just a few years ago, we were all still discussing the advances in AutoCAD and Civil 3D.  Though we knew these programs would remain relevant, it was evident from all of the different software that interacted inside of Revit and enhanced the user experience that the world of 3D design was here to stay. (As a friend of mine said not long ago, “If you are not designing and interacting in 3D and models, you are quickly going to be obsolete.”)

Autodesk University 2012 showed us how design is being done today and where it is going in the future. One of the more interesting observations was that besides the architects, engineers and designers, there were contracting companies, retail companies and owners all talking about the new Autodesk programs that were being used in the workplace.

There was lots of talk in these groups about building “Revit families” specific to their business types, as well as discussions around how to mix the contractors (who have the knowledge about how a building is built in the actual world) with the BIM modelers so that the models are also constructible.

This will be a big challenge. Contractors and superintendents who know how to pour a slab and build 20-story buildings have knowledge and insight that is absolutely critical to building a proper BIM model.

As any techno geek, I am always very interested in the new products on the exhibition floor and the showcase included hundreds of third-party vendors developing exciting products that work alongside Autodesk.

There were lots of new software and hardware lines in the 3D laser scanning industry, as well as new software offerings for BIM models, Revit technologies and GIS products. But for me, the most intriguing products were related to 3D printing applications.

These fabrication and modeling solutions enable products to be created directly from their computer models.

Almost anything you could imagine – from cars to motors to guitars – was printed and on display. Though 3D printing has been a popular topic in recent years, it was there, it was real, and it will definitely change how items are built in America and around the world.

At the conference in Vegas, there were actual printers producing objects out of wood, metal and polymers. The only difference was whether the printer was loaded with plywood or metal.

BIM is an acronym for Build Information Models, meaning to build computer models that have built-in intelligence. What I observed was BIM in the context above – building models and objects with just the information in a computer.

My, how we have grown.

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Tate Jones has over 40 years of experience in land and aerial surveying and was one of the country’s earliest adopters of 3D laser scanning technology. A nationally recognized expert in the field of 3D data capture, he has worked with hundreds of clients in the engineering, architectural and construction industries. Contact him at tjones@lasurveying.com or visit www.landairsurveying.com.

Where we are now…and where we’re going.

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As 2012 winds down and we get ready to head to Las Vegas for the Autodesk University conference, I look back at the strides that have been made in the 3D world and all of the associated hardware and software in our industry.

Not only is there new technology being used and accepted, but the demand for more BIM products, users, and technologists has grown faster than ever. I have also watched with great interest the wave of corporate acceptance that was not there even three years ago.

There is still much ground to be broken, but wow – what a year!

New Software

Take software, for example. As I travel around America and talk to user groups and clients, the one thing I am always asked is when will it be easier to model point clouds into usable entities?

There is much research going on to solve this challenge. Though I have no commercial interest in this firm, I believe one of the ones to watch in this space is ClearEdge 3D. Their EdgeWise Plant software is pushing the barriers away for modeling point clouds.

Personally, I believe that within the next three years, this major barrier we face now will be a minor issue and point cloud use will continue to grow and expand.

The other great leap in technology is that most of the major software packages have updated their products to accept point clouds as a layer. This means that most of our clients in the architectural and MEP worlds can now import our point clouds into their design software and greatly enhance their designs.

Just three or four years ago, using point cloud data required modeling and this limited the market to mechanical and structural engineers and various contractors with specialty software.

Today, because all Revit users can import point cloud data, the need to model everything in a scan project has been greatly decreased. This is a big deal! Now, instead of having to pay for an expensive model, end users get all of the benefits of point cloud precision without the associated costs of modeling.

Not to be overlooked, there are still issues that will need to be ironed out in inserting point clouds into design software, but they will be overcome with time.

For example, if you are working in Inventor to model plant process data, it is best if the project is modeled from start to finish in Inventor. Similarly, if it is to be modeled in Revit, it is best that it be modeled from start to finish in Revit. There are no readily available universal translators to move from a model that was created in Cyclone to a model in Revit while keeping the full integrity of the original model.

Though the data itself is globally transferrable, the structure of the models, entities, families and libraries requires more work to be done in this area.

New Hardware

Last year, I predicted that the hardware in our industry was set and that most of the changes would come in the form of software. On this point, I was wrong.

Several changes have occurred that continue to advance the hardware. For example, The Faro Focus 3D has broken the price barrier. Prior to its release, most scanners started around $80,000 and went up to $200,000. The Focus was released at about $50,000 and has caused price adjustments throughout the industry.

I believe this trend will continue and prices will continue to go down. This is both a good and bad thing for the industry. As prices go down, more people with marginal training and experience will begin to use scanners and bad point clouds will become more of a problem.

There is a saying in our industry that “one bad point cloud kills a lot of clients.” Indeed, this is true. I have talked to clients who tried laser scanning nine years ago, had a bad experience, and will not use it again to this day. The problem is not that scanners are getting more affordable, but that there are still no national standards in the industry.

The upside is that with a lower cost competitor, vendors must consider what value their laser scanners bring that others do not.

Cool New Technology

Two things I am really interested in and know will change the playing field moving forward are   aerial drones and augmented reality.

These two technologies are growing fast and have many great uses. A traditional helicopter used to map utilities and large areas generally costs about $25,000 per day. A one-meter drone quadripod, on the other hand, costs about $2,000 per day.

Though there are unique tasks that the smaller one-meter drones can do that the helicopter is currently doing, there are other tasks that the smaller drones can perform that traditional helicopters cannot do. For example, smaller drones can more effectively and safely map underground pipes, mines and tunnels.

Currently, to send two scanner technicians into a tunnel requires about six surface and sub-surface support staff. An unmanned drone with avoidance technology would be a great solution.

Augmented reality and the ability to project 3D images easily and to large groups is available and is changing the whole world of education. A small but growing company, ViziTech USA, is doing very creative and trendsetting work in this area.

This is where the science of 3D technology is repackaged so that the average person can use and understand it. This is a powerful tool and will lead to great changes in many industries and educational processes. For more on augmented reality, read our recent blog post here.

The design and construction of future projects will still require the same basic processes that are required today. But the use of precision data before, during and after construction – and the visual way the data can be viewed – will greatly reduce errors and downtime events.

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Tate Jones has over 40 years of experience in land and aerial surveying and was one of the country’s earliest adopters of 3D laser scanning technology. A nationally recognized expert in the field of 3D data capture, he has worked with hundreds of clients in the engineering, architectural and construction industries. Contact him at tjones@lasurveying.com or visit www.landairsurveying.com.