The real use in Building Information Modeling (BIM) is in collaboration so it’s always good to know about what others are doing in the space.
Are you using 3D models in an interesting way or come across someone who is? If so how and to what end?
Three things I came across this week.
3D visualisation for Construction Engineering:
Nick Barker from Exallos, this week at an Australian Institute of Builders (AIB) breakfast, showcased projects that used 3D visualisation for Construction Engineering on major projects such as: The Shard, London; Adelaide Oval Redevelopment; and the demolition of large steel and concrete structures.
Impressively he presented from an ipad and showed several 3D animations of the projects which definitely captured the attention and imagination the audience.
One point of interest was that with complex projects featuring curved roofs structures, such as the Adelaide Oval redevelopment (http://bit.ly/1e4u2wa), he described 3D modeling as an essential tool in
- testing engineering loads and designing the structural steel pieces û as there is no way traditional 2D drawings could show this information.
- finding a construction solution that would allow temporary propping as with complex structures û they tend to only become inherently stable when the last members were in place.
- showing that the job could be done in a condensed timeline û the use of animation was used with time schedules to win the job.
Panel Discussion on Architectural Models:
There was an interesting discussion this week on Radio National’s By Design program. Listen to it here. (http://bit.ly/14v5vvZ)
- A few key points were the value in modeling for things such as explaining ideas to clients
- that physical 3D models are still used for council approval, marketing to the general pubilc and for the presentation at competitions.
- the 3D digital models of course store a lot of information that other disciplines can use (Quantity Surveyors even get a mention by Chris Paterson at Populous!).
CSIRO and mobile mapping:
This week and award was given to a group of researchers at CSIRO calling themselves öThe Zedebee teamö for the development of a mobile scanner that allows a user to walk through and area using a hand held device and produce a 3D map. Very cool stuff! Can you think of any of the applications it might be useful in? Check out the video here. (http://bit.ly/15a2kbz)