BIM is the Canoe, Construction is the River

Issue #956

 

by Ralph Grabowski To the great puzzlement of BIM enthusiasts, the construction industry has largely not latched on to BIM. It's been two decades, so what's the holdup? BIM enthusiasts have their favorite solution: get government to force BIM on everyone, starting with architects and going all the way through to building operators. (It's already been done in England.) That BIM might not be optimal for certain phases of a building's life is left unexamined. It's technology, so adapt already. The MCAD industry has taken to CAM, but the AEC industry has few equivalents. CAM [computer-aided manufacturing] works well in architectural projects that are predictably uniform, such as kitchen cabinets (my new ones were cut that way) and prefab houses being built inside warm, dry warehouses. But for most buildings, the construction conditions are non-pristine. I use the analogy of building a Boeing 747 aircraft out in a muddy field, with each aircraft designed to be different, and being built in different cities. The inefficiencies in building construction (that some say can be driven out)  can, in fact, not be driven out.    White-watering With Canoes Lucy Suchman uses a different analogy. She describes whitewater canoeists coming upon rapids. As they look over the conditions, they plan their paths around boulders, through fast water, and past eddy currents. "A great deal of deliberation, discussion, simulation, and reconstruction may go into such a plan," she writes.  Then they set off.  Being in the rapids that don't match the plans made before the rapids (image source gameplanmedia.co.za) However detailed, the plans stop short of the actual business of getting the canoes through the rapids. When it comes down to the reality of responding to currents and handling the canoe, we effectively abandon the plan and fall back on whatever embodied skills are available to us. Ms Suchman wrote Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human-machine Communication 30 years ago to warn us that our careful, thoughtful planning is limited in determining outcomes (to quote book reviewer Andrew Yuengert). Ms Suchman is professor of Anthropology of Science and Technology at Lancaster University in England. Before this, she was at Xerox's fabled Palo Alto Research Center for 22 years, as Principal Scientist for some of that time. Today her primary research is in situational awareness: how people react in real time to changing conditions, particularly on battlefields. Ten years ago, she updated her book with a new title, Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Action, and five more chapters.    Construction Takes BIM on a Canoe Trip BIM and construction are like the canoe trip. BIM takes place at the head of the rapids, where the ideal route is planned out. Construction takes place in the rapids, where the unexpected and the unplanned is the norm -- these are the situated actions (a.k.a. embodied skills).  Contractors with experience have embodied skills that designers lack; contractors gain the skills by tackling the unexpected daily on-site. This is the reason that "as-builts" are part of the BIM process: they correct idealized plans with the real world results. BIM can make predictions of what should result on the building site, but it does not know what will occur. Worse, it cannot know. In the end, BIM cannot be in charge of construction; construction is in charge of BIM. Environment at a construction site that doesn't match the artificially pristine environment of the BIM model (image source ytimg.com) Sponsor: Okino Graphics == 3D Data Translation Software Tailored to Solve Your Problems ==   Education and awareness make flawless, error-free, and numerically-correct MCAD conversions! Okino's PolyTrans|CAD software solves complex, demanding 3D conversion problems by transforming CAD and DCC datasets into highly optimized and efficient files for all common downstream 3D programs and authoring packages. Our staff ensures that each Okino solution fits your conversion problems 'like a glove', including useful discussions on how to source the best 3D datasets.  CAD data sources we support include Solidworks, ProE/Creo, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit, Navisworks, DGN IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and JT. DCC data sources are Cinema-4D, 3ds Max, Maya, FBX/Collada, and many more. Perfected over three decades, we know 3D data translation intimately, providing you with highly personalized solutions, education, and communication. Contact CTO Robert Lansdale personally at [email protected]. http://www.okino.com And Now the Rest of the News... The Spatial division of Dassault is collaborating with ModuleWorks CAM for additive and hybrid machining. https://www.spatial.com/news   - - -  “Are we sure Facebook is safeguarding democracy & it’s not us who need to safeguard democracy against Facebook?” - Hannah Kuchler on Twitter - - -  Canon adds one of its digital cameras above their Oce-brand cutters to scan codes that tell the knife how to do its job. https://csa.canon.com - - - Important reading: Thinking about the social cost of technology by Natasha Lomas on TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/30/thinking-about-the-social-cost-of-technology/ - - - For late-breaking CAD news, follow upFront.eZine on Twitter at @upfrontezine. Letters to the Editor Re: Mobile Apps I don't use any mobile MCAD apps. Why do I want to "live and move and have my being" in MCAD? When I turn off the workstation at the end of the day, THAT'S IT, I'M DONE. Thanx for the "Notable Quote"! I passed it on to those in the know.     - CAD Man - - -   I am really enjoying reading this article. You are really helping us to understand the market for all professional mobile apps. This thread that you (re-)started is crucial for the CAD world, as mobile platforms have a growing importance in all kinds of computing. There are tasks that can be strongly supported by this new platform, better than by any other computing technology. People have to understand that mobile technology has grown out from its game-like, low-level technology to now sometimes exceeds the computing power even of notebooks. Sure, there are tasks that are much better done with large monitors and strong computers, but that’s a different segment, one that’s not supposed to be replaced with mobile technology. We are focusing on tasks that should really be done on-site, many times in a construction environment with dusty and wet conditions that notebooks typically can’t withstand or only with high-cost military grade computers. Tablets and smartphones don’t have problem with those environments. OrthoGraph’s floor plan functionality also benefits from the large multi-touch screen, the built-in camera, and the gyroscope of smart devices: we create products that are dedicated for professional use on mobile technology. Building survey and on-site floor plan creation are exactly the activities supported with mobile devices. To support our work and operating costs we use a pricing model that is higher than typical app store prices, one that approaches the pricing of desktop applications, yet has a very fast return on investment  for our users. This is required -- as you also mentioned in your article -- to support our work, to do our research and development, to be innovative, to provide a fast and reliable app, and to develop further integration with hardware. We have the same type of developers as the desktop platforms -- probably even a little bit more expensive, because of their special knowledge. Please continue this great activity you have started with this article.      - Adam Korbuly, strategic director     OrthoGraph - - - I regularly read upfront ezine articles and find them insightful. Today, I read your article on Mobile CAD apps. (HCL Technologies is the former products group from when Geometric merged into HCL). We have Glovius, a 3D CAD viewer with iOS/Android apps and browser based solution Babel3D. Since you have mentioned that you would be covering available mobile apps in your next article, I thought of bringing it to your attention. Please refer to this link for more information on Glovius apps and Babel3D.  https://www.glovius.com/products-new/ Look forward to your next article on mobile CAD apps to gain insights into how other companies in the industry are approaching this segment.     -Swadhin Bhide, director of product management     HCL Technologies Limited - - - Bezüglich der Mobile CAD Programme: Ich bin über GNA CAD gestolpert und es erfüllt meine Erwartungen an eine sehr einfach zu bedienende mobile App, mit der ich auf dwgs aus der Dropbox zugreifen kann. Das brauche ich nicht sehr oft, aber es ist da, wenn ich es brauche. Das werde de ich mir mal leisten um mehr Bildschirmplatz ausnutzen zu können.     - Martin Hess   Re: Logitech Double-click I thought I would add this about the mouse. I have used a Contour mouse that has 3 actual buttons on top and 2 wheels on the side.  They come in different sizes as well as right and left hand models. I have the usual first button set to pick. The second or middle button is set to return so that I can pick with 1 and pick #2 and it opens anything that would normally be opened with a double click. I totally swear by this (rather than at it), because it works not only in AutoCAD but basically everywhere. Being very old I want to eliminate as much double-click wear-and-tear on my finger as I can. The third button I have is the context-sensitive right-click button, just like the stupid 2-button mice. There are lots of assignments that can be made for the buttons including one to be a double click. I just prefer having a button as Return, that I can use in a lot more places to help my old hands.   One nice new feature of this mouse is the price. I have purchased a couple in the past and they were a bit over $100 each. Now online they are $59.95, which is a lot better price. I just noticed they have a new Unimouse which looks pretty wild but it also looks like it might be good for some people. https://www.contourdesign.com/product/contour-mouse/     - Jack Foster     3D Design Services, LLC - - - For many (especially older) Logitech pointing devices, refer to the uberOptions by Richard Owens at http://uberoptions.net/. His options enable you to set just about any Logitech button or wheel to whatever function you want. On my old (but unbeatable) MX Revolution mouse (actually two of them), it’s the only way to set the middle button to act as a middle button. I set the first thumb button as double-click. I strongly endorse the comment about difficulty reading gray text. As we get older, the improved contrast of black on white greatly improves readability for our eyes. Thanks.     - Steve Wells     Conceptworks The editor replies: The body text is black as of this issue. What a designer wishes isn't always what the customer prefers!   Re: Self-Driving Cars Small Dead Animals blog asks about the situation "where the self-driving car meets the uncontrolled railway crossing." Pretty sure the autonomous vehicle folks will tell you the answer is V2X where the vehicles communicate both with each other and with infrastructure such as stop lights, emergency vehicles, and also with trains approaching a crossing.      - Lee Teschler The editor replies: I wonder who will pay for it all. Here in Canada the standard is that the second party pays for work at rail crossings, usually meaning the agency who owns the road.   Thank You, Readers! Thank you to readers who donate towards the operation of upFront.eZine: Should you wish to support upFront.eZine through PayPal, then the suggested amounts are like these: $25 for individuals > paypal.me/upfrontezine/25 $150 for small companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/150 $625 for for large companies > paypal.me/upfrontezine/625 Should Paypal.me not operate in your country, then please use www.paypal.comand the account of [email protected]. Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.   Notable Quotable "There are two kinds of people in the world: 1. Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data"      - Bill Fane

*6483