CU1705

COMMENT
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Comment
Capable COBie
by David Chadwick
The CAD User seminar on COBie, held
in May at the London Transport
Museum in association with
Vectorworks, has certainly given us plenty of
food for thought - so much so that,
alongside an overview of the event itself, I felt
that some of the issues raised warranted
further exploration in this issue of the
magazine. Hence the article on 3D Repo
and its ability to handle asset management,
and the use of Solibri to evaluate the validity
of information being provided by COBie files.
The 3D virtual models provided by 3D Repo
are assembled from data objects held in a
NoSQL database. As an OpenSource
application this allows geometric and
associated data to be held independently of
the dedicated file structures of an SQL
database, providing a degree of flexibility
that allows unlimited access to, and use of,
the cloud based data. Asset management is
just one example, but pertinent in that it can
be used as an alternative to COBIe, and the
article looks at how the asset information is
shared, modified and kept up to date.
One of the issues that arose during the
seminar discussions was the potentially
huge size of COBie submissions that could
be supplied to asset managers - thousands
of tabulated pages on information on a large
project. Not having the wherewithal
(software) or ability to verify the accuracy of
the information supplied, the COBie tables
are tending to end up being filed as 'for
reference purposes only'. Solibri was
suggested as the ideal tool to guarantee the
accuracy of the information in COBie, and
we look at how this can be achieved in the
article on page 16.
Solibri, of course, is also well engrained in
Graphisoft's Open BIM collaborative
approach to architectural design, as
evidenced in the latest edition of ARCHICAD,
Version 21. This is facilitated by Graphisoft's
cloud-based collaboration application
Teamwork, which allows project members
worldwide to work concurrently on the same
building model. Graphisoft are a leading
proponent of BIM, and as such we also take
a look at the latest version of ARCHICAD in
this issue, highlighting the new features and
the way that they enhance the design
process, and facilitate collaboration.
The COBie seminar proved to be a great
success, with attendees coming from all
sectors of the industry, from beginners to
experienced practitioners. Read the article
on page 10 of this issue for more.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
I was going to base this comment piece
around artificial intelligence, and the driving
demands of the construction industry that
highlight the growing need for information
rich environments and Smart Cities. 'Driving
demands' is pretty apt, as the trend towards
autonomous public transport relies quite
heavily on the vehicles 'learning' how to get
from A to B and being able to integrate
within a whole city full of autonomous
vehicles.
A pointer to the way this can be achieved is
provided by Oasys and its MassMotion
application, which gives simulated
pedestrian agents in a crowded concourse
the same degree of flexibility to react with
other agents to achieve their aim of getting
from A to B, according to their own particular
requirements and idiosyncrasies.
I recently discussed the development of AI
with my undergraduate grandson, and we
wondered whether Artificial Intelligence was
just that - artificial. In spite of the immense
capabilities of AI software, processing
capabilities and feedback routines to
enhance cognitive abilities, it currently
seems unable to transcend beyond the
capabilities of self-generated and externally
applied algorithms. In short, at what stage
does it escape from its origins and become
'sentient'? More, potentially fascinating
research is required.
4 May/June 2017