Prof. Dr.-Ing. R. J. Scherer Informatics in Civil Engineering TU Dresden Dresden, Germany, EU Future Demands of IT Infrastructure in the Construction Industry.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. R. J. SchererInformatics in Civil EngineeringTU DresdenDresden, Germany, EU

Future Demands of IT Infrastructure in the Construction

Industry

Presentation at the Autodesk Industry SeminarBarcelona, Spain, February 2001

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TU Dresden – Inst. of Mechanics and Informatics in Civil Engineering Prof. R. Scherer

Overview

Concurrent Engineering Virtual round table Virtual enterprise Multi-project participation Personalized service platform on the web Rental services, ASP Integration of the construction site

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What is Concurrent Engineering? It is distributed coordinated simultaneous

teamworkworkers distributed in space and different time zonesworkers work in parallelworkers are coordinatedworkers act as a teameasy access to information and knowledge

Requirements:communication, data sharingproject management, conflict managementvirtual enterprise, legally binding


AspectsAspects ofof ConcurrentConcurrent EngineeringEngineering

ConcurrentConcurrentEngineeringEngineering

COLLABORATIVE

Human - SpaceVirtual Enterprise

COOPERATIVE

Product - ViewVirtual Expert

SIMULTANEOUS

Product - TimeVirtual Time

e - Commerce

Product - SpaceVirtual Market

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Project-centered Virtual Enterprises

Means

Concurrent Engineering

Project A

Engineer 1

Engineer n


1Definition of worktasks andtheir dependencies

2 Definition of roles and actorsFor each worktask

Co-ordination by Project Management & Workflow System

3 Definition ofpriorities or time

constraints


Worklists are generated for each Actor

Electronic management of worklists with Work Tasks for all users

The worklist extends traditional messaging services (e.g. Email) by additionally maintaining the status and dependencies between items

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client application

layer

Project foldersProject folders

PtM BrowserPtM Browser

ADTADT

PAULAPAULA

CuFIMSCuFIMS

SoFiPLUSSoFiPLUS

SoFiSTiKSoFiSTiK

E-mailE-mail

document browserdocument browser

GWMGWM

web browserweb browser

TheThe Client / MultiClient / Multi ServerServer System of the ToCEE Project System of the ToCEE Project (EP 20587)(EP 20587)

adapter layer

Application adapter

(IL toolkit, ORB, concad)

Application adapter

(IL toolkit, ORB, concad)

Internet adapter (WWW, Email)Internet adapter (WWW, Email)

EXPRESS adapter

(SPF, SDAI)

EXPRESS adapter

(SPF, SDAI)

informationlogisticservices

CommonRequestBroker

projectdata

structures

ProductModelsProductModels

ProcessModelsProcessModels

Document M.Document M.

thirdpartydata

struct

Regu-lation M.

Regu-lation M.

serverplug-inlayer

Document mgmt. server

Document mgmt. server

Process mgmt. Server-BuzzsawProcess mgmt.

Server-Buzzsaw

Product mgmt. server

Product mgmt. server

Regulation broker

Regulation broker

Conflict mgmt. server

Conflict mgmt. server

ToCEE Framework:ToCEE Framework:common meta-model, common TCP/IP networkcommon meta-model, common TCP/IP network


Sufficent ?

We haveProject-centered

We need additionallyHuman-centered

ENGINEER 1 ENGINEER 1

Project A

Project N

Project A

Engineer 1

Engineer n

NO !

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Facts Each engineer participate in different projects the same

time A new virtual enterprise is set up for each project In each virtual enterprise a different client server system

may be applied For each project an engineer needs more knowldwedge

than he permanently do have available

Engineers have to co-ordinate their work across projects Engineers have to know different client server systems Engineers have to procure knowledge for each project Engineers are nevertheless individuals

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DASMAS

IOS

PPS

CCS

TOS

RES

ECS

USER

Concurrent Engineering Services Platform- The User’s Gateway to the CE World -

ExchangeableExchangeableToolsTools

ExchangeableExchangeableToolsTools

PersonalizedPersonalizedWork PlaceWork Place

PersonalizedPersonalizedWork PlaceWork Place

Any AbritaryAny AbritaryServer (System)Server (System)

Any AbritaryAny AbritaryServer (System)Server (System)

Plug-inPlug-inTechnologyTechnology




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Objectives of the CESP

Independence Individuality Capability Sustainability Lean

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Independence

The user should be independent of any particular client server system

The services of the CESP should allow the user to attach to any kind of server to map the data from the servers into his unified form to properly organize his multi-project dependent tasks to keep track of proper information flow

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Individuality

The user should be able to carry out his work according to his individual kind of working and his individual, but co-ordinated preference.

The services and tools of the CESP should have individually configurable interfaces an individually adaptable engineering ontology

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Capability

The engineering capabilty of the user should be valuable increased by the services.

The services of the CESP should provide the user with engineering knowledge with code of standards information with market products information with tool application information,which may be for free or to be rented.

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Sustainability

The interfaces configured by user should be long term stable.

The services of the CESP should shield the user from permanently changing CE systems from permanently changing suppliers catalogs the different servers and services offered from external the different analysis tools

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Lean

The user should manage as less as possible data by himself on his personal workspace.

The services of the CESP should allow the user to outsource data storage and management (EDMS, PtDMS) to focus on logistics information to focus on management information to focus on knowledge management

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Concurrent Engineering Services PlatformServices :

DASMAS

IOS

PPS

CCS

TOS

RES

ECS

USER

IOSIOS Interoperability ServicesInteroperability ServicesMASMAS Knowledge Based Model Access ServiceKnowledge Based Model Access ServiceDASDAS Knowledg Based Design Assistance Knowledg Based Design Assistance ServiceServiceCCSCCS Knowledge Based Code Checking ServiceKnowledge Based Code Checking ServiceRESRES Remote User Specialised Rental Eng. ServicesRemote User Specialised Rental Eng. ServicesECSECS Technology Support Tools for e-Commerce ServicesTechnology Support Tools for e-Commerce ServicesTOSTOS Training and Online Human Support ServicesTraining and Online Human Support ServicesPPSPPS Personal Planning and PDM ServicesPersonal Planning and PDM Services

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Knowledge BasedModel Access Service

state of the art in product model data:

the end-user has to understand in full detail

- the whole product data structure- particular technical semantics- the complexity of the relationships within the product data structure

→ an engineer, normally not familiar with product modelling, is not able to work benificially in a direct way with the product model data

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→ Need: easier understanding and easier access of product data

The product data has to be complemented with additional knowledge ABOUT the product data

this additional knowledge will be provided by a Knowledge-based model access service (MAS)

→ Middleware between the engineer and the product model

Knowledge BasedModel Access Service

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Engineer

Engineering Application WWW-Browser

Model Access Service

LAN / CESP

Product DataCache

Reasoning Agent

EngineeringOntology

ExplanationComponent

Client Adapter

Product Data Server

Internet

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Server-Side Processing of Client Request

• ParsingParsing of the client request and transformation to internal representation

• ClassificationClassification of the task as :- synchronous - high-priority asynchronous- low-priority asynchronous (heavy-duty)

• SelectionSelection and activation of appropriate server method(s)

• StoringStoring the intermediate results of the method on the server blackboard in the working memory, thus making the data available to the MAS agents

• TriggeringTriggering of respective rulesof respective rules in the MAS agent

• TransformationTransformation of the resultsof the results in a respective client response

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Example Knowledge-Based Queries

Find if there exist rooms in a building with area > 30 Find if there exist rooms in a building with area > 30 sq.m:sq.m:

IfcSpace.find(searchExpr: (FOR ?S DO ((?S IS IN THIS) AND

(THE calcTotalArea OF ?S IS ?A) AND (EXPR (> ?A 30.0)))))

With the help of the engineering ontology, the above With the help of the engineering ontology, the above requests could be requests could be input in user-friendly form, e.g. using a GUI, HTML-input in user-friendly form, e.g. using a GUI, HTML-forms etc., whereas, forms etc., whereas, for an application, the programmatic interface would be for an application, the programmatic interface would be of greater benefit.of greater benefit.

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Basic Technologies Involved

Server:Server: Frame-based representation Object-oriented methods

Communication:Communication: Java RMI (and possibly CORBA)

Direct User Interface:Direct User Interface: WWW-Browser incl. VRML Plug-in, CAD …

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Knowledge-BasedDesign Assistance System

IFC architectural view:

Input: floors, grids, dimensions, live loads

Conceptual and Preliminary Design assisted by DAS

Output: Load Bearing System

Input for further structural analysissoftware tools by IFC structural view!

TU Dresden Lehrstuhl für Computeranwendung in Bauwesen 01062 DresdenWINGRAF 1097 8.03. 0

M 1 : 60

X

Y

Z

Stabbiegemoment my, Lastfall 1, 1 cm = 50.0 kNm

0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00

10.00

5.00

0.00

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Assisted Design Process

Design ReasoningEngine

Design Plan Generation

InteractiveUser Interface

ExternalVisualisation Tool

3-dim. (VRML)

IFC Interface toExternal Structural

Analysis Tools

ExternalCatalogues

2-dim. layout

System Architecture of DAS

Structural ontology

Methods for structural member design

Sequence of design tasks

Decision support knowledge

Knowledge Base

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Expandable Design Operators

• Sequence of hierarchical design tasks• Decision support knowledge

Elementary Design Operators

• Methods for Structural member design• Provision of appropriate dimensioning

tools and catalogue elements• Interface to external analysis tools

AI Planning Method for the Design Process

Interactive assisted design process

Start: Architectural object modelEnd: Structural object model

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Remote User Specialized Rental Engineering Services

Software Rental Service (SRS)

Automatic Engineering

Service Provider (AESP)

Virtual Lab Test

Service (VLTS)

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Sub-structured into Sub-structured into 33 Services: Services:

SRS Software Rental Service - where the user can rent engineering software tools from an ASP

AESP Automatic Engineering Service Provider - where the user can rent engineering consultancy

VTLS Virtual Test Lab Service - where the user can rent simulation of real structural behaviour

Remote User Specialized Rental Engineering Services

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What is simulation of concrete structures?

Simplified model

Results of simulation

Concrete crushing

Concrete cracking

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The conceptual development and the implementation of the CESP has been the primary objective of the ISTforCE project(IST-1999-11508)

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TUDTUD

CIN

OPB CERFIDCST

ULJAEC

GEOAPI

Project Overview

10 Partners42 Person years3,6 million Euro02/2000 – 04/200227 months

Intelligent Services and Tools for Concurrent Engineering CECEforforISISTT

www.istforce.com

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Project BProject A

Project C

Project Workflow

Personal Workflow

Cross Project Workflow

Cross Project Coordination

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Cross Project Activity Management

Open Research topics: Integration of workflow systems integration of project management systems development of a multi layer priority system forecasting based on priorities judged by different invididuals

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Construction site

Tasks shop drawings 4D simulation change management monitoring controlling ordering (e-commerce) quality control quality managment re-scheduling re-design/design

adaptation agreements

Needs online client screen size and

power of desktop PC

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Situation harsh environment daylight Wireless

Requirements lightweight PC access to actual data exchangeable, signed multi-media notices strongly filtered information due to small screens hand free input/output in each position

Construction site

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Basic technologies UMTS small computers

with different power Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

wearable computer

handheld computer

Pen-based devices

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Personal Digital Assistent (PDA) Electronic note-book Input via screen, terminalEingabe über Bildschirm, keys,

keypad Operaring system: PalmOS/WindowCE Notice:

Sparse memory Small screen Battery-operated

PalmVIIx: 8MB RAM,

8 x 8 cm screen, information transfer

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Sample Document for Presentation on PDA

SECTION 08800 - GLAZING

PART 1 - GENERAL

1.1 RELATED DOCUMENTS

A. Drawings and general provisions of the Contract, including General and Supplementary Conditions and Division 1 Specification Sections, apply to this Section.

1.2 SUMMARY

A. This Section includes glazing for the following products andapplications, including those specified in other Sections whereglazing requirements are specified by reference to this Section:

1. Windows.2. Doors.

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Graphical Interface

Table of content Text representation

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Wearable Computers - State of the hardware technology Small in size Worn on a belt Unobstrusive Powerful

180...400 MHz Pentium IIUp to 25 Gbyte HDD

Usable for speech engines

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Construction progress monitoring

schematic layout of project depicted on the screen

selection of elements by touch or speech

input of construction progress by touch or speech

OnSite View

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Interfaces to the user Displays:

Flat Panel DisplayHead Worn Display

Data Input:Keyboard (not favorable)Touch ScreenSpeech interface

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Bottlenecks

Displays:Small DisplayNot day ligth stable Display

Data Input:Without keyboard

restricted input functionality

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Challenges Challenges the construction industry will have to face:the construction industry will have to face:

Explicit organised team working Training on understanding product models/data

structures in order to be able to computerise knowledge

Working with product data and documents properly cross-linked

Working with tagged (indexed) text documents Working with complex client-server-agent-systems More freedom and more responsibility for the

individual worker Allocate an individual budget to each worker New structures in the working staff

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The End

Prof. Dr.-Ing. R. J. Scherer Informatics in Civil Engineering TU Dresden Dresden, Germany, EU Future Demands of IT Infrastructure in the Construction Industry.

Documents

intechnology tu dresden

eu tu dresden

binding tu dresden

individuals tu dresden

items tu dresden

construction site tu

different projects

tocee project ep