Category Archives: Construction/BIM
Wizardly 3D
Above: This hologram of a church in Texas was built from a combination of airborne and terrestrial lidar scans. More than just illusions, hologram technology is booming. Every once in a while a new product or technology comes out that makes you do a double take and think, “Wait, what is that?” This happened to me...
True 3D Design
New geospatial software combines the appeal of games with the rigor of applications. It’s never been done before: applying the rigor and disciplines of civil engineering, mining engineering, hydrology, and even classic survey field-to-finish to game-like 3D design. Sure, CAD operators have had 3D viewing for years, which they use to review the results of...
Blending Realities
A 3D design and visualization tool with phenomenal potential in the AEC world is coming from a collaboration between Microsoft and Trimble. Imagine designing an object, in 3D and color, using only gaze, gestures, and voice (GGV) commands. Imagine designing an entire building the same way—or modifying an existing one. Imagine moving in a physical...
Raising the Roof
A survey company changes its tactics to monitor an auditorium roof before, during, and after its lift into place, using teamwork and true professionalism. American Surveying & Engineering, P.C. (with corporate headquarters in Chicago, Illinois) was approached by JP Cullen (a contractor with headquarters in Janesville, Wisconsin) with a challenging project: a particularly tricky auditorium...
The Digital Site
The complete digital site is more than just machine-controlled heavy equipment. Recent advances in heavy civil have been profound in connectivity, automation, and visualization. How long has automation played a role in heavy civil construction? As far back as the late 1980s when early GPS-guided (or informed) systems began to reach the market. But it...
Autodesk + Leica Geosystems
Two tech giants embark on a collaboration and education outreach. At June 2015’s HxGN LIVE (the annual user conference for Leica Geosystems and other divisions of Hexagon), we spied something rather surprising: an Autodesk booth. What’s more, someone at the booth was using Autodesk software for construction layout on a consumer tablet, driving a Leica...