Today, in precast factories, we often find that each department has its own software and associated information stored in its own data silos. Quite often, this disjointed information leads to wrong decisions, resulting in annoyed customers, demotivated employees, and, ultimately, lost profits. A solution to this situation is provided by the BIM (Building Information Modeling) software Revit extended with special precast features fully connected with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This class shows the power of an integrated ERP system in a precast factory where no data has to be inserted twice and all participants use the same data (a single source of truth). We’ll cover estimation with data from Revit, take a detailed look at automation tools for Revit, and create CAM data for production. In the ERP, we’ll see the planning of production, logistics, materials, and resources. We explore the communication between the precaster, the client, and the site via the cloud with the Precast 360 platform (based on the Forge).

"Artificial intelligence (AI) has made a huge impact on making things, bringing with it radical changes in the way things are designed, made, and used. This class will demonstrate how to leverage Amazon Web Services to build, simplify, and streamline intelligent applications for the construction and manufacturing industries. We will walk through machine learning model deployment that can result in 2x better performance on resource constrained platforms such as mobile, desktop and edge devices (IoT). You will walk away from this Forge class with an understanding of how you can use AWS AI/ML services to accelerate innovation and time to market, and to develop new business models."

This class will start exploring the basics of the Forge platform through a simple yet representative workflow sample. We’ll first introduce you to the basics of model translations and metadata extractions, jumping then into custom viewer extensions. We’re going to walk you through real-time data sharing aimed at augmenting model usability. We’ll show you how to set up a Socket.IO web framework for multiuser collaboration sessions. At this stage, we’re able to deep dive into data-sharing processes between different environments. We’ll set up a bidirectional link between the Forge Viewer and a real-time crowd simulation made in Unity game engine. On the web side, we’re going to visualize the results and interact with the running simulation agents directly from our web app. At the end, we’ll use these interactions as a source for data mining and business intelligence insights. Through custom charts, we’ll design a dashboard to enable better-informed, data-driven design.

VINCI Facilities, a leading provider of facilities management (FM) solutions, explores new methods for incorporating BIM data in smart-building site applications. Discover how the BIM referential can successfully improve building lifecycle management after the handover phase. We’ll show you how we use BIM 3D referential to create a data network integrated with CMS, computer-aided facilities management, building managements systems, IoT, space management, and room reservation data. We use the Forge platform to manage FM workflow and process to give the best 3D modern data visualization and functionality from simple building information view with easy geographic or technical network navigation or more complicated elements like occupancy heat map. Facility management operators are given a holistic view of a building’s internal systems, accessible on-site or remotely. This is technology that can be applied to both existing and newly constructed buildings, leading to greater operational efficiency, easier maintenance, and smarter buildings.

With Revit and Forge, we successfully developed and deployed a Configurator that enables clients to configure and order assemblies from our manufacturing facilities to be delivered straight to the job site for installation. This allows project managers to know exactly what will be delivered and gives them an option to order assemblies straight from their mobile devices—safe in the knowledge that what is delivered will be exactly what they ordered. In this class, we’ll take a look at the Configurator that we built and talk through various aspects that were important to consider when developing it; including the difficulty in flexing geometry by using isolation techniques, showing packs of items with different quantities using THREE.js to duplicate the geometry and data, setting axes of rotation to allow for better interaction, and showing custom dimensions by default that user feedback requested.

It is well known that construction is wasteful and inefficient. It is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, using around 50% of global steel production. It is one of the largest sectors in the world economy, with around $10 trillion being spent on construction-related goods and services annually. However, the industry’s productivity has flat-lined over the past 50 years whilst other manufacturing industries have almost doubled. This is not surprising given that there has been little to no development in on-site construction tools. It is, though, unfair to say there has been no technological advancement: within the design and planning stages, the software has taken great strides, with BIM, in particular, playing an important role. This brings us to the root of the problem, which is that whilst we are designing digitally, we are still constructing manually. At Scaled Robotics we believe this disconnect between the digital model and the physical world is what leads to many of the inefficiencies that plague the industry. A basic example of that disconnection is that currently, site managers have no quick and accurate tool to compare the built structure to the digital model. They rely either on manual spot checks–which are slow, labour-intensive, and not fully representative–or expensive laser scanners, which though more accurate are extremely slow. They also only produce raw data and not actionable information for site management. At Scaled Robotics we believe that the development of new construction tools such as robotics will be at the forefront of solving these industry problems. Through this workshop, we will explore a holistic road map for moving from no robots in construction to fully automated construction sites with totally new manufacturing processes, focusing on both technological milestones and industry requirements to make this a reality. Referencing current state of the art research, solutions being deployed today by Scaled Robotics on construction sites around Europe and how that connects to Forge and the larger AEC software ecosystem. The workshop will be given from the perspective of Stuart Maggs, CEO and Co-Founder of Scaled Robotics, a construction robotics startup developing and deploying robots on real construction sites today. Lifting the lid on the technological and industry challenges by recounting the nitty-gritty trials and tribulations faced trying to build these new tools.

Siemens Mobility GmbH developed a whole workflow from digital track capturing using laser scanner technique to the creation of an infrastructure 3D model containing all relevant signaling assets. One of the main businesses for Siemens Mobility is the design, construction, and installation of signaling. The solution shows how automated data-preparation processes and interfaces help to combine different data sets in a way that helps cross-project teams understand and make use of the information easier and quicker. The focus of this class is based on demonstrating the benefits and added value arising from this solution, as well as a high-level overview of the processes supporting the different required use cases: digital track capturing, 3D visualization of the rail track with all assets, documentation, and train driver simulation. These processes make use of AutoCAD Civil 3D software, InfraWorks software, BIM 360 Field software, BIM 360 Document Management software, Maya software, Unity, and Forge.

Every building is unique. Each one has its own individual shape, appearance, and materials. Despite common and repetitive features such as windows and doors, designing a building remains a 'one-of-a-kind' process. Furthermore, clients are demanding better, more sustainable and more flexible buildings, build in less time, for less money, with a minimum total cost of ownership. Taking all these requirements and challenges into account, designers and engineers have to look at how all the different components fit and function together. This means they would need to have extensive knowledge of all the buildings components and systems and it requires a lot of engineering time. With the lack of lack of a standardised process, this makes it difficult to coordinate and manage, and to learn and improve across projects. Consequently, the design and engineering process is time, resource and risk sensitive and prone to errors. To structurise the design and engineering process, capture product and system intelligence in a digital environment, and optimise engineering time, BAM adopted a modular construction strategy. The first step towards a modular construction strategy and a structurised process is making use of modular products, or elements. These interchangeable building blocks can be combined in various ways while maintaining overall form, fit and function. In cars, for example, you can replace one type of engine with another, while the car still looks and functions the same. The advantage of modular elements is that you can create countless variations to fit specific needs, whilst cutting down on engineering time (up to 75%) and providing verification that the element can indeed be manufactured. During this session, Jaco Prins (Royal BAM Group) and Desmond Laeyendecker (Cadac Group) will discuss the challenges that were encountered and processes that were defined and analysed, present the software solution based on real-life BAM projects, and provide the improvement metrics and KPIs.

Behind every great immersive technology experience is a team that spent way too much time destructively preparing their projects for augmented or virtual reality. Well, my friend, come and find out how you can save (gobs of) time by automating common data preparation tasks in 2 ways. First, we'll look at automatically preparing Revit files and Navisworks files in a local 3ds Max environment. In the second part of the class, we'll look at how to use Forge Design Automation Services to automatically prepare data from BIM 360 software.

Industrial robots are primarily known from the automotive industry's production lines. The goal of this class is to present robots instead as multifunctional and flexible interfaces between the digital and the physical world that can be used for anything from innovative, large-scale fabrication to immersive virtual reality (VR) simulators. This extension beyond the robots' initial scope is enabled by new software developments that facilitate a seamless workflow from design to machine through Dynamo software and KUKA|prc. Utilizing parametric design tools lets us use robots for mass customization and small lot sizes, rather than mass fabrication. The class will provide an overview on how to utilize industrial robots through Dynamo and Fusion 360 software, and present realized projects by both small to medium-size enterprises as well as international corporations. We'll also look into the future toward new developments that build upon the geometric capabilities of the Forge cloud and couple it with serverless computation and integration with IoT platforms.

As Design and Make come closer together, the ability to access and modify data throughout all phases a project or product life cycle are becoming critical for success. Access to designs, and the information they contain, is critical for downstream applications and users to do their jobs, but are difficult to access using today’s technology.. Learn how we are building the Forge Data Platform will enable you to make those connections, and enable applications and users anywhere in the design lifecycle to contribute to the design. The Forge Data Platform will help you manage, modify, share and collaborate on data from any application that exposes an API to access its data.

Instead of starting with a blank drawing or model, this class will investigate how codified design knowledge can be used to give a better starting point to MEP engineers. This class will discuss ways to augment the existing conceptual design process of MEP engineering using optioneering, generative design, and cloud computation. Using Dynamo and Hypar, engineers can improve the way they conceptually design 3D models and airflow diagrams. The process will rapidly produce different mechanical system configurations based on varying sites, solution metrics, and architectural inputs. We’ll also look at how Forge and the Revit API can be used to assist in model creation and data synchronization.

The Research Team at Autodesk, Inc., has been developing technology for the Internet of Things (IoT) since before people called it that. Project Dasher is a building performance management tool that displays historical and real-time sensor data inside a building model. The Research Team has taken the learning acquired while developing Project Dasher and used it to create technology that addresses the needs of the broader IoT market. This session will look at how IoT APIs (application programming interfaces) from Autodesk Research can be used to display information in websites integrating the viewer from the Forge Platform to inform the design process and even power generative design. This session features Forge and Dynamo Studio. AIA Approved

"Forge HFDM offers breakthrough technology to put "data at the center" of a project. But what exactly does that mean for complex BIM projects? How will existing applications like Revit connect to this new ecosystem? What kinds of new apps can Autodesk and 3rd Party developers build? What new market opportunities open up as a result? Come learn how Project Quantum is using HFDM to re-imagine BIM workflows to support better project outcomes and better collaboration from Concept to Fabrication.

Are you interested in learning BIM 360 and Forge, but not sure where to start? Are you feeling confused about how Forge APIs work together to give you access to your BIM data? If so, this class is for you. In this session, we'll look at the Forge API from the view of BIM 360 products and provide you with the foundational knowledge for you to implement powerful applications and workflows using these APIs.

This class will demonstrate how Forge consumers can incorporate Google voice commands into their Enterprise Forge software. We’ll walk through a groundbreaking application where a field tech equipped with nothing but a cell phone can send voice commands to dynamically create a storage facility next to an existing BIM 360 commercial building. A design reviewer will be able to see and review the new storage facility in BIM 360 within minutes, providing real-time feedback. The field tech can use Google Voice Actions to provide size, material, and other preferences to make the model truly dynamic. You will discover how creating a model in the field can be done hands free without clicks or taps. We’ll also walk through the relevant technologies that made it happen, including Google Voice, Forge Design Automation for Revit, BIM 360 Docs software, and BIM 360 Viewer.

See how the Forge platform was used to create a unique and interactive experience for US Olympic Museum’s Diamond Donor Program. The 60,000-square-foot museum is located at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, home of the United States Olympic Training Center. Opening in the fall of 2019, the museum will act as an anchor to the new City for Champions District. The museum’s facade has 10,000 unique, satin-anodized, aluminum panels, and appears to be stretched taut like an elastic fabric over the building’s twisting frame. Each diamond-shaped folded panel is unique, which offered the USOM the ability to let donors adopt and sponsor one of these unique panels and then virtually search for their assigned panels and see their digital inscriptions. See how MasterGraphics.aec and USOM came together to make the dream of the Diamond Donor Program a reality!

In this class, we will cover the Construction Institute's best practice of Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) and how Autodesk's project delivery platform supports the methodology. We will illustrate how platforms like BIM 360 and Forge support AWP workflows and increase project visibility, construction productivity, quality, and safety.

More and more jobs are requiring a prefabrication mentality. The ability to take a digital model and utilize advanced work packing to help manage, track, and procure is fast becoming a requirement in the industry. See how STRATUS, built on the Forge platform, can manage production in detailing, shop, and field workflows.

What, why and how you can leverage the Autodesk App Store to find new customers, grow your sales internationally, and engage Autodesk customers across platforms and industries - AEC, Mfg, Infrastructure, Revit, Navisworks, BIM 360, Inventor, Fusion 360, AutoCAD, Civil 3D Max, Maya and more! (Joint AU/Forge DevCon class).