Starting Off
Last Friday, the #ConTechTrio aired episode 26 of the podcast in which James Benham (@jamesmbenham), Rob McKinney (@conappguru) and Josh Bone (@bim2thebone) discussed the latest construction tech news. Headliners last week included a 3D printer launched into space, AT&T’s all-in-one IoT Starter Kit, GM’s Cyborg RoboGlove, China’s 3D printed villa, Amazon’s drone docking system and much more! Special guest Taylor Cupp, Senior Technologist at Mortenson Construction, also joined to discuss uses for drones in construction.
The show kicked off with exciting ConTechTrio news. The construction technology podcast has surpassed 20,000 listens! The trio thanked their avid listeners and their continuous feedback on the show. Have a question for the ConTechTrio? Submit one and have it answered live at the AGC IT Forum on August 5th! Use the hashtag #ConTechTrio or send us an email at contechtrio@jbknowledge.com! Also in podcast news, the ConTechTrio was ranked the #1 construction industry podcast by Hard Hat Hub.
Weekly Poll
The JBKnowledge Twitter poll question from last week’s episode, “Does your company train employees on a document control process?” – resulted in 60% Yes and 40% No. A new poll question was also highlighted on the show, that’s related to this week’s episode – “Does your company employ drones to capture job site data?” The poll can be found on the JBK Twitter page and participants need only answer the single question with “Yes” or “No.”
Construction Tech News
In construction technology news, scientists just put a 3D printer in space, which will be monumental for future space travel. What’s new in technology and software this week? Check out Construction Executive’s weekly rundown list featuring smart technology for safety and efficiency. AT&T announced its all-in-one IoT Starter Kit that helps developers jumpstart their Internet of Things (IoT) projects. In regards to technology research, the ICE project, coming to a college near you, aims to develop an immersive Hybrid Reality (iHR) system that fully integrates real and virtual environments – the goal being to support the practical, yet safe training of students in various environments.
John Hopkins University has created an Instrumental Rail inspection System (IRiS) robot, equipped with near-infrared video and photographic capability, designed to detect any type of danger on the rail, from a bomb threat to a natural disaster. Also in robotic news, GM created a Cyborg RoboGlove that will literally give a user superhuman strength. For all the Magic Leap fans out there, the CEO announced that the company’s first product will be released “hopefully soonish” – get excited!
Dubai Municipality recently amended their 3D printing technology guidelines in the construction sector to reduce construction time, waste and quantities required for building work. Also, in the world of 3D printing, China went above and beyond (per usual) with its 3D printed villa that can withstand a major earthquake! The trio also highlighted @DisruptAEC’s tweet that he had completed an entire project with HoloLens, sans construction documents – stay tuned on if this is actually true. Google reportedly is working on a high-end standalone headset that mixes features of augmented and virtual reality.
Moving on to construction materials, Colombian architects have designed an innovative heat dispersing clay brick that keeps homes naturally cool. Fastbrick Robotics Limited announced their new Hadrian X automated brick laying robot that cuts, grinds, mills and routes bricks prior to laying. Researchers at Stanford University recently streamlined the task of collecting architectural details by hand, by utilizing 3D sensing tech and light sensors to scan a building’s interior directly into a large data file known as a point cloud. Josh reviewed a new product he experienced at the AGC BIM Forum, the BIMVP product by Pericept, which he urged fellow BIM listeners to check out. Have questions on last week’s episode featuring solar roadways? Here’s a video on this week’s podcast that will answer any and all questions.
Amazon has been granted a patent for a “drone docking system” that would allow flying delivery robots to dock and recharge on structures, such as, street lamps and power poles before continuing onto their final station. Drones made headlines again this week, Teal, a Utah-based company is launching what it claims to be the world’s fastest production drone, capable of 85 mph! The trio finished out the construction tech news with Microsoft’s announcement that Azure Security Center will now be generally available.
Interview
In the second half of the podcast, Taylor Cupp (@Taylor_Cupp), Senior Technologist at Mortenson Construction, joined the #ConTechTrio to discuss uses for drones in construction. Taylor started off his career as an architect and as BIM technology grew in adoption rates, it became his “gateway drug” into the construction world. After recognizing BIM as the future of construction, he transitioned into building with Mortenson, and then began his current Senior Technologist role earlier this year. Taylor discussed his company’s current uses for UAV’s and their benefits to the job site, which included items such as, measuring quality of outputs, high definition imagery and videos, tracking aggregate activity and much more. The ConTechTrio and Taylor wrapped up the interview by highlighting UAV future uses, UAV risk management and the levels of “Technology Literacy” in the field of construction.
Tune into the #ConTechTrio podcast again this Friday for Episode 27, featuring Dennis Stejskal from SAGE. Until then, you can catch up on past episodes of our construction technology podcast and even check out some bonus episodes via the links below!
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on iTunes
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on Spreaker
Download the NEW ConTechTrio Podcast App
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on SoundCloud
Listen to the ConTechTrio Podcast on YouTube
