Starting Off:
Last Tuesday, the ConTechTrio aired episode 58 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 the DeWALT TAG, Pix4D crane camera solution, 3D printed house in 24 hours, Texas A&M Aggies Invent 2017 and much more! Special guest, Jake Olsen, Vice President of Global Field Engineering at DeWALT, also joined to discuss improving BIM workflows for trades.
Listen to “ConTechTrio 58 New Software for BIM w/ Jake Olsen @MrJakeOlsen @DEWALTtough & The TAG” on Spreaker.
Tech You Should Try:
DeWALT TAG – It’s the year of tracking! The DeWALT TAG can operate like an asset management system, track anything on the job site, has a three year battery life and much more!
Weekly ConTechTrio Twitter Poll:
Last Week’s Poll: Does your company use augmented reality to visualize projects before or during construction? The poll resulted in 76% “No,” and 24% “Yes.”
This Week’s Poll: “Do the mechanical contractors you work with use BIM?” Visit the ConTechTrio Twitter page and simply answer “Yes” or “No.”
Construction Tech News:
Industry Education, Insights & Trends
On March 3-5, JBKnowledge sponsored this year’s Aggies Invent. JBKnowledge R&D Team Lead, Graham Leslie, judged A&M engineering students on compelling and innovative solutions for building vertical and horizontal structures. Click here to find out which student teams won!
Tech Innovations Focus on Construction Industry’s Biggest Gathering in Las Vegas
The star of CONEXPO-CON/AGG was a 16,000 ton excavator sitting in a large sandbox outside of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The excavator contained a 400 pound, seven foot long steel arm, made from a 3D printer.
Virtual & Augmented Reality
PulteGroup Rolls Out Virtual Reality Headsets to Help Visualize Their Homes
If you are a prospective homeowner you can now take a virtual reality tour of your future home, thanks to PulteGroup communities. These headsets allow buyers to view the interior of homes, see features and walk through the space.
3D Printing
This 409 square-foot, full scale house was 3D printed in just 24 hours and only costs $10,000 dollars. Click here to watch the video of this simple process.
Emerging Technology
The Pix4D Crane Camera automatically collects images during normal crane operations and then is turned into 2D maps and 3D models in the Pix4D cloud. This allows images to be easily shared online and costs $950 dollars a month.
Microsoft is Testing Two New Construction Technologies for HoloLens
Two new concepts specifically for the construction industry are being tested for the Microsoft HoloLens: Automated Progress Monitoring and Automated Bridge Damage Detection.
Robots Construct an Art Gallery in Shanghai From Recycled Gray Bricks
Architects use help from robots to gather recycled gray-green bricks and perform a robotic masonry fabrication technique to create this curved wall art gallery.
New Technology for Fast-Charging, Noncombustible Batteries
Lithium-Ion Battery Inventor, John Goodenough, a 94 year-old professor at The University of Texas in Austin, has developed the first all-solid battery cells. This invention will lead to safer, faster-charging and longer-lasting batteries.
Students Design Homes for Mass-Production
At just $20,000 dollars for each home, students at Auburn University’s Rural Studio, designed sustainable low-cost homes for rural poor communities. (They even got all their materials from Home Depot.)
[INTERVIEW] Jake Olsen, Vice President of Global Field Engineering at DeWALT, Discusses Improving BIM Workflows for Trades
In the second half of the podcast, Jake Olsen, Vice President of Global Field Engineering at DeWALT joined the ConTechTrio to discuss improving BIM workflows for trades. Jake was born outside of Chicago, and then moved to California to study industrial engineering at California State, East Bay.
After getting his masters in civil structure engineering, Jake then got into consulting engineering and then moved to work for a construction manufacturing company. Jake started working for DeWALT after they bought out the current company he was working for, Powers Fasteners.
Jake discusses how the Shanghai Disney project motivated him to learn in-depth about BIM. He also explains how BIM adoption is going to change the market. Jake and the ConTechTrio wrapped up the interview by discussing DeWALT Hangerworks, real-time problem solving with clash detection, as well as, job site based connectivity to BIM models.
Tune into the ConTechTrio podcast this Friday for Episode 59, featuring Victor Boulain from Turner Construction, discussing tech adoption through lean construction.
Listen to the Podcast: Spreaker, SoundCloud , YouTube, iTunes
Follow On Twitter:
JBKnowledge: @JBKnowledge
ConTechTrio: @ConTechTrio
James Benham: @JamesMBenham
Josh Bone: @BIM2theBone
Rob McKinney: @Conappguru
