Starting Off:
Last Friday, the ConTechTrio aired episode 68 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 eBags backpacks, Gravity Sketch’s VR app, Tesla’s solar roof panels available for pre-order, LiDAR-equipped drones, Google’s Visual Positioning Service (VPS) and much more! Special guest, Chad Hollingsworth, President and Co-founder of Triax Technologies, also joined to discuss tracking technology for construction.
Tech You Should Try:
This Professional Slim Laptop Backpack from eBags is the perfect bag for professionals like the ConTechTrio who travel with a lot of equipment. It has five main compartments for multiple tablets and computers, storage capacity for cables and cords and a QR barcode scanner attached to the tag to know automatically who the bag belongs to.
Weekly ConTechTrio Twitter Poll:
Last Week’s Poll: Does your company have a dedicated BIM/VDC Staff? The poll resulted in 69% “Yes,” 17% “No,” 7% “We are working on it” and 7% “We outsource this.”
This Week’s Poll: “Does your company utilize real-time communication and location technology to monitor construction site safety?” Visit the ConTechTrio Twitter page and simply answer “Yes” or “No.”
Construction Tech News:
Industry Education, Insights & Trends
IBM Makes a Leap in Quantum Computing Power
IBM now has a 16-bit quantum computer on their cloud platform that will be used for their business to experiment with. Read this article to learn more about the differences between conventional and quantum computers and how IBM benefits from this advancement.
The World’s 4th and 5th Tallest Buildings are Officially Open
The Ping An Finance Center in Schenzhen, China and the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea are both over 1,960 feet tall and now rank as the 4th and 5th tallest buildings in the world. The USA One World Trade Center in New York City is now only the 6th tallest building in the world.
What to Do After a Ransomware Attack
After the WannaCry cyber-attack last week that impacted over 150 Countries, insurance professionals are providing advice throughout this article that explains steps companies should take after experiencing a cyber-attack.
[Timelapse] Atlanta’s I-85 Building Completed a Month Ahead of Schedule
OxBlue, a time-lapse construction camera company, captures the rebuilding of Atlanta’s I-85 bridge. Watch the live footage below!
Construction Equipment: Alternative Energy Options in Aerial Work Platforms
Learn about the future of electric powered machinery on job sites, as well as, hybrid technology for aerial work platforms (AWPs) and mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs).
Los Angeles Approves Plan for $1B Lucas Museum
According to NBC Los Angeles, the plans for a $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has been approved by the Los Angeles Planning Commission. The museum is expected to be completed by 2021 and will be located in the Los Angeles’ Exposition Park.
A Robot 3D Prints a $32,000 House in Less Than 8 Hours
PassivDom, a Ukrainian homebuilding startup, uses a 3D printed robot to print tiny homes in as little as eight hours. The robot has the capability to print walls, roofs and floors. Learn more about the process and see what these houses look like here.
Drones & UAV’s
LiDAR – Equipped Drone in Tests on Calif. Roadwork
During the course of a $74 million interchange project in Contra Costa County, California, a LiDAR-equipped drone will gather data to monitor earthwork quantities and site conditions. The accurate scans will help to identify future potential areas of project and performance risk.
Augmented & Virtual Reality
Several Factors Holding Back AR on Construction Sites
Sourceable points out in this article that even though there has been advancements in augmented reality technology, the adoption of it on construction sites is lagging. Learn more about the factors causing this augmented reality lack of adoption from top industry professionals here.
Emerging Technology
You Can Now Pre-Order Tesla’s Solar Roof Tiles and Calculate The Total Cost
Construction Junkie announces in this article that Tesla’s new solar roof panels that are more aesthetically pleasing to look at over traditional roof panels are now available to pre-order. In addition, Tesla has provided a solar roof calculator on their website to make it very easy to calculate the upfront costs.
A VR App Lets You Design 3D Models in Mid-Air
Watch the video below and learn about how Gravity Sketch is bringing hand tracking to their app. This allows users to draw and sketch 3D models by motioning their fingers in mid-air.
Google Has An Indoor Positioning Tech in The Works, Called VPS
Visual Positioning Service (VPS) is Google’s brand new indoor positioning technology. VPS is incorporated into Tango’s 3D scanner and will help mobile devices quickly and accurately understand their location indoors.
[INTERVIEW] Chad Hollingsworth, President and Co-founder of Triax Technologies, Discusses Tracking Technology in Construction
In the second half of the podcast, Chad Hollingsworth, President and Co-founder of Triax Technologies, joined the ConTechTrio to discuss tracking technology in construction. Chad grew up in Connecticut and graduated from business school at Babson College in Boston.
Right out of college, Chad started working for a financial services provider in New York City. After working at Bloomberg for a few years, Chad then decided to start his own company and ended up falling into the construction industry.
In the interview, Chad discusses the reasons why wearable usage continues to grow and the lessons he learned from his early stages of his career that have carried over into construction. Chad and the ConTechTrio wrapped up the interview by explaining the sensors and features of the SPOT-R by Triax, how the insurance industry benefits from wearables, as well as, integrations Triax Technologies are involved in.
Tune into the ConTechTrio podcast this Friday for Episode 69, featuring David Epps, Director of Construction Technology at Winter Construction discussing drone technology for construction.
Listen to the Podcast: Spreaker, SoundCloud , YouTube, iTunes
Follow On Twitter: @JBKnowledge, @ConTechTrio
