Starting Off:
Last Friday, the ConTechTrio aired episode 83 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 Rocketbook Everlast, Chicago ConTech Roadshow highlights, BIM One and BuildingSP’s partnership, Matterport’s new funding, and much more! Special guests, Todd Wynne and Joe Williams from Project Atlas, also joined to discuss the future of mapping projects.
Shameless Plug:
On Wednesday September 13th at 1:30pm CST, PlanGrid is hosting a webinar called “How Technology Increases Construction Productivity in the Era of Labor Shortages” in partnership with leading construction technology companies including, SmartBid, eSUB, DeWALT, EarthCam, Rhumbix, and Skycatch. Sign up for this free webinar today to learn the latest industry statistics on labor shortage, productivity trends, how to implement technology effectively, lean construction principles, and much more!
Tech You Should Try:
The Rocketbook Everlast is priced at only $34 dollars and is endlessly reusable and has the ability to connect to users’ current cloud services. To learn more about Rocketbook notebooks and apps tune into last week’s Tech Tuesday with our very own ConAppGuru.
Weekly ConTechTrio Twitter Poll:
Last Week’s Poll: How much does your company rely on Wi-Fi on job sites? The poll resulted in 52% “A Lot,” 36% “Not Very Much“ and 12% “Not At All/Cant Access“
This Week’s Poll: “Can your company connect 2D plans and 3D models?“ Visit the ConTechTrio Twitter page and choose from the following options: “Yes,” “No,” or “Why Should I?“
Construction Tech News:
Industry Education, Insights & Trends
Chicago ConTech Roadshow Highlights
Last week on August 22nd in Chicago Illinois, JBKnowledge successfully hosted the second stop in the 2017 ConTech roadshows. The ConTechTrio discusses their highlights from this one-day tech event which included, the Leica Geosystems Pegasus Backpack, presenting with leading construction technologists, networking with sponsors and much more!
Current and Future State of Reconstruct
Mani Golparvar, CEO and Founder of Reconstruct, closed the Chicago ConTech Roadshow with a bang last week by unveiling the current and future state of Reconstruct. Visit here to gain all the details on what Reconstruct is doing with photogrammetry, 4D reality and BIM.
DeWALT Experience 2017 Highlights
The ConTechTrio discusses their highlights from the DeWALT Experience 2017. Highlights included, DeWALT’s Job site Wi-Fi system, laser finders and much more! To learn more, visit the ConTechTrio Periscope page to watch live videos at the event.
BIM One & BuildingSP Partner For Clash Detection and Issue Management Workflows
Brett Young from BuildingSP announced in a recent article, that BIM One and BuildingSP are joining forces and integrating their clash detection and issue management products. Read this article to learn more about this integration and how it is going to help AEC professionals leverage technology more effectively.
3D Printing
University of Illinois has successfully 3D printed a 512 square-foot concrete structure for an Army program called “Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures,” also known as “ACES.” Due to this advancement, the US Army have the potential to reduce building materials shipped to them by half.
Matterport Grabs $5M More to Accelerate Deep Learning Development For Their 3D Capture Tech
TechCrunch discusses how Matterport has received $5 million dollars in funding. This donation will help Matterport advance their analysis on taking 3D scans and help gather more insights through deep learning-based AI.
Emerging Technology
The Rovers are Coming, The Rovers are Coming
In this article, Kris Lengieza discusses the new Alive.ai rover, how it works, as well as, how it can save users money. Watch the video below to witness the Alive.AI rover climb up stairs and learn more here.
New Glass Blocks May Be A Clear Choice For Solar Power
This article explains how transparent blocks called Solar Squared have the ability to focus incoming sunlight into an individual solar cell and ultimately feed into the building electrical grid or battery. To learn more about Solar Squared, read this article.
Roads That Pay for Themselves: Startup Nears Two Smart Pavement Pilot Project Contracts
Tim Sylvester, CEO and founder of Integrated Roadways is planning to put sensors, phones and internet connectivity inside roadways. Integrated Roadways is close to closing contracts on pilot projects which would allow them to test out this “smart pavement.” Stay tuned for more details!
[INTERVIEW] Todd Wynne and Joe Williams, Co-Founders of Project Atlas, Discusses the Future of Mapping Projects
In the second half of the podcast, Todd Wynne and Joe Williams, Co-founders of Project Atlas, joined the ConTechTrio to discuss the future of mapping projects.Todd was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and then attended The University of Texas in Dallas as well as, Texas A&M University. Joe is from Tennessee and attended University of Memphis and then graduated with a master‘s degree in digital design from Mississippi State University. Both Todd and Joe work for Rogers-O’ Brien Construction as well as starting Project Atlas in 2015.
In the interview, Todd and Joe briefly defined Project Atlas and explained how it navigates information on job sites. Todd, Joe and the ConTechTrio discussed why 2D plans are still relevant on project sites today, gave advice to innovators not accepting the status quo in the AEC industry, as well as, explained the future vision of Project Atlas.
Tune into the ConTechTrio podcast this Friday for Episode 84, featuring Josh DeStefano from DPR Construction discussing leading innovation in technology.
Listen to the Podcast: Spreaker, SoundCloud , YouTube, iTunes
Follow On Twitter: @JBKnowledge, @ConTechTrio
