Starting Off:
Last Thursday, the ConTechTrio aired episode 51 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 highlights from World of Concrete, Samsung’s new smartwatch, and interview with Brent Darnell (@BrentDarnell), Owner of Brent Darnell International, who discussed Emotional Intelligence in construction.
Listen to “ConTechTrio 51 @samsung Gear S3 & Interview w/ @brentdarnell” on Spreaker.
Tech You Should Try:
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier– Watch out iWatch! The AT&T version of the iWatch, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier, is priced at $300 and has a battery life of 2 to 3 days! The Samsung Gear S3 has its own cell connection, allowing the user to send and receive calls and texts. This device is built to resist water, dust, and extreme temperatures. This smartwatch could be used in many industries for worker safety and location tracking- especially on construction project sites.
Weekly ConTechTrio Twitter Poll:
Last Week’s Poll: Does your company utilize Smart Power Tools to control, track and/or manage inventory on the job site?
This Week’s Poll: How comfortable are you with adopting new technology? Visit the ConTechTrio Twitter page and answer from the following: “Not Very Comfortable,” “Comfortable” or “Very Comfortable.”
ConTechTrio News:
Download the 5th Annual Construction Technology Report
Get your copy of the 2016 #ConTechReport and learn about the tech solutions and strategies over 2,000 builders are using and how your company compares! Download the Report.
Construction Dive Newsletter – Get the Top Construction News
Looking for a new year’s resolution? What about committing to being as informed on construction tech news as possible? Let Construction Dive help with daily and weekly updates on everything you need to know about the industry. Sign up for the free email newsletters at constructiondive.com/trio
Construction Tech News:
Industry Education, Insights & Trends
The 16 Craziest Construction Videos of 2016
Here are 16 of the most cringeworthy accidents to happen on construction sites. These videos range from demolitions gone wrong to cranes collapsing in busy metropolitan areas. This can provide entertainment for your next presentation, as well as, be an example of how crucial it is to know your safety hazards when working with heavy equipment.
World of Concrete 2017 Highlights
Here is a rundown of what ConTechTrio hosts Rob McKinney and Josh Bone came across at World of Concrete 2017. Including but not limited to, Procore’s new reporting features, BOSCH and DEWALT’s silica control systems, eSub to PlanGrid integration, and much more from the annual international event hosted in Las Vegas last week!
How Amazon’s Alexa Can Help the Construction Industry
Amazon’s Alexa can not only play your favorite song or order anything you want from Amazon.com it can also help professionals on the job site. Voice is a powerful tool for people, and the strength of Alexa is interoperability. Unlike other technology companies who have a closed ecosystem approach, Alexa works with many other complementary products. Both Amazon’s Alexa and the construction industry are utilizing collaboration to make products best fit for their consumers.
Partnerships & Acquisitions
Rithm Building on Faro Technologies’ Software Platform
A San Francisco based software company (Rithm), is building on FARO Technologies to create plugin applications for the construction industry. These applications aim to give construction professionals a minimum viable workflow to address floor flatness, pre-scans to know what is in the concrete and more. In the future this application will provide surveyors, contractors, engineers, and inspection companies what they need to deliver the best results for their clients.
Drones & UAV’s
Iris Automation Raises $1.5 Million to Help Drones Sense and Avoid Obstacles
TechCrunch explains how Iris Automation Inc. raised $1.5 Million dollars to sense and detect upcoming obstacles for drones and automatically reroute the drones around, over or under the obstacles and resume its course. This is providing safer drone operation with intelligent collision avoidance that can be very helpful for professionals in the heavy mining sectors of the construction industry.
Autonomous Vehicles
Amazon Patents Autonomous Vehicle Lane-Changing Technology
Amazon is not only working on driverless cars but also the infrastructure to support them. The patent describes a management system that analyzes the road so the autonomous vehicle can react to changes in the traffic flow.
Mobile Apps
Floor Vibration Tool App
Arup has created a free app called “footfall” that goes on your mobile device, which allows the user to conduct a quick measurement of any floor or stair vibration to help reduce bouncy ground surfaces. Due to footfall’s simple interface all you have to do is place your phone on the surface you want to measure and the sensors in your phone measure the floor vibrations. Footfall also includes graphs, allows you to email results and explains the basics of vibration measurement for non-engineers using the app.
Evernote’s Latest iOS Version App
Evernote’s note-taking and organizational app released Evernote 8.0. The new release removed previous app issues and includes new features like new colors and styles, separate business and personal accounts, faster access to notes and simpler ways to add media. Evernote 8.0 will change the way you organize your personal and professional projects and is ready for download in the App Store.
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
PCL Construction Develops Project Delivery Software
“PartsLab” is a project delivery software created by PCL Construction that is an Autodesk Revit add in. PartsLab is designed to create a more collaborative virtual environment that improves work flows. This project delivery software automates manual processes such as creation, visualization and changing management of Revit parts which will drastically reduce the time it takes to create these parts. PCL Construction is offering free downloads of PartsLab in the Autodesk Store.
National Institute of Building Sciences Releases BIM Guide for Building Owners
Want to capture a greater value of BIM Technology? A free download of the National BIM Guide for Owners is available thanks to the National Institute of Building Sciences. This is a relevant guide even if you are not a BIM expert that shows how BIM provides opportunities to integrate design and construction workflow processes.
Leica iCON Build – How to Import and Visualize IFC Data
This interactive YouTube video gives a visual demo of how the Layout Objects app in the Leica iCON build solution uses IFC data. IFC is the data exchange format for BIM based projects that transports the intelligence of design models. Structure design models help construction professionals see the full picture and are used in many different ways which now includes layouts.
Emerging Technology
Virgina Tech’s Modular FutureHAUS
Construction Dive showcases the concept Virginia Tech students and faculty have come up with in their “FutureHAUS” that offers smart home concepts. FutureHAUS takes feature-heavy modules and fabricates them in a factory and then ships the modules to the job site. This offsite building is known as cartridge construction. These pre-manufactured tiny houses reconfigure the way a house works with a modularized system like a rubrics cube.
Brent Darnell, Owner of Brent Darnell International, Discusses the Emotional Intelligence in Construction
In the second half of the podcast, Brent Darnell, Owner of Brent Darnell International joined the ConTechTrio to discuss the Emotional Intelligence in construction. Brent was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, however moved all over the Southeast due to his dad working in the construction industry. Before graduating from Georgia Tech, Brent moved around 25 times with his family. (Fun Fact: Brent used to act and do stand up comedy, he had a small role in a movie called “Island Girl” where the Director made him take ballet classes because he said Brent was the clumsiest actor he had ever seen and needed to learn body awareness.)
After noticing that all of the best leaders in the industry had great interpersonal skills, Brent was drawn to teaching others how to enhance their emotional intelligence and become effective in the way they connect with others. Brent explains how all emotional intelligence is the ability to deal with other human beings social competence. Brent created a great methodology to measure and improve social competence and teach people how to connect better with others and help individuals reach their highest mental and physical performances. On the podcast, Brent discusses his project based program called connEx, his app called TAO for Emotional Intelligence, and tips on how to have a more successful, stress-free life.
Brent Darnell International provides free Emotional Intelligence tests, educational courses and books to read in the total leadership library on his website. Brent and the ConTechTrio wrapped up the interview by discussing success stories from construction companies who have used techniques from Brent Darnell International, the importance of sleep and nutrition, and “morning priming” and its positive affects it has on your day.
Tune into the ConTechTrio podcast next week for Episode 52, featuring Brett Young from Building System Planning Inc., discussing generative design in BIM for construction. 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: Spreaker, SoundCloud , YouTube, iTunes
Follow On Twitter:
JBKnowledge: @JBKnowledge
ConTechTrio: @ConTechTrio
James Benham: @jamesmbenham
Rob McKinney: @conappguru
Josh Bone: @bim2thebone
