Construction Technology and Software Rundown: April 23, 2021

Apps

The SafetyTek mobile app enables workers to securely eSign using an individual QR Code now has a built-in Quick Response Code scanner. The SafetyTek Workforce Safety Engagement Platform captures the QR Code e-signature to track individual completion of safety programs and generate reports on trends in workers’ participation and engagement.

HCSS Aerial: Drone Mission app captures high-res images of construction job sites, analyzes job progress, calculates earthwork volumes, performs safety inspections and more. Companies can set up a fully-automated flight plan to be executed over the length of a construction. The best part – the app is free.

Products

Kenzen’s wearable device for tracking temperature and heart rate, along with the Kenzen app, feed data and analytics to a real-time dashboard. The smart PPE connected solution captures workers’ core body temperature, productivity and microclimates caused by clothing under hot and humid working conditions.

RE2 Robotics’ robotic arm, RE2 SapienTM has intuitive human-robot control interfaces and outdoor (including underwater) computer vision and autonomy capabilities.

Software & In the Cloud

HCSS offers an Unlimited User Plan with access to HCSS software for estimating, operations and fleet management. HCSS suite of software tracks changes in estimates, bids and plans; enables field staff to record hours, equipment usage, meter readings, equipment inspections and safety observations; access to templated safety meetings, JHAs, inspections and reporting; and fleet maintenance.

Trimble’s Tekla® Structures 2021 offers three new subscription options and enhanced clash detection and cloning tools; in-product guidance and localization; improved modeling with drawing and object handling improvements; interoperability with improvements for IFC and other formats, deeper integration with the Trimble Connect™ and enhancements to Tekla Model Sharing.

OpenSpace ClearSight Progress Tracking uses AI to convert 360° images into a record of progress that is mapped directly to floor plans and displayed on interactive dashboards. Progress Tracking is part of OpenSpace’s ClearSight analytics suite that uses computer vision processes to recognize key elements and automatically determine what percent of planned work has been completed.

AutoCAD 2022 drives design forward with connected workflows and automations. Users can streamline drawing review cycles with Trace; improve collaboration with Share; automate counting of blocks or geometry with Count; improve workflow efficiency with Push to Autodesk Docs; view and edit multiple drawings with Floating windows; and connect to Autodesk Drive and Autodesk Docs with AutoCAD web and mobile apps.

Procore Technologies’ Financial Management portfolio now includes Advanced Forecasting to better forecast cash flow and automatically aggregate contract data and change orders; improved financial reporting with Work Breakdown Structure, and the ability to connect Time & Materials Tickets to Change Orders.

Partnerships, Acquisitions & Integrations

Piaggio Fast Forward and Trimble are collaborating to enable robots and machines to follow humansand other machines in industrial applications. The companies have integrated a patent-pending PFFtag™ smart following module prototype developed by Piaggio Fast Forward onto a Boston Dynamics’ Spot® robot platform controlled by Trimble’s advanced positioning technology – no joystick needed.

Infotech® and EarthCam are integrating Infotech’s Doc Express® service to create a visual timeline from project sites, inserting that data directly into daily workflow. With an EarthCam camera, Infotech users can view digital jobsite activity remotely in real-time for a visual historic record of progress. Images can automatically be pushed to specific contracts in Doc Express.

The Construction Specifications Institute’sCROSSWALK gated webservice is integrated with Collectus to convert Revit asset parameter data from one set of CSI organizing principles to another. Collectus is a product of CDV Systems and 26 Degrees Software, which developed the remote BIM management product with a complete and fully functioning Autodesk® Revit standards library. Whether using MasterFormat®, UniFormat® or OmniClass®, Collectus has a direct link to CROSSWALK from within the Revit model. This feature automatically converts MasterFormat asset parameter data for all Revit system and type family assets into UniFormat and OmniClass parameter data.

Video & Cool Stuff

Balfour Beatty, in collaboration with Innovate UK, Leeds Beckett University, Hertfordshire University and White Frog Publishing, has created a carbon calculation tool for the construction and infrastructure industry. Currently in beta testing, the AutoBIM Carbon Calculator automatically links BIM data to embodied carbon data from the Inventory of Carbon and Energy database, an online source which provides energy and embodied carbon information for construction materials. The innovative platform will support teams during the design phase of a project to compare products and materials, provide alternative solutions and ultimately help those involved make informed, low carbon decisions.

New episodes of “Down to Earth” surveying reality series explains how the Southwestern Florida Cougar Companies uses Drone LiDAR Surveying Equipment for detailed topographic surveys and how it contends with heavy equipment, active construction sites and the gusty winds of Florida.

JLG Industries launched “Access Your World,” an on-demand digital experience that offers equipment owners and end-users the opportunity to view virtual walk-around videos, download product information and apps, view 3D hydraulic schematics, order parts, sign up for training, schedule meetings and ask questions of JLG experts.

George Zhu, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at York University, has come up with a feasible design for a space elevator. The elevator’s two titanium cables would float in space with one end held in the Earth’s orbit.