Smart building designs, deliveries and building management with BIM Bots

Suppliers of components like stairs and doors are often involved in a construction project only at a very late stage. This means that their specialist knowledge on product standards often comes too late to the construction process. Errors resulting from failure to comply with such standards will often have to be rectified, and repairing the damage involves loss of time, higher costs and other unwanted effects on the construction process.

Another common error is that it is discovered much too late in the process that the architect’s design does not comply with the energy efficiency requirements, requiring modifications to the design. The architect can avoid this by implementing automated energy simulations in the preliminary design with a BIM Bot.

BIM Bot: intelligent and efficient

BIM stands for Building Information Modelling. To put it simply, a BIM is a rich collection of data on a building that can be deployed in various phases of the construction process, including design, construction and management. A BIM Bot is an intelligent, online system that autonomously carries out operations such as calculations, simulations and analyses based on BIM data. All these operations are designed to provide the user with optimum support during the construction process. Watch these videos for a more detailed explanation.

What can a BIM Bot do?

• Provide information about the performance of a building.
• Generate warnings, for example if the wrong wall thicknesses have been chosen in the model.
• Provide timely warning that too little room has been left over for the building connections.

What are the advantages for the user?

• Saves time and is more efficient.
• Saves money because it helps avoid unnecessary supplier and consultancy costs.
• Enables combined big data analyses to improve the process and the product.
• Can suggest the use of alternative, less well-known, but better products.

How does a BIM Bot work?

The user – in this case an engineer – subscribes to a BIM Bot online. He connects his own system to the BIM Bot but activates the Bot only when needed by setting up triggers. Such a trigger could be the relocation of a structural element, a changed surface area or an updated draft of a drawing. Any time something happens during the construction process to activate one of the triggers, the engineer’s system will send data to the supplier’s BIM Bot. The Bot will then autonomously take action based on the data.

Why TNO

• TNO has a long and rich history in the field of BIM. Our tools, data standards and expertise have been the basis for many sustainable improvements in the sector.
• Because data management is a strategically critical activity, companies make decisions for the long term. As an independent organization, TNO is the perfect partner to ensure that your company never suffers from a data lock-in.
• We are often also asked to mediate in conflict situations as an objective partner. Thanks to our far-reaching knowledge of BIM technology and experience using this application, we can provide an opinion quickly and independently.

Interested?

Would you like to receive more information or experience working with a BIM Bot? TNO is happy to provide you with assistance, free of charge. Please contact Rob Roef.