B2: Week 3 - Group B, Lee

Topic: BIM
Chapter 3 of BIM Handbook talks about interoperability between different BIM systems as a major challenge in the development of BIM technology. There has been little regulation or standard in how BIM applications are developed and how applications communicate with one another. Many BIM applications are developed by different architectural companies that serve a purpose that is specific only to that company. The text mentioned an architectural firm, which specializes in high-rise office buildings, developed its own in-house parametric assembly that only a few existing BIM platforms support. In addition, each BIM application is specific in the model and the type of analysis it produces, which means that one project needs to be represented with multiple models and data sets. For example, a structural design may need to be represented in a structural model that shows its structural codes, depth of beams, and loading conditions, etc., but it may also need to be represented in a stick and node model that shows the abstract representation of connection behavior, and external loads, etc. Still, it may need to be represented as a mesh in a 3D finite element model to show finer details of geometry. Because data exchange between different BIM applications is difficult, making a change to one model will require other models to be changed as well. This is a very cumbersome task, and a very error prone. Therefore, interoperability between different types of BIM applications is crucial.

The AEC industry has since taken steps towards automated exchanges of data between different BIM applications. XML schemas are being used for analysis and even data-type exchanges. The IFC schema is increasingly growing to address the needs of designers, contractors, and other users. Although it is becoming redundant in its geometry, properties, and relations, the AEC industry is taking steps towards refining data exchange and workflows. The Model View Definitions is such a breakthrough, allowing both sender and receiver to know the exact data being exchanged.

After reading this chapter on interoperability, I now understand better the problem the AEC industry is facing and the direction it is taking to mitigate the issue. I remember being frustrated with Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks when I was working on a 3D modeling group project. I was using Autodesk Inventor, and sent my file to my teammate who was using Solidworks. My teammate could not view my file, but we didn’t realize it was because these two platforms produce incompatible file formats, with inconsistent dimensions and different languages. It was time consuming to figure out, although the issue was such a trivial one. At the time, I did not understand why such a problem would exist. In the AEC industry, solving the problem of data and workflow exchange, and thus increasing interoperability, reduces time and cost of production and makes the process from design to construction much more efficient. There are many powerful BIM applications, but the issue of interoperability limits the potential of these applications being optimized fully. To continue improving user experience and productivity, the AEC industry needs to consolidate and standardize its data representation and specifications formatting.

Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook : A Guide To Building Information Modeling For Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers And Contractors. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 17 Jan. 2015.



Responses:
Rikki Moore
I agree with Rikki that the platform-platform interoperability is what engineers will encounter the most. Because there are numerous modeling programs with different applications, the issue occurs when the multiple programs are trying to use the same model. It is true that managing this operability issue will be critical to coordination of the corresponding projects and its advancement will certainly reflect on the technology's advancement. I also hope that the future technology will involve smoother and more organized interoperability that will allow engineers to not worry about communication between programs but to focus on project development. 

Drew Sivertsen
As Drew brought it up, I think the interoperability issue should be handled by the International Standards Organization (ISO) or similar committee to have every programming and industries to agree upon the communication issue. It was done several years ago when NASA took the initiative; similar effort must be made by multinational companies. It seems like the companies nowadays are only concerned with their own profits, not convinced by the importance of interoperability as long as their own system of programs can operate well together. As a result, the research and development in this area is only contained within the companies. For example, Professor Mitchell mentioned how Bentley does not have big file issues that Revit has, since they are able to split up the files while keeping it the same model. This kind of new technology could be shared among different companies in order to fix the problem of interoperability, yet Bentley surely won't do that to make themselves better than others. I hope the companies would have better communication that they would work together instead of trying to destroy others. 

Grigorios Papadourakis
Grig emphasized that the biggest hurdle in interoperability is data exchange. I agree that there are just too many different file formats that are not compatible. I have experienced before when I had trouble transferring a file from one program to another, despite the programs having same nature of 3D modeling software. The frustration was due to lack of straightforward instruction for resolving the problem. This kind of file exchange issues can be solved by computer engineers; however, engineers who use the corresponding software programs must communicate with the computer engineers what are the needs and wants. If the engineers have standards that works for everyone while being interoperable, that would definitely make it easier for computer engineers to have it work. Consequently, I think the communication between engineers in different discipline must be stressed.