Embracing the Future: Construction Industry Sees the Need for 3D Speed and Accuracy
And you try to explain that to a customer…
3D scanning has advanced dramatically in recent years, and the
We’ll go into a building and scan it and I
breadth of fields where the technology has found an application has
know we’ll have connections we have to
grown. Today, museums are using 3D scanning for archiving, and
hit perfectly, flanges that our pipes have to
even Hollywood studios are implementing the technology for this
marry up to and there is breaching or duct
purpose. And the construction industry is leveraging the technology to
work throughout the job and that’s exactly
transform the economics of its field.
what you can see. And when you present it that way you’re not saying, ‘OK, here’s a 2D drawing.’ This is exactly what we’re dealing with. These are real physical conditions that we have to contend with. That’s what really blows people away. It’s not just a measurement. It’s a real physical, tangible thing.
As reported in Global Market Insights, there is widespread and growing use of laser scanning for precision measurement where a 1/16 of an inch off can turn into a full inch later as the build continues. Scaling up, architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) accounts for a number of applications. All of this interest in laser scanning and laser imaging is pushing research and development in the direction many technologies have followed: smaller, faster, cheaper. Bryan Armistead, Field Technology Support Specialist for
What’s the reaction of your
Armistead Mechanical, Inc., said the 3D laser makes it possible
workers when they can finally use
to quickly and accurately capture data from the physical world,
the technology themselves?
essentially digitizing reality.
When it finally clicks, and it always does, there’s no turning back.
“It’s all about the time. It used to be that the labor wasn’t as expensive as the material. It’s changed. Maybe not this minute with the supply issues, but in general. Labor is just outweighing material now. You
They see that it will make their job easier, make them more efficient and give them a view of the overall picture of a project.
got to reduce that labor time, have educated labor so they can run this equipment and understand the process. Eventually they’ll have a digital model on site. We’ve gotten to the point now where we have jobs running without a stitch of paper. We’re not printing blueprints anymore. It’s all 3D,” said Armistead. The construction industry faces some unique challenges in the next
They will be able to extract information from this model. Then they don’t want to work any other way because they feel empowered. They feel like they’ve taken
decade, due to an acute worker shortage and rising cost in materials. Companies must adopt new strategies in order to create a competitive advantage. Fortunately, new technologies are highlighting some of those potential strategies.
something and now that have something
The digital age has brought unprecedented changes in construction,
over somebody else. And you can’t take
complete with new applications and devices that have forever changed
it away from them. Education is the best
the ways that companies design and assemble buildings. The impact
investment for anyone working for you.
of these new tools can be seen on and off the job site, both before the project begins and while it is under way. blewis@ccahv.com
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