Class Reflection

AE 510 was an illuminating class. In fact for a novice like me, in both database technology and BIM, this class opened new doors to solving engineering problems. I found that Professor Mitchell’s formatting of this class was simplistic to the point where novice users of BIM and database software could acquire basic skills in the aforesaid areas without being confused. I have tried to take database courses at a community college and found myself quite confused due to improper communication from the teacher to the student. Professors Mitchell’s tutorials were excellent in helping one learn how to use Microsoft Access. I also found that his tutorials on BIM were most beneficial. I can honestly say that, even though I had no prior experience with BIM, that I am leaving this class confident that I can use BIM’s basic functions. This is a big resume booster.

Elda Cifligu makes a valid point that it is impossible to cover the broad spectrum of “Intelligent Buildings” in one ten-week course. I agree.  However, I believe the intention of the course was not to produce experts of intelligent design, but instead to open the door to the concepts. I found that Professor Mitchell’s approach to this class was quite ingenious; covering a wide variety of topics from robotics to sensors while providing the students with basic software savvy.

I disagree with David Morrison’s idea on grading. The measure of a class’s worth should not be a degree on how easy it is to get a grade, but rather how much one learns in the class. I can say from experience that I have had classes where I have labored for hours trying to walk away with a decent grade and found that my knowledge fell short (even though I got an A). On the other hand I have had classes with minimal assignments and very easy tests and found that I have superior knowledge on the subject. This class provided me with exactly what it had promised. I left with a basic awareness of Intelligent Buildings while gaining a fundamental knowledge of BIM and Access.

Temperature Sensors

There are many types of temperature sensors. They are listed in two categories. The categories are Mechanical and Electrical temperature sensors. Examples of mechanical temperature sensors are the thermometer and Bimetal. Examples of electrical temperature sensors are the thermistor, thermocouple and resistance thermometer.

I’m quite sure that almost anyone, who has graduated the fourth grade, can use a basic thermometer. It is simple. Mercury expands and contracts according to the temperature and thus this expansion and contraction can be measured. A bimetal temperature sensor however, is a little less known to most people. Bimetal temperature sensors use strips and disks of metals which convert into mechanical displacement.

Electrical temperature sensors include thermistors, thermocouples and resistance thermometers to name a few. Thermistors are types of resistors which in turn measure resistance with ensuing changes in temperature. The basic equation of  controls the sensor. Where R is resistance, T is the temperature and k is a coefficient based on other attributes of the sensor. Thermocouples consist of two conductors that yield a voltage with differences in temperature. The governing equation is . Again the equation is based on the metals in the thermocouple. Tables are easy to look up for the coefficient in the aforementioned equation. A resistance thermometer, also referred to by the acronym RTD (Resistance Temperature Detectors), correlates resistance to changes in temperature. Again variations in metals used in the product dictate the subsequent equation:  , where  .

Typically a thermostat in a small residential home uses mechanical temperature sensors in the form of bimetal technology. As fellow student Mike S. points out it is the relative cheapness of these sensors that makes them very useful in residential applications. But as a corollary, for uses in commercial and industrial applications where high accuracy, low drift, wide operating range and precision are needed, you will typically find some sort of electrical temperature sensor. These sensors tend to be more expensive based on the fact that they have to be engineered and calibrated to handle the above-mentioned qualities.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see, that when the prices of these electrical sensors come down with advancements in technology, we will see them installed into small residential homes.

It was interesting to see from other posts like C. Meraz’s post, that other sensors such as pressure sensors typically measure something other than pressure, like resistance and capacitance and then translate these changes from the change in temperature that causes this change in resistance or capacitance.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_temperature_sensors

http://www.temperatureworld.com/shci.htm

SQL BLOG

SQL (Structured/System Query Language) is a programming language that was based off of relational algebra and tuple relational calculus. SQL was purposely designed for managing data in relational database management systems. SQL was created by Donald Chamberlain and Raymond Boyce in the 1970’s. SQL uses clauses, expressions, predicates, queries, statements and insignificant white spaces in its coding. The aforementioned language criteria can be assembled to insert data, query, update and delete. The code is also used for schema creation and modification as well as data access control.

Retrieving data using SQL is relatively different from a text search using the web. Structured data simply means that the data will be represented in tables; rows and columns to be specific. The rows represent an object and the columns represent an attribute to attach to the object in each row.

To piggy-back off of what Elda Cifligu says, “SQL is a powerful and useful tool that links people, computer programs and systems to the data stored in a relational database; thus it is very important to have a well written standardized language that allows everyone to access and manipulate databases. It has multiple functions that are necessary for understanding and using databases and over the years SQL has expanded to support the new technology, hardware, operating systems and languages.”  This statement fits well into the idea of interoperability. Thus SQL can be labeled a tool for interoperability when the functions of the language create ease in transferring data.

Typically I am familiar with object oriented languages like python and C++. SQL differs from these languages in that the SQL executes one statement at a time. SQL directly interacts with the database telling it “what” to do, but object oriented programming tells the database “how” to do a specific task.  SQL can be embedded into these object oriented languages but the vice versa scenario cannot be done.

My experience with programing language is very primitive. However I have done some preliminary work with C++, Python and MATLAB. However I hope to learn more about SQL and programming as a whole in this class. It is very important that civil engineering students get a firm grasp of database and programming before entering the field of employment.

SOURCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/SQL.html

Term Project Blog

Many of my fellow students chose to compare “green and intelligent” buildings. Gayaneh Gulbenkian explains, “Intelligent, energy-efficient buildings are expected to be an important part of future energy systems.” This statement is very true. We must effectively find solutions to increase the efficiency of our existing buildings.

A challenge we face in today’s society is that many of our residential buildings are severely inefficient. For my project I chose to analyze such a building. I chose to look at how to implement green and intelligent design into a typical Philadelphia row home. The preliminary challenge to installing green and intelligent design into these small residential units is cost. Many of the inhabitants of Philadelphia row homes are those who have modest to lower level incomes. I will pick a few of the more inexpensive green and intelligent options and compare their energy reducing facets and look at the overall cost to implement such designs. For example, I will compare the cost of installing new argon filled windows with installing intelligent sensors. I will also compare their energy reducing stats.

In order to accomplish this feat I will have to analyze the building envelope of the typical Philadelphia Row home. I will take an average floor plan (approximately 1000 Sqft) and take average energy cost, average window area, R value, etc. and run scenarios on how the energy efficiency will improve if I install sensors or green argon filled windows. I will look at 2 types of row homes. These types are the end units, that share only one side with a neighboring building and a middle unit which shares both sides with neighbors. Rita says, "we are hoping to stress the point that no building is an island. It exists in a context of numerous and various externalities that constantly influence its performance.” This rings true for row homes. Each unit feeds of the adjacent unit and vice versa. Naturally, end units, will lose more heat to the outdoors because it has an extra wall exposed to the elements.

The overall goal of my project is to maximize energy efficiency while keeping the renovations costs under 10% (arbitrary number for now) of the yearly income of the average tenant. After all, if the tenants cannot afford the initial costs then they will not have an incentive to implement these green or intelligent designs.

Sources:

http://www.rowhouse-magazine.com/featuredHomes/featuredRows_phillyRows.html

Future BIM

The future of BIM is very optimistic. Considering the progressing of BIM systems in the last 20 years, from pre 2 dimensional to 3 dimensional and beyond, a lot ground has been gained in how we use these tools to design our infrastructure. The future demands that we build our infrastructure faster and cheaper. BIM can help us solve these demands. Last week’s lecturer showed how present day BIM applications can save time and money with his example of the pipe that was installed around a duct that was not there yet. In the past that pipe would have needed to be retrofitted after the fact because the pipe-fitters would not have realized that space was initially intended for such a duct.

So what does the future BIM look like? First off I have to agree with Gabrielle Carpenter who explains that with the progression of more complex BIM systems that the industry will demand BIM specialists. Ordinarily a drafting degree can be obtained at technical college but soon the BIM systems will be so intricate that they will need to be operated with people who have undergraduate and graduate degrees. I wouldn’t be surprised if a BIM major popped up at a prestigious engineering college in the next decade.

Additionally I believe that BIM software manufactures will focus their efforts on making their software more robust in the arena of finite element analysis (FEA). Currently BIM applications are limited in their engineering capacities. Although BIM software incorporates these elemental analyses they are still guilty of computer error. This computer error may be negligible in building a three story tall building, but imagine when we compound these errors over the course of 200…300 or even 500 stories. Will we not need to build our buildings taller to accommodate our ever growing population?

Lastly I agree with Wang Chunyi that BIM will develop a technique for analyzing the life cycle of a building. Future BIM software will be able to model the effects of more than just wind loads. E.G. rain, temperature and climate and the lasting effects they have on the building materials used.

Interoperability

Interoperability is explained in great detail in chapter three. In a lack of words the text defines that interoperability is a conversion of data from a unique system to another unique system. A personal example for me would be: In my high school drafting class I designed a house using RoboCad and several years later transferred that information to AutoCad. The objective was to convert a set of 2D drawings from RoboCad to a single 3D drawing in AutoCad. Since there is no computer interoperability between the respective software products, then the mode of interoperability was my own labor of redrawing the 3D version in AutoCad from the printed sketches in Robocad. This mode of interoperability is severely inefficient.  

The text stresses that interoperability is of paramount importance in building systems because of the many disciplines it incorporates. We as a building society should focus on how well we can transfer data from one aspect of the building phase to another. Cost to design to construction to occupancy is an example.

So how can we improve this exchange of data between hardware and software? The text elaborates that in order to achieve more robust data exchanges it is imperative to create a standard in which the data is exchanged. In effect this standard who figuratively funnel multiple data sets into a single recognizable solution.

There are problems that arise from creating a standard of data exchanges. Fellow classmate David Morrison hits the nail on the head with his explanation. David Says’ “A company that does not provide as much interoperability is typically one who wants its standard / program to be king above the rest. Whereas a company that is looking for high interoperability would most likely be a company that wants its product to infiltrate the market.” Essentially if a common standard is the key to interoperability then a single entity must design the system. If competing entities are designing for their best interest then it defeats the purpose of interoperability.

An interesting dilemma arises from the concept of interoperability. In essence the only possible way to achieve 100% efficiency of data transfer is to eliminate the transfer altogether. This would mean that competition must be eliminated. For example we would eliminate the use of different BIM products and use a one single product. If Revit were the product we choose as a society then Autocad and other modeling tools would be abolished.  But since competition is imperative for market survival the interoperability is a science that must be researched and improved.  Prof. Mitchell hinted at the idea that the future will challenge our interoperability prowess when multiple systems (such as robots) will have to co-exist in a societal fashion.

  SOURCE: 

BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers, and Contractors.  Chuck Eastman, Paul Teicholz, Rafael Sacks and Kathleen Liston  Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Students

Here is the list of Civil Engineering undergraduate students in the course.  This post is also used to create a "label" for each student so it's easy to label your posts later.

Group	Last Name	First Name	Major
E	Alvarado Bastidas	Maria	Civil Engineering
E	Haddad	Issa	Civil Engineering
E	Krall	Ryan	Civil Engineering
E	Lin	Dong	Civil Engineering
E	Rosario	Evan	Civil Engineering