Constructing living buildings: a review of relevant technologies for a novel application of biohybrid robotics

Biohybrid robotics takes an engineering approach to the expansion and exploitation of biological behaviours for application to automated tasks. Here, we identify the construction of living buildings and infrastructure as a high-potential application domain for biohybrid robotics, and review technological advances relevant to its future development. Construction, civil infrastructure maintenance and building occupancy in the last decades have comprised a major portion of economic production, energy consumption and carbon emissions. Integrating biological organisms into automated construction tasks and permanent building components therefore has high potential for impact. Live materials can provide several advantages over standard synthetic construction materials, including self-repair of damage, increase rather than degradation of structural performance over time, resilience to corrosive environments, support of biodiversity, and mitigation of urban heat islands. Here, we review relevant technologies, which are currently disparate. They span robotics, self-organizing systems, artificial life, construction automation, structural engineering, architecture, bioengineering, biomaterials, and molecular and cellular biology. In these disciplines, developments relevant to biohybrid construction and living buildings are in the early stages, and typically are not exchanged between disciplines. We, therefore, consider this review useful to the future development of biohybrid engineering for this highly interdisciplinary application.publishe

An architectural generative design process

The paper discusses about architectural and urban design tools, and reports a prototype of parametric application that allows the designer to handle the architectural shape by using urban regulations. It is a Decision Support System (DSS), useful at the early stage of city planning as well as at the early stage of architectural design. The System integrates two different research topics: modelling in geo-referenced environment and modelling through constraints. Compared to the related works (Building Modelling on geo-referenced environment), our application is the first Generative System based on the urban regulation. Three case studies are presented to test the System

A framework for BIM-based assessment of seismic performance of existing RC buildings

Dissertação de mestrado em European Master in Building Information ModellingDespite the mature state of BIM software in the context of structural design, particularly in concern to the desirable interoperability between BIM authoring tools and structural design software, there is still a technical/research gap in the scope of the exchange of competent data towards a seismic analysis of existing buildings (e.g. following the recommendations of Eurocode 8 – Part 3). This dissertation aimed to develop a BIM-based framework to facilitate the process of seismic analysis of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, through a streamlined set of modelling rules and interoperability between Autodesk Revit (BIM authoring tool) and SeismoStruct (seismic analysis software). This is achieved through a visual programming script developed in Dynamo. The developed script is able to export geometry, sections, material properties, supports as well as the reinforcement data for structural columns and beams. Furthermore, as infill walls can play a significant contribution to the seismic capacity of the building, they are also considered in the framework. This is considered an important contribution of this framework, as infill walls are normally ignored in the usual design office during a seismic assessment of existing buildings. The interoperability script is able to query the necessary information from the BIM model and export it to an XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) that can be directly recognized by the seismic analysis software. The non-linear static analysis (i.e. pushover analysis) is then performed in Seismostruct. Based on the capacity curves obtained from the pushover analysis for the structure with and without infill walls, the conclusions about the effectiveness of infill wall in RC structures can be made. Upon preparation of the framework, its operational capacity was assessed on an academic-oriented example of a regular 4 storey building. Lastly, the developed framework/script was tested and evaluated on a case study based on a real building, with some degree of irregularity. The seismic capacity of the building was evaluated using pushover analysis, with an evaluation of the beneficial effects of consideration of infill walls. It was concluded that the framework operated in a suitable manner, allowing the quick translation of data from the BIM authoring tool towards the seismic analysis software, thus permitting the structural engineers to concentrate on design tasks rather than repetitive and error-prone activities of parsing information between software. Two special features are highlighted in concern to the original contributions of the developed framework/script: (i) it allows the easy consideration of infill walls in the BIM model and hence in the seismic calculation, thus allowing more realistic assessments; (ii) a method to input reinforcement data based on non-graphical data was proposed, facilitating the quickness of the input of information to the BIM model (and hence to the seismic analysis) as compared to the alternative need to model all reinforcement bars of the building.Apesar do estado de elevada maturidade dos software BIM no contexto do projeto de estruturas, particularmente no que diz respeito à desejável interoperabilidade entre plataformas de modelação BIM e aplicações para análise/dimensionamento estrutural, há ainda lacunas técnicas importantes no contexto das trocas de informação competentes no contexto particular da análise sísmica de edifícios existentes (p.ex. em coerência com as recomendações do Eurocódigo 8 – parte 3). Nesta dissertação pretendeu-se desenvolver uma metodologia baseada em BIM para facilitar o processo de análise sísmica de edifícios existentes em betão armado (BA), através dum conjunto de regras de modelação e ferramenta de interoperabilidade entre Autodesk Revit (plataforma de modelação BIM) e SeismoStruct (aplicação de análise estrutural). Para isso, foi utilizado um código em linguagem de programação visual desenvolvido em Dynamo. O código desenvolvido é capaz de exportar geometria, secções, propriedades de materiais, apoios e dados sobre a armadura nos pilares e vigas. Além disso, tendo em conta que as paredes de enchimento podem ter um papel relevante no contributo para o desempenho sísmico dos edifícios, a sua existência é considerada de forma explícita na metodologia aqui proposta. Esta é considerada uma contribuição importante desta metodologia, uma vez que as paredes de enchimento são normalmente ignoradas na prática corrente de avaliação de desempenho sísmico de edifícios em contexto de gabinetes de projeto. O código de interoperabilidade proposto é capaz de analisar a informação necessária do modelo BIM e exportá-la no formato XML (Extensible Mark-up Language), que é reconhecido diretamente pelo software de análise sísmica utilizado. A análise não linear estática (i.e. análise pushover) é seguidamente realizada no SeismoStruct. Com base nas curvas de capacidade obtidas na análise pushover, e tendo em conta a análise de cenários com e sem paredes de enchimento, é possível tirar ilações sobre o comportamento sísmico dos edifícios e do papel dessas mesmas paredes. Durante a preparação da metodologia, a sua capacidade operacional foi validada num exemplo académico de um edifício regular de 4 pisos. Finalmente, a metodologia desenvolvida foi testada e avaliada num caso de estudo baseado em edifício real, com algum grau de irregularidade. A capacidade sísmica do edifício foi aferida com análise pushover, com avaliação dos benefícios da consideração das paredes de enchimento. Concluiu-se que a metodologia funcionou de forma adequada, permitindo a rápida transposição de dados da plataforma de modelação BIM para o software de análise sísmica, permitindo, portanto que os Engenheiros de Estruturas se concentrem em tarefas de projeto/engenharia, em vez de investirem tempo em tarefas repetitivas e suscetíveis a erro na troca de informação manual entre software. Relevam-se as duas características especiais que se afiguram como as contribuições mais originais da metodologia desenvolvida no presente trabalho: (i) permite a consideração facilitada das paredes de enchimento na análise sísmica a partir de informação do modelo BIM, conduzindo a análises mais realistas (em oposição à tendência corrente de ignorar as paredes de enchimento); (ii) é proposto um método de modelação das armaduras baseado em informação não gráfica, facilitando a rapidez da introdução de informação no modelo BIM (e consequentemente na análise sísmica), quando comparado com a potencial alternativa de modelar todas as armaduras do edifício

Optimisation and Decision Support during the Conceptual Stage of Building Design

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/726 on 28.02.2017 by CS (TIS)Modern building design is complex and involves many different disciplines operating in a fragmented manner. Appropriate computer-based decision support (DS) tools are sought that can raise the level of integration of different activities at the conceptual stage, in order to help create better designs solutions. This project investigates opportunities that exist for using techniques based upon the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to support critical activities of conceptual building design (CBD). Collective independent studies have shown that the GA is a powerful optimisation and exploratory search technique with widespread application. The GA is essentially very simple yet it offers robustness and domain independence. The GA efficiently searches a domain to exploit highly suitable information. It maintains multiple solutions to problems simultaneously and is well suited to non-linear problems and those of a discontinuous nature found in engineering design. The literature search first examines traditional approaches to supporting conceptual design. Existing GA techniques and applications are discussed which include pioneering studies in the field of detailed structural design. Broader GA studies are also reported which have demonstrated possibilities for investigating geometrical, topological and member size variation. The tasks and goals of conceptual design are studied. A rationale is introduced, aimed at enabling the GA to be applied in a manner that provides the most effective support to the designer. Numerical experiments with floor planning are presented. These studies provide a basic foundation for a subsequent design support system (DSS) capable of generating structural design concepts. A hierarchical Structured GA (SGA) created by Dasgupta et al [1] is investigated to support the generation of diverse structural design concepts. The SGA supports variation in the size, shape and structural configuration of a building and in the choice of structural frame type and floor system. The benefits and limitations of the SGA approach are discussed. The creation of a prototype DSS system, abritrarily called Designer-Pro (DPRO), is described. A detailed building design model is introduced which is required for design development and appraisal. Simplifications, design rationale and generic component modelling are mentioned. A cost-based single criteria optimisation problem (SCOP) is created in which other constraints are represented as design parameters. The thesis describes the importance of the object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm for creating a versatile design model and the need for complementary graphical user interface (GUI) tools to provide human-computer interaction (HCI) capabilities for control and intelligent design manipulation. Techniques that increase flexibility in the generation and appraisal of concept are presented. Tools presented include a convergence plot of design solutions that supports cursor-interrogation to reveal the details of individual concepts. The graph permits study of design progression, or evolution of optimum design solutions. A visualisation tool is also presented. The DPRO system supports multiple operating modes, including single-design appraisal and enumerative search (ES). Case study examples are provided which demonstrate the applicability of the DPRO system to a range of different design scenarios. The DPRO system performs well in all tests. A parametric study demonstrates the potential of the system for DS. Limitations of the current approach and opportunities to broaden the study form part of the scope for further work. Some suggestions for further study are made, based upon newly-emerging techniques

North Birmingham College: report from the Inspectorate (FEFC inspection report; 51/95 and 98/00)

The Further Education Funding Council has a legal duty to make sure further education in England is properly assessed. The FEFC’s inspectorate inspects and reports on each college of further education according to a four-year cycle. This record comprises the reports for periods 1994-95 and 1999-2000

Optimal learning spaces: design implications for primary schools

Review guide of the design evidence for primary school

Development and construction of China

Libraries in China's higher education institutions have been developing in keeping pace with the flourishing development of China's higher education. This article aims to make an introduction to the construction of China's higher education libraries, especially the recent three decades' achievements since China's reform and opening-up in 1978. In this article, the authors draw a general picture of the development of libraries in China's higher education institutions, covering such eight aspects as management, types and positioning, organizational structure and personnel, expenditure and buildings, reader service, building and sharing of resources as well as automation system.</p