G’day Re/Cappers, and thanks for joining this conjoining-heavy Re/Cap - as in digital twin. Today’s lead story features not the twinning of a building, a car, or a body…but gee golly, policymaking. Yet, the reasons and the goal are perhaps even more astonishing.
Now, while there’s tremendous nuance to this particular twin vision of Fujitsu and Japanese cities, it’s not the first time an entire government has pursued a twin. Not by a long shot.
Singapore has long been accustomed to torrential downpours. But 2011 brought rain & floods of near-biblical proportions, which were only exacerbated by the unique population density and terrain of the compact island.
After much contemplation, The Singaporean Land Authority (SLA) turned to tech, and began generating a 3D map of the country in 2012. It blew every other method of mitigation out of the, well, you know…to the point that it became the foundation of Virtual Singapore, a digital twin endeavor courtesy of Bentley Systems.
Land use efficiency and flood risk assessment flourished thanks to aerial LiDAR scanning, mobile mapping, and integration of over over 160,000 images and 25TB of data into a single platform. It would launch in late 2014, as a part of Singapore’s ‘Smart Nation’ initiative. 2015 would see another rung climbed, as the National Research Foundation Singapore and Dassault Systèmes signed a collaboration, 3DEXPERIENCity®.
So the next time you’re looking to champion innovation, sing Singapore’s praises.
A wind simulation from Dassault Systèmes for 3DEXPERIENCity. Toupées found off-screen. Image credit Dassault Systèmes via Geospatial World
What’s Cappenin’ This Week: Fujitsu builds a municipal twin, optical metrology’s 800-year story, Pittsburgh plays host to hundreds of robots, kit-of-parts is a sum greater than its parts for construction, and an AEC Error of the Week that really leaned into its medieval roots.
Mini ‘Cappenins: Podcasts on robots and the history of UAVs aiding bridges, tech in skilled trade education, European digital twin projection & research, geospatial analytics advance, and railway tech at the Autodesk Rail Summit.
Last week: China’s Great Wall-sized survey, drone regulations get overcome, LiDAR and 3D stand on guard, predictive maintenance gets Spot on, and an AEC Error of the Week that looked to the stars…only to crash land.
The innovation savants at Fujitsu have long harnessed technology “to make happier lives.”
And now, they could add “and healthier” to that statement, thanks to a colossal digital twin effort known as “Policy Twin.”
Policy Twin’s “Digital rehearsal.” Talk about a flow state. Image credit Fujitsu
A new digital twin technology boasting sterling results from a health care field trial, Policy Twin will maximize the effectiveness of local government policies through meticulous simulations. It kicks off December 6 with a health care focus for Japanese municipalities, but is committed to mass standardization of data-driven policy enhancement, and solving bottlenecks in workforce structure, supply chains, disaster prevention & mitigation, and more.
It’s brazen, it’s big, and well worth the read if the prospect of a sharper future - and savvier government - excites you.
Modern optical metrology is precision’s architect…except the light beams have subbed in for pencils.
The shape, surface traits, dimensions, and physical properties of objects and materials can be defined in ways that, centuries ago, would be deemed occult-ish. It’s created seismic change in a bounty of industries, from electronics and healthcare to manufacturing.
Optical metrology’s roots start in the 13th century, when dudes like this could hold spectacles like that. Image credit fixmyglasses
But knowing where you’re going is aided by knowing where you’ve come from, which is why AZO Optics’ recent publication - part history lesson, part prognostication - is so beneficial. With almost a section per century, it encompasses the entire arc of metrology, closing with astute coverage of recent developments and future possibilities. Set your sights on sensors, lasers, semiconductors, automation & machine learning, data storage, and a whole glasses case more, below.
Decision paralysis is the instance of someone being overwhelmed with too many options; think a hipster coffee shop chalkboard menu, 19 shades of white in the paint aisle that are apparently different, OR, selecting the coolest company or product at Pittsburgh, PA’s Robotics Discovery Day.
Meet Digit, the robot currently being tested in Amazon warehouses. Image credit Tomorrow’s World Today
Infantile startups and rebellious teenage companies alike graced the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, in the city that’s ascending the ranks of robot-capital-of-the-world competitors. The 130 exhibitors tackled everything from concrete erosion monitoring, warehouse labor, and pallet transport, to drone inventory tracking and AI-assisted biker safety. Oh, and Spot was in the (dog)house too, of course. Tomorrow’s World Today provided some quick snapshots, highlights and videos of the extravaganza, viewable below!
Be it for automation, experimentation, or just healthy competition, one has an array of reasons for complimenting the automotive industry’s 21st century. But central to each of those is industrialized manufacturing, and specifically parametric BIM.
It’s not that construction hasn’t tried to achieve similar dexterity - it’s that its impediments are nonstop, some natural to the space, others natural to the times. But a perceptive new article is unveiling a path to newfound efficiency.
An airport case study - stairs, then the elevator, then steel struts and cladding. Image credit WSP & Mace via ENR
By way of an extensive case study framed around a partnership, Engineering News-Record’s piece explores the depths of a new methodology that integrates offsite manufacturing with a Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) workflow. By reducing the number of individual parts needed on-site, the building process is streamlined in a stunning manner. Enjoy the sweeping read on scaling, airport projects, fabrication, and a bevy of other matters.
The Leaning Tower of Suurhusen, Germany. It’s not me, it’s view. Image credit Gun Powder via Parametric Architecture
Welcome to Suurhusen, Germany, home of the tower that makes Pisa look positively perpendicular! The Leaning Tower of Suurhusen, a late medieval steeple, once held the Guinness World Record for the most unintentionally tilted tower in the world, leaning at a whopping 5.19 degrees; bloody thing has more lean than a dieter's fridge!
Built in the Middle Ages on marshy terrain, the tower's foundations rested on oak tree trunks preserved by groundwater. But when 19th-century engineers decided to drain the land, they didn't anticipate the consequences. The oak made haste in rotting, causing the tower to tilt like a sailor after a long night at port.
The tower has been a darling of Germany and prized photo op for global travelers ever since, though it was forced to take a decade-long hiatus from 1975 to 1985 for safety reasons. But like a determined toddler, it got back on its feet (sort of) after some stabilization work.
Buildings still lean, so keep your AEC record clean, with reality capture.
Imagine if our medieval builders had access to modern reality capture tools. They could have created a detailed digital twin of the Leaning Tower of Suurhusen and its surroundings, predicting the effects of land drainage faster than you can say "autobahn!" High-precision laser scanners would capture millions of data points, creating an accurate model of the tower, while photogrammetry techniques would generate detailed visuals from overlapping photos taken at various angles. Coupled with survey control and metrology, these technologies could monitor even the slightest deviations in the structure's integrity.
Regular drone surveys could provide a bird's-eye view of the tower's lean, and 360-degree cameras would offer immersive documentation for both monitoring and virtual tourism. Utilizing GNSS and RTK systems would ensure real-time, highly accurate positioning for tracking any movement. With this arsenal of reality capture tools, our leaning tower might have avoided its unintended fame as a tourist attraction.
Today, at 27.37 meters tall with an overhang of 2.47 meters, it's a testament to both medieval craftsmanship and the importance of proper foundation work. It's also a reminder that sometimes, the most interesting structures are the ones that don't quite go according to plan, and ones that don’t keep up with the times, may be looking at extended closing time.
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