Emerging Construction Technology

The required reading was very informative in describing the general overview of robotics. Robotics clearly is a massive topic that incorporates many fields of work. I personally enjoyed the section on the prosthetic limbs. Technology like that is fascinating especially for its uses for our returning soldiers. What was fascinating is the amount of detail and programming it takes to teach a robotic arm to perform simple tasks such as picking up an object. One does not realize how much thought process can go into performing such a simple task. To have the robots functions broken down to see what different components are required was quite informative. For instance in order to pick up a simple towel, the robot will have to have a tracking system of some sort to understand where the robot is in position on all of its axises. Further in the article I enjoyed the section on the walker robot that walks up and down the set of stairs. It explained the ability of the robot to carry twice its weight up and down the steps and four times its weight when stationary. This was extremely interesting to me because it reminded me of the robot used to explore the volcano in the movie "Dante's Peak." It is amazing to see how such a technology can be so helpful in the safety for humans. I can definitely see the need of robotic technology to assist in all aspects of human life. The menial and repetitive tasks will be the main use for robotic technology, but with advancing technology I think the possibilities are endless. Maybe what we see in all of these movies will happen sooner than we think.

The additional article I read was called “Emerging Building Technology”. The article entails the use of real time reporting for the construction team. It emphasizes the use of a web based data system that provides direct reporting, estimating, purchasing, and bidding. This time of innovation was crucial to the overall management of the construction process. Every party involved in the project now had access to a program that provided real time feedback. This was a major innovation of its time and I found it interesting to learn about how this enhanced the management process. The article also details on the use of 3d and 4d design programs to visualize the final product. To have the ability to witness how the project will turn out and how the systems will coordinate with each other is a huge aid to project. This article also details how a company Dragados y Construcciones has its own program that they created for their design practices. I wonder how many companies follow in the same footsteps of designing their own programs to complete their projects? The article ends by explaining the use of automated equipment in the field to aid in the construction process. This type of robotics I believe is the immediate future for construction practice. Advanced robotic technology will improve the time it will take to perform tasks and potentially provide less risk for the user. This type of field is something I personally would like to learn more about because I see this becoming a much bigger trend in our immediate future. The automated equipment reminded of the video we watched in class, however the video in class required much more design and programming to accomplish the task. The video made it seem that no user was needed for the process whereas in the article I read, a user would assist in the functioning of the equipment.