Living, working, and building in a 3D World

NMBS and the University of Wolverhampton were proud to demonstrate the use of 3D technology at the Annual NMBS Exhibition held on 25^th May 2011 at the Telford International Centre. 

The demonstration showed the possible uses of 3D virtual systems in the construction industry. Staff and PhD students at the University of Wolverhampton have been working for some time on the uses of Virtual Reality in the construction industry. This has led to a number of interesting projects that have proved useful to industry professionals. These have included a virtual West Bromwich town centre, that helped planners understand the impact of a new bus station, and a virtual reality application that helped get the opinions of residents on a proposed housing association development. 

The expertise developed in the Architecture and Design department in the School of Technology, has also included procedural training. They have developed a safety training application that helps fork lift truck drivers develop awareness while engaged in their normal duties. The application requires the user to operate a forklift truck safely in a 3D stereoscopic virtual reality environment, which is very much like the real World. The only difference is that operator mistakes do not result in serious injury or costly damage to expensive stock items. The 3D environments use unique modelling software and are then programmed to mimic real life in such a way that users will have the same responses as they would in reality.

The project team are now looking to develop the use of virtual reality based learning for product familiarisation exercises which can help users and maintenance operatives become acquainted with products and equipment in the virtual world, before potentially misusing or damaging products in the real world. 

The success of the training application is dependent on the skill of the team in modelling the real world environment, and objects in it, and then programming real world properties into those objects so that they act as they should.

This type of learning has many cost saving benefits in both time and money. Under the umbrella of 'serious games' the uses of virtual reality for training purposes is an established method of training.

NMBS SMS Text Message Service

The NMBS Text messaging service which was launched to members in April has gone from strength to strength. Since its implementation the system has been used to send out over 7000 texts, with a number of the users helping to contribute to its further development. The updated system now provides the user with an audit trail so they know who has been sent certain messages, and we have also added an opt option at the bottom to ensure we comply with email & sms marketing laws.  

With a number of regular users, the service has been used by members to inform customers about -:

• Special offers
• New products
• Breakfast mornings
• Branch opening times
• New branches

Brian Atkinson from JT Dove is a regular user of the SMS service – “The SMS Service is good and provides the basis for sending multiple texts that are either informational or marketing orientated to our customers. Its quickly available for use and the option to send free/test messages is a bonus as layout and examples be set up. Support for the service is good and efficient which are strong points, I would also say that being able to reach 500 customers (that can be selected) for £30.00 is a more economic communication method than mailings/leaflets”.

Click here to view more information about the SMS service

If you are a member of NMBS and would like to find out more about using the text message service, then please contact Andy Hextall on 0116 2614940 or andy.hextall@nmbs.co.uk

The Eye in the Sky

After the successful launch of the ‘Wolverhampton Eye in the Sky’- BLIMP at the Gadget Show Live 2010; budding Aviator and final year BSc Computer Science student Ed Wilson has been working hard to develop an improved version which was demonstrated at this year’s NMBS Exhibition on 25th May 2011 at the Telford International Centre.

The BLIMP is a console controlled airship. The 2011 version has been vastly improved with a closed loop feedback system, which helps control the ships motion and an exaggerated control system which demonstrates how the sensors work in the airship.

Visitors to the exhibition had the opportunity to fly the airship, using the new bespoke games console controller, which tells the airship which direction to travel in. A series of sensors onboard detect the direction, and put measures in place to correct the path should it start to go off course. 

Technically the ship is more efficient due the more powerful 8MHz processor, which reduces power consumption. The control system takes input from the 3D accelerator and 2D gyroscope, giving it 5 degrees of freedom. These sensors are used in an inertial measurement unit, implemented on Arduino[1], that allows it to calculate the ship’s position, speed and acceleration. The sensors include an accelerometer and a gyroscope, which change the output of the motor to change the direction.  The ship makes use of industry standard wireless communication techniques, ZigBee[2], which have improved its reliability from the model last year.

[1] http://www.arduino.cc/ - An open source prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software.

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee - A specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small, low-power digital radios on an IEEE 802 standard for personal area networks.

Augmented Reality and the Construction Industry

The construction industry has finally caught the technology bug (AR).  From plot location, house design, house construction, to the selection of the fixture and fittings (furniture) of the modern house.  Augmented reality is the tool that provides the craftsmen and customer a finite view of the project throughout its lifecycle or construction.

Augmented Reality is the use of technology to overlay virtual imagery (computer generated graphics – 2D/3D) and information on top of real world images. The real world image could be a live video stream collected from a camera enabled device or a still image or photograph(1).  The technology permits the creation of a real representation of what a final design would look like in the real world. It allows the use of precise 3D models coupled with mobile device technology for a live panoramic view of a working project. This pictorial representation coupled with extended information about different aspects of a project is represented by BIM (Building Information Modeling). 

BIM is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle(2).  The advantage of using BIM models would include: client walk-throughs, faster estimation, fast remodelling, field reviews, overlay of fixing (pipe/electrical), etc. 

There are many Free Software tools available:

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/ - simple to use
http://www.instantreality.org/downloads/ - some scripting required. Uses X3D.
http://staff.fh-hagenberg.at/jzauner/CATOMIR.html - Some programming skills required http://www.sologicolibre.org/projects/atomicweb/en/ - Web based interface – simple to use.

References

1      http://carolhagen.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/augmented-reality-now-how-3d-visualization-is-   changing-the-construction-industry/

2      Lee, G., Sacks, R., and Eastman, C. M. (2006). Specifying parametric building object behavior (BOB) for a building information modeling system. Automation in Construction, 15(6), 758-776.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a free Linux based Operating System (OS) distributed under the open source license [1].  It is based on the Debian GNU (Linux) distribution and is developed by thousands of people around the world whose aim is to produce the best OS free of charge. It is used both as a desktop OS as well as a server OS.

The main features of Ubuntu are:

• Builds over onto the Linux kernel - this does not allow for viruses to infect the OS, and once set up there is less space for security holes, providing a secure and robust OS
• Supports x86 (32 bit) and 64 bit architectures
• Makes use of Cloud Computing
• Incorporates a lot of the features present in Mac OS and Windows providing robust functionality and stylish user interface
• Can be booted from a “live” CD or a USB drive which makes it invaluable if the current OS is malfunctioning or the PC is infected and there is data to be saved
• Thousands of free apps available
• Comes with Libre Office (an excellent free open source alternative of MS Office)
• Good database of drivers and it recognizes most, sometimes all, of the devices automatically
• Support section on the website with a forum to ask for help and advice on solving problems
• Canonical sponsors the development and provides training for the business [2]
• In comparison to older versions it benefits from Menu Panels and not just the Terminal for user interface
• The Terminal is the more powerful option, sometimes the only one, for solving problems and setting up the system however, it requires a certain level of knowledge
• The support forum [3] provides a lot of information that helps with difficult situations
• You can use the power of the Terminal to create unique settings that are not possible to be done in a non Linux OS and to modify the OS as if it is Open Source
• Once set up Ubuntu’s use as day to day work does not require technical knowledge and it is easy to get used to it.
• Training is offered by Canonical and there are many online resources. The Ubuntu community is quite strong and willing to offer help.

An online preview of the Ubuntu features can be found on the Ubuntu website http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/whats-new. Download the latest version of Ubuntu for trial or installation here:  http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download.

Reference:

[1] http://www.ubuntu.com/

[2] http://www.canonical.com/

[3] http://ubuntuforums.org/

[4] http://www.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/whats-new

[5] http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is a model for delivering information technology services hosted over the Internet. These services are broadly divided into three categories: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). It is called “Cloud Computing” because the information being accessed is found in the "clouds", and does not require a user to be in a specific place to gain access to it.

What can my organisation achieve with cloud computing?

• Lower total cost of ownership: - Pay only for what you use, as you use it.
• Reduce IT hardware, software, and/or services costs: - By placing all the workloads (hardware, software, services) in the cloud, you would not need to manage all these at your site and thus would reduce capital expenditure investments.
• Reduce data centre facility costs: - Having fewer servers would mean a smaller data center which would result in direct savings on real estate, power, and cooling. A data center may not be required for a public cloud model which offers services to small and medium-size businesses.
• Increased Storage: - A cloud may be able to hold more storage than a personal computer.  It takes away the need for the upgrading your own computer memory.
• Mobility: - It allows users to connect even without their own computers, meaning you can do your work from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection and a computer access.

What issues I may face if I move towards Cloud Computing?

• Security: - There is no control over Business Assets (Data) which may have valuable company information. The Physical location of hardware and software is unknown. Site inspections and audits are hard. A recent example of Security Breach is Amazon and Sony Cloud hacking.
• Dependency (Loss of Control): - You may get tied to the financial strength of the other company. You may face Quality problems which you may have no control over.
• Decreased Flexibility: -You would not be able to customize the services you would receive.
• Knowledge: - All the knowledge of the working processes of a Cloud service provider will not be accessible by its users.
• Integration: - Integrating the Cloud services with Printers, local IT equipment etc. may not work.

Which set of business functions can be moved to the cloud?

• IT management and self-service
• Including application development and hosting
• Server infrastructure
• Server virtualization
• Email/messaging
• Team collaboration

Examples of Cloud Computing Services

• (Saas)  Google Docs, Salesforce CRM, Microsoft’s Office 365
• (Paas) Google Apps, Social Networking Apps
• RackSpace Cloud Servers, Cloud Files

References

http://www.microsoft.com/en-GB/cloud/reports/9389.aspx

http://www.slideshare.net/maikelm/disadvantages-of-cloud-computing

http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-computing
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cloud-computing.asp#ixzz1VB7rCYzc

http://www.eval-source.com/blog/2011/05/09/amazon-sony-cloud-hacking-outages-raising-saas-concerns/