Western Australian teams “fly” ahead with Virtual Reality
05 October 2018
Cardno: Cardno
teams in
Western Australia (WA) have added new technologies into their
toolkit by combining the power of existing
BIM capabilities with
Virtual
Reality (VR) tools for the structural design of commercial and
residential
building projects and landscaped public spaces.
The teams’ work means that Cardno has become one of the first companies
in the West to combine tools like
Autodesk Revit – which helps
architects and engineers create 3D models of
buildings and services – with VR to create an immersive design
experience.
Manager for Infrastructure and Property in WA, Geoff Pereira, said that
adapting the latest Virtual Reality
technologies has improved the way in
which the teams collaborate and communicate with clients.
“Communication is critical to the design process and having the ability
to visually present complex engineering concepts to our clients, design
consultants and contractors has opened up a wealth of opportunity,”
Geoff said.
“When clients walk through a VR simulation they can instantly understand
our concepts, design intent and the issues which may impact construction
or building use,” he said.
“A set of VR goggles allow us to walk through the entire building,
visually checking element by element and connection by connection – just
as you would in a physical site inspection.”
It isn’t just the structural engineers who are making the most of the
new technology – Cardno’s WA Landscape Architecture section is also
testing VR in conjunction with Revit and other modelling
software such
as AutoCAD 3D and Rhino 3D.
“VR simulation of lighting allows landscape architects and their clients
to experience the spaces, nature parks and playgrounds they have
designed at different times of the day,” Geoff said.
The Structures team recently integrated the Revit model with the VR tool
for one of the team’s major projects; the iFly indoor skydiving facility
located in Belmont, Western Australia.
“Combining Revit and VR increased our ability to visualise the design
and offered a number of opportunities to optimise the design process as
well as enabling coordination and clash detection,” Geoff said.
“Integration of complex mechanical systems with the structure on iFly’s
indoor skydiving facility, within the tolerances required to achieve
aeronautical performance in the flight zone, would not have been
possible without the availability of the 3D Revit interface,” he said.
iFLY utilises state-of-the-art SkyVenture patented aeronautical
technology to allow flyers to experience free-flight in a safe,
controlled environment using a vertical wind stream of air up to
250km/h. Cardno used three dimensional drafting software to coordinate
proprietary indoor skydiving equipment with the structural design of the
complex which helped deliver cost and schedule savings for the client.
The Structures team believes that time and energy spent implementing VR
technology into the team’s operations has been well spent and will
prove more and more useful in years to come.
“As costs come down, more people will be able to interact with buildings
as they are being designed and will get a better understanding of
architectural or engineering concepts,” Geoff said.
“The use of VR is revolutionising the consultancy environment and is the
future of design. We believe that integration with 3D tools like Revit
will become the norm in the next decade.”
--ENDS--
Source: Cardno - www.cardno.com
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