What Does the Future Hold for the Construction Industry?

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What does the future of technology hold for construction? Will construction eventually become autonomous, too?

It’s safe to say there will be major changes in the construction field as artificial intelligence and IoT technologies advance. Manual brick-and-mortar building will be a thing of the past. Instead, advanced automation technologies will offload tasks that used to require hundreds of hours of dangerous, back-breaking labor.

Self-Repairing Concrete

Concrete that fixes itself? Yes, it’s already in the works! This “smart” concrete would be able to seal its own cracks and prolong the life of the concrete. Why would this be useful? Concrete is the most used construction material in the world as well as the second most consumed substance on the planet, next to water. Though it’s cheap and can be used for a variety of purposes, concrete is prone to cracking under extreme heat or extreme cold. Having the technology available for the concrete to simply heal itself would keep structures stable for longer and have huge environmental benefits.

How would the concrete “heal” itself? The concrete would be embedded with tiny capsules that, upon sensing damage, would rupture and release a substance that would fill in the crack and harden. Do you think this would be a useful technology in construction?

Pollution-Filtering Bricks

Bricks have been fundamental in construction since the Industrial Revolution, a time when pollution first started to become serious. How could bricks help combat pollution? A new type of brick is in development—it would function as an air filter of sorts for the home or building. As the air filters through the brick, the brick would capture and deposit pollutants in the wall’s frame. As a result, the brick would deliver cleaner air inside the structure.

3-D Printed Houses

It seems like just about anything can be 3-D printed these days. From organs to artificial limbs, the possibilities of 3-D printing are seemingly endless. And now, the future of home building is also heading toward a 3-D printing revolution. Is 3-D printing the future of sustainable housing?

A 3-D printer would be able to build the walls and foundation of a house in a few days rather than the weeks and months it would take to build manually. It would create and print the materials off-site and then assemble the house on-site at a later date. 3-D printing not only dramatically speeds up the construction of a house, but it limits construction waste, reduces scraps, and reduces the costs associated with the transport of materials. Technology could also be developed, so 3-D printers could make houses out of sustainable, renewable materials.

3-D printing is already being used to complete full-scale construction projects.

Robotic Swarm Construction

Robotic swarm construction was inspired by the humble termite. Termites are able to work together with hundreds of other termites to build huge mud structures. However, these termites aren’t receiving instructions from anyone. They are working according to their unique, genetically programmed behavior that is imprinted upon their DNA.

This inspired robotic swarm construction, in which small robots “swarm” and work together to build a structure. As with termites, each robot would be programmed to complete a specific task and each robot would be equipped with sensors to stay out of each other’s way. Robotic swarm construction has the ability to combat labor shortages and housing shortages, perform construction quickly and safely, and prevent construction-related injuries.

 

What do you think about these innovative materials and new technologies? Which do you think would work best in a circular city? Comment below!

 

Tune into the next episode of the Prefecture Podcast to hear these topics discussed in-depth!

Traveling in a Circular City

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In the next Prefecture Podcast, we are diving into the circular city’s transportation and medical sectors and how KAILE, our automated AI system, will be involved in both.

How would transportation change in a circular city?

In circular city models, transportation is often re-imagined as rapid, clean, emissionless, silent, and easily accessible to the entire populous. In circular cities, congested streets and stand-still traffic would be a thing of the past. Circular city transport emphasizes adopting electric transportation in both private and public sectors and shifting to micromobility (e.g. e-scooters, e-bikes, etc.).

And we can’t discuss transportation without a circular city’s unique internal infrastructure. Given a circular city’s design concept with radial sectors and circular belts, people would be able to easily return to their destinations without taking the same route back, unlike linear designs. Citizens within the residential belt would all be equidistant to the city center and other locations.

A key principle of circular city transport is shared mobility, or an “as needed” access to transport for the entire populous. This could include electric car-sharing, shared autonomous vehicles, microtransit like electric bikes and scooters, shared-microtransit, and public transport options.

Some transportation technology envisioned in smart cities includes maglev, or magnetic levitation, trains and electric bus platoons that travel on electric grids. Maglev transportation uses two sets of magnets, one to repel and push the train off the tracks, and another to move the train forward. Autonomous electric buses could form platoons, or follow each other for short distances and easily split and reconnect on an electric grid.  Another type of transport tech is the transveyor, which functions like an autonomous conveyor belt that moves horizontally, vertically, and radially around the circular city.

What types of transportation do you envision in a circular city?

How could circular city transportation advance medical needs and emergency services?

The typical circular city design generally features a central dome, in which core educational buildings, research centers, health or childcare facilities, or communications and networking systems can be equally accessed by all in the heart of the city. The circular city’s people-first design makes medical centers and services equally available and equidistant to all residents living in the residential belt.

These short, equal distances make it easier to advance and optimize medical response and emergency transportation. Some even envision vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts as the primary emergency response transportation, in which the aircraft can hover, take off, and land vertically.

 Tune into the next Prefecture Podcast for a more in-depth discussion transportation, medical services, and KAILE!

 

Can’t wait to start the discussion? Drop a comment below!

Circular Living: Agriculture and Water

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The need for new, sustainable approaches to agriculture and food production is becoming increasingly clear to many. The question of how we will continue to feed ourselves if ecosystems deteriorate is no small problem. How could a circular city address current agricultural difficulties so food production is more sustainable and resilient? For its next topic, the Prefecture Podcast is diving into sustainable agricultural practices, clean water, and how its AI hub KAILE could help manage both in a circular city.

Alternative indoor farming methods like hydroponics, aeroponics, and aquaponics skip soil entirely. Instead, farmers replace soil with nutrient-rich water to support the roots of the plants. But why grow without soil in the first place? This agricultural practice may seem strange, but it is quite revolutionary because: it allows people to farm anywhere in the world, to farm anytime of the year without risks of inclement weather, and to harvest higher yields using far fewer resources. This type of farming is specifically advantageous in a circular city system because it solves the problem of having to import food from different areas. As a result, cities can have hyper-local food systems and the opportunity to grow “out-of-season” vegetables and fruits year round—enhancing nourishment and food security.

Aquaponics integrates fish and plants into the same environment. It begins with growing a fish farm and using the principles of the nitrogen cycle. The waste from the fish—once the solids are removed— is converted into nitrates by bacteria and microbes. The nutrient-rich water then feeds the plants the necessary nutrients needed to thrive, and the plants refilter the water for the fish.

Hydroponics is another popular farming method for urban environments because it grows plants without using soil. With this method, plant roots are suspended in nutrient-rich water in order to grow. Unlike aquaponics and hydroponics, aeroponics removes the need for a water reservoir. Aeroponics grows plants suspended in the air and uses a mist environment to water them. Essentially, this type of innovative farming sustains plants with nothing more than nutrient-rich mist while roots are free to dangle and grow in the open air.

All of these sustainable farming methods grow more food in small spaces, which is inherently advantageous in urban environments and growing populations. In addition, these farming methods are incredibly water-efficient and use water responsibly. Compared to our current irrigation systems, it is estimated it would require about 90 percent less water.

And though these farming structures are inherently “man made,” they allow organic growth without the need for chemical pesticides, lessening negative environmental and health impacts. In addition, once these methods are up and running, they are said to grow faster and have higher yields than traditional farming processes.

Tune into Prefecture Go’s next podcast for a more in-depth discussion!

How do Smart Power Grids Differ from Traditional Power Grids?

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K.A.I.L.E (Kinetic Artificial Intelligent Learning Environment) is our automated AI system that manages, monitors, and regulates all the functions and operations of the circular city from transportation to agriculture. KAILE is the mainframe API data center that runs the power grids, transportation, robotic construction, health, and agriculture sectors. KAILE collects real-time data and creates algorithms that best provides resources to each individual of that populous.

On the next Prefecture Podcast, we are diving into KAILE and smart power grids. Smart power grids are essential in the digital transformation and innovation found in circular city models. How will smart power grids differ from traditional power grids? And what solutions and improvements would it make?

A traditional power grid carries energy from a power plant through a series of interconnected power lines to the consumers. Traditional power grids have almost no storage capacity, and it is purely demand driven. The energy is produced and delivered according to real-time energy demands. As a result, when there is increased strain or disruptions on the grid, blackouts can occur. Consequently, the power then has to be rerouted manually, which can take a long time depending on the complexity of the malfunction.

Smart power grids seek to solve these problems found in traditional power grids. Smart power grids enable a two-way flow of electricity and data. They will be highly sensor-driven with Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and advanced analytics provided by super AI and machine learning—which is where KAILE will come into play.

KAILE will distribute, help keep track of the energy consumed, and provide usage metrics to consumers as well as possible solutions if they need to take measures to reduce their energy consumption. IoT sensors across the grid will allow consumers to be more active in their own energy consumption and actually see the energy they consume. Do you think this type of data-sharing technology would encourage sustainable energy practices amongst the populous since they could monitor their usage?

Smart power grids are also self-healing, meaning they have the ability to detect and respond to any problems or disruptions and would ensure quick recoveries without the need for time-consuming manual rerouting. This type of self-reliance would increase energy stability, efficiency, and reliability for the population.

Another problem smart power grids would solve is storage capacity. A smart power grid would allow for energy to be stored and released when necessary, moving away from traditional demand-driven energy production. As a result, this would open the doors to using more renewable energy sources. Since some renewable energy sources have inconsistent availability, such as sun or wind, the ability to store and save that renewable energy and use it later would be a tremendous plus.

Overall, smart power grids bring increased resilience to interconnected power networks by preventing outages or disturbances. It optimizes energy, allows for renewable energy sources to be efficiently stored and used, and ensures that quality power to available to the entire populous reliably. In addition, IoT sensor technology and AI like KAILE allows the individual energy consumer to become actively involved in their energy consumption. They can monitor their energy consumption data, analytics, and find possible solutions if they need to take measures to reduce their energy usage.

Tune in for a more in-depth discussion on KAILE and power grids on the next Prefecture Podcast!

The Role of Network Servers in the Circular City

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How can a circular city be achieved? What technologies, policies, internal infrastructure, and models need to be put in place for it to be successful? Prefecture Podcast is diving into these topics and more in the coming weeks, starting with the network servers and technologies needed to support complex artificial intelligence systems and communications infrastructure.

K.A.I.L.E (Kinetic Artificial Intelligent Learning Environment) is our automated AI system that manages, monitors, and regulates all the functions and operations of the circular city from transportation to agriculture. KAILE is the mainframe API data center that runs the power grids, transportation, robotic construction, health, and agriculture sectors. KAILE collects real-time data and creates algorithms that best provides resources to each individual of that populous.

Digital technologies and networks, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), will track the journey of products, materials, and objects and provide resulting data that measures the circular economy’s success and even spark new ideas for improvement. These digital landscapes and networks that will support comprehensive AI systems like KAILE offer circular economies the opportunity to strengthen the connectivity between data, physical objects, and people.

Circular cities depend on IoT, or physical objects connected to a network. The network enables the data gathering from those physical objects, devices, or materials being tracked. AI and IoT will allow us to analyze data with greater efficiency, accuracy, and with greater detail. IoT technology requires a vast network of widely distributed sensors and control devices. As a result, both wired and wireless networks may be used to connect the sensor with their control systems, which will in turn gather, store, and process that data. The server, storage, and network devices reside within the city’s central data center—which will process and support the millions of devices and tasks across the grid.

Tune in to Prefecture’s upcoming podcasts for a more in-depth discussion on KAILE’s five city industry, innovation, and lore.

Robotics, Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things

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The term Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a large network of physical objects, or “things,” that are embedded with sensors, software, or other technology that can exchange data or otherwise communicate with other devices or systems over the Internet. A pervasive example of IoT in our current culture can be seen in wearables, such as smart watches and other fitness trackers. These devices continuously sense movement, communicate the data to another device, and provide fitness insights based on the information it tracks.

Robotics is similar to IoT because it also interacts with sensors, processes data, and responds to requests. However, the main difference is IoT works within a virtual environment while the robotics field works within a physical environment through robots that usually participate in production activities.

Machine learning (ML) is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that allows software to become more accurate at predicting certain outcomes without being specifically programmed to do so. Machine learning algorithms use statistics to find patterns in large amounts of data. It is used in filtering search engine results, filtering email spam, or websites making personalized recommendations.

Robotics, machine learning, and IoT are all evolving and working together. Since IoT generates massive amounts of data from millions of devices and machine learning is powered by data and generates insight from it, combining the two has the possibility to deliver insights that have otherwise been hidden in data. Machine learning for IoT could be used to project trends, detect irregularities, and more.  The development of the Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) could lead to autonomous networks capable of carrying out tasks in the physical world. The combination of IoT, machine learning, and robotics offers great potential to carry out complex physical tasks over smart networks.

What possibilities do you see when combining these technologies? Tune in to Prefecture’s next podcast for a more in-depth discussion.

What is V.A.R.K?

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V.A.R.K is an acronym that stands for Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic sensory modes of learning. The VARK model suggests these are the four main types of learners.

Visual learners prefer the depiction of information in maps, diagrams, charts, graphs, and other graphics that replace words. Aural or Auditory learners prefer information that is heard or spoken. These individuals learn best from lectures, group discussions, speaking, online chats or discussion boards, and generally being able to talk things through. Individuals who learn best from reading and writing prefer information to be displayed as words in reports, worksheets, study guides, essays, or written assignments. These learners also prefer reading textbooks, taking written notes, and making lists. Kinesthetic learners prefer simulated experience or real life applications. This could include physical demonstrations, experiments, simulations, videos, movies, case studies, or hands-on activities.

Students may feel drawn to one particular learning style or enjoy a mix. Understanding your own learning preference can help you create study strategies that benefit you the most. What learning style do you prefer? Tune in to Prefecture’s next podcast for a more in-depth discussion on VARK.

To learn more about VARK and your personal learning style, visit https://vark-learn.com.