AI and machine learning (ML) tech for the golden thread, digital design and 3D printing are the targets for the next round of Innovate UK funding. Those selected for the funding will work with Foster + Partners and Buro Happold.
The High Growth AI Accelerator is a 14-week programme for UK-based startups, scale-ups and SMEs to help them validate and develop ethical and desirable AI and ML deep-tech solutions. Those selected to take part will work with industry experts to develop their ideas.
While the programme welcomes proposals “spanning the entire spectrum of the built environment value chain, encompassing areas such as planning and design, construction and engineering, building performance optimisation, and sustainability”, applicants are encouraged to choose a particular challenge.
Foster + Partners leads the design and compliance challenges strand, which includes the golden thread. This challenge seeks AI/ML proposals that can track, trace, and comply with project-specific requirements, and alleviate the data entry burden by:
- creating application-specific plugins (e.g. for Revit) for automatic logging and project-specific data collection; and
- developing a unified system to automatically aggregate and tag data from different sources, ensuring a single source of truth for safety compliance.
Foster + Partners is also interested in the automation of architectural drawings.
Buro Happold leads the integration and collaboration challenges strand, which asks:
- How can digital design workflows be integrated across diverse disciplines and project stages to enhance collaboration and efficiency?
- How can the efficiency of industrialised construction design be improved by integrating manufacturing and assembly knowledge from the outset?
Streamlining 3D printing
Advanced engineering materials group Versarien leads the 3D printing strand, which asks:
- How can the process of generating 3D construction printing scripts be streamlined to improve design efficiency and accessibility for designers?
- How can the durability and performance of 3D-printed structures be improved by understanding key material characteristics and incorporating sensor data?
Registration opens on 21 January and closes on 23 February. The winners will be announced on 21 March. The programme will start on 9 April and finish on 11 July.
The announcement of the accelerator follows the launch of the government’s action plan for AI. The initiative seeks to make the UK a global leader in AI and includes plans for a national data library, the identification of AI growth zones for the rapid build of data centres, and increased computing capacity.
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