A round-up of BIM and digital construction stories that you might have missed in the past seven days.
Spot goes military
Boston Dynamics’ Spot the robot dog has been tested by Ministry of Defence coders. The tests encompassed non-offensive tasks to protect troops by searching and scanning or delivering medicine or food into hazardous or disaster areas.
Colonel Dan Anders-Brown, customer lead at Defence Equipment & Support, said: “The coders have confirmed what we already knew. These are highly capable systems and could significantly reduce risk to life of our soldiers by removing the requirement to carry out dangerous activity in the modern battlespace.”
Value-based procurement standard
With the Construction Innovation Hub’s Value Toolkit now complete and launched, the first iteration of the associated value-based procurement standard is out for consultation. Interested parties can review BSI Flex 390: Built environment – Value-based decision-making – Specification and give their feedback by 18 July.
CSCS Smart Check app updated
CSCS has updated its Smart Check app to be able to scan all but four of the 38 card schemes displaying the CSCS logo, Construction Management reports. CSCS Smart Check launched in April this year to allow those responsible for checking cards to verify more than two million cards using a single app on their smartphone or tablet.
The latest update increases the number of cards that can be checked, as well as adding an improved process for reporting potentially fraudulent cards.
Esri UK launches GIS website for students
Esri UK has launched a careers in GIS website, designed to inspire more students to study geography and GIS at GCSE, A-level and degree level. The website highlights the “rewarding and exciting careers” that these subjects can lead to. It contains stories from real professionals working in GIS, including experts at Costain, Skanska, Arcadis, and Heliguy.
Katie Hall, education manager at Esri UK, said: “The geospatial sector is crying out for new people – particularly with the growth of environmental and climate change-related industries. Learning geography and GIS skills can help students find fulfilling careers, empowering them to make the world a better place.”
AI construction waste start-up wins award
Recycleye, the AI- and robotics-enabled refuse sorting start-up, has won the European Patent Office’s inaugural Young Inventors prize. The start-up, founded in 2019 by two Imperial College London graduates, Peter Hedley and Victor Dewulf, pairs an AI recognition system with a robotic sorting arm to replace human pickers on material recycling facility lines.
Tata Steel app highlights carbon savings
Tata Steel’s Hollow Sections business has updated the design app for its Celsius hot-finished, high-strength hollow sections: the app now includes data on carbon emissions for each section, to demonstrate the carbon benefits of section choice.
Dates for your diary
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