A round-up of BIM and digital construction stories that you might have missed in the past month.
Gas-bot reaches 50,000th joint repair benchmark
The CISBOT (Cast Iron Sealing Bot) gas-bot, supplied by ULC Pipeline Robotics, has now sealed 50,000 joints inside live gas mains across the UK and US in the past 14 years. CISBOT has been used by the likes of National Grid, Con Edison, SGN, Cadent and other large utilities. The robot can travel up to 450m from one single excavation in a road.
McLaren Construction appoints cyber security provider
McLaren Construction has appointed Cyber Security Associates (CSA) to provide it with cyber security. CSA’s remit with McLaren is to provide managed on-premise services from its UK security operations centre.
CSA also manages and monitors Microsoft Sentinel, a single, cloud native enterprise solution for attack detection, threat visibility, proactive hunting, and threat response.
Andy Boutle: nima’s new international ambassador
Andy Boutle, head of digital construction at ALEC Engineering and Contracting in Dubai, has become an international ambassador for nima. Prior to his move to the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2021, Boutle was not only head of BIM at Kier Construction, but also engagement co-lead at nima’s previous incarnation, the UK BIM Alliance.
Emma Hooper’s vice-chair role
Emma Hooper, associate director and head of R&D at Bond Bryan Digital, is now vice-chair of buildingSMART UK & Ireland.
Conveyancing turns to ChatGPT
Proptech firm Search Acumen has begun beta testing of ChatGPT within its data-led platform for conveyancers. Using machine learning, Search Acumen has trained ChatGPT to use “vast volumes” of its land and property data, which spans more than 500 data layers.
ChatGPT on Search Acumen’s platform ”can answer both a selection of pre-formed questions as well as bespoke complex and varied conveyancer queries”, the proptech firm claims.
Leica links 3D machine control to Cat’s next gen excavators
Leica Geosystems now offers “simplified” installation of the Leica MC1 3D machine control technology into Caterpillar’s Next Gen Hydraulic excavators.
Agtek launches Reveal
Agtek, part of Hexagon, has launched a software package that allows users to delete unnecessary objects automatically using AI for “faster and more accurate” takeoff and quantity tracking. Known as Reveal, the software is designed specifically for the heavy construction industry for use with point clouds collected from drones or laser scanners.
Dates for your diary
Digital by default: 28 March
The Digital Construction Awards shortlists announced: 9 May
Digital Construction Awards: 4 July
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