Technology and importance

Technology,construction and importance

The definition of technology is science or knowledge put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools.
History of Technology
• Stone Age - The development of simple tools from wood or shards of rock and the discovery of fire, which provided a way to cook food and create heat and light, were technological developments which allowed people to accomplish tasks more easily and quickly.
• Bronze Age - The evolving ability of man to work with metal gave the ability to form stronger tools, and the introduction of the wheel allowed people greater ability to travel and communicate.
• Iron Age - The ability to work with harder metals than copper and tin, to smelt iron, and to be able to remove iron from ore allowed for rapid increases in weapons making, brought the development of tools that benefit civilization and gave greater ability to perform tasks, such as manufacturing and transportation.
• Computers and the Internet - The ability to perform basic thinking processes much faster enables business, science and commerce to proceed much more efficiently.
1. An example of technology is the Internet which has made up-to-date information available to anyone with access in a matter of moments and provides real time information about events around the world.
2. An example of technology was during the Stone Age when the first knife or shovel was made from a piece of stone or obsidian.
3. An example of technology is the products that were invented during the space program, which have allowed engineers and other scientists to use variations of these products and materials in manufacturing.
4. An example of technology is ultra sound, MRI, CAT scans and other forms of nuclear imaging, which allow doctors to see inside the human body using a blending of medical technology, nuclear technology and computer technology.

Types of construction technology

6 Types of Construction Technology You Will Use in the Future

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If it’s not broken don’t fix it, right? Despite technological progress, it’s not uncommon for construction companies to still rely on spreadsheets, manual data entry, and paperwork. Low IT budgets and lack of time for training have contributed to a hesitancy around adopting new methods.

Emerging construction technology isn’t just a fad or a fun new toy. There are real, practical applications and benefits to modernizing your current processes. And if your construction company wants to remain competitive and not be left behind, you’ll need to find ways to integrate new approaches into your strategy and workflows.

These cutting-edge technologies are drastically changing how the industry operates and how future projects will be completed.

Types of Construction Technology Impacting the Industry:

• Mobile Technology
• Drones
• Building Information Monitoring (BIM)
• Virtual Reality and Wearables
• 3D Printing
• Artificial Intelligence

1. Mobile Technology

Mobile technology isn’t just for games anymore. Apps are becoming more of the norm in construction, and for good reason. The increased portability of tablets and smartphones allows for greater communication and the ability to work from anywhere. Integrating this type of technology into your current processes can be much simpler and require a smaller upfront investment while still providing major benefits and boosting productivity in your day to day operations. So if you want to start implementing technology, this is a good place to start.

Mobile technology can help to save time and keep your project moving forward faster by providing real-time updates and making information available between the job site and the office. You can easily access the latest revisions to plans or report a problem to the project manager off site.

2. Drones

Drones are the most widely used emerging construction technology. They can conduct site surveys more quickly and accurately than a crew on the ground and are cheaper than aerial imaging. Their high resolution cameras and the data collected can create interactive 3D or topographical maps and models, and take volume measurements.

Another benefit of using drones is the ability to inspect hard to reach places such as bridges or around tall buildings, and to do it safely. You can also use them to monitor progress on a job site and see how people are working.

3. Building Information Modeling (BIM)

BIM is similar to CAD (computer aided design), but not exactly the same. It is software for 3D design to digitally model what will be built. But it’s capabilities don’t stop there: “It doesn’t just create a visually appealing 3D model of your building—it creates numerous layers of metadata and renders them within a collaborative workflow,” writes Engineering.com. It captures things in a way that paper just can’t.

32.7% of builders are currently using BIM/CAD software, JBKnowledge reports in their 2016 survey. The use of BIM has even been mandated in the UK for government construction projects.

The use of BIM provides space for better collaboration because each person and expertise area can add their piece to the same model, instead of broken out onto multiple versions of a 2D paper drawing. This way, the model evolves immediately as people contribute, streamlining the process and increasing efficiency. BIM also helps with problem solving in the design and planning stages of a project, by automating clash detection and providing a more complete picture of the project.

4. Virtual Reality and Wearables

Virtual reality technology is often used in conjunction with BIM to help better understand complex projects. Think of the potential: you create a building design with BIM and then are able to use VR to actually walk around it. Pretty cool, right? This will give your team, or the client, an even more realistic idea of what the project will look like once completed. Having a more complete grasp on the project before it begins gives you the opportunity to avoid big changes and expensive change orders mid-way through.

Wearables are a construction technology that will have an impact on job site safety and risk management. The Daqri smart helmet, though still in the early stages, is one example. The helmet has an augmented reality display, wide-angle camera, depth sensor and other features that allow workers to collect and see data based on their environment. The helmet gives workers the information and instructions they need to complete a task right on the display, getting the job done faster and with less room for error.

5. 3D Printing

3D printing as a construction technology has the potential to change material sourcing. For prefabrication, materials for a project can be printed and then transported to the job site, ready for use immediately. This can allow you to get materials faster and streamline the process by removing extra steps in the middle.

According to the U.K. Green Building Council, around 15% of materials delivered to construction sites end up in landfills, and the American Institute of Architects believe that building-related waste makes up between 25% to 40% of America’s solid-waste stream, reports Fortune. With 3D printing it will even be possible to print materials right on site, reducing waste and further saving on transportation and storage costs.

One of the current challenges with adoption of this technology is limitations with mass production. Although some 3D printers can produce on a larger scale, they are expensive.

6. Artificial Intelligence

The construction industry is already seeing implementation of artificial intelligence on the job site with the use of robotics for tasks like bricklaying and autonomous equipment that can operate and complete tasks without the need for human interaction.

AI can benefit construction projects through increased safety, improving workflows, and getting jobs done faster and better. “AI can replicate the judgments, decisions, and actions of humans without getting fatigued,” said Dan Kara of ABI Research. It can also identify when information or pieces are missing and ask questions, and use the data it collects.

Importance of technology

In general, when technology attempts to solve problems of matter, energy, space, or time, it is successful. When it attempts to solve human problems of the mind, communication, ability, etc. it fails or backfires dangerously.

For example, the Internet handled a great problem of space—it allowed us to communicate with anybody in the world, instantly. However, it did not make us better communicators. In fact, it took many poor communicators and gave them a massive platform on which they could spread hatred and fear. This isn’t me saying that the Internet is all bad—I’m actually quite fond of it, personally. I’m just giving an example to demonstrate what types of problems technology does and does not solve successfully.

The reason this principle is useful is that it tells us in advance what kind of software purposes or startup ideas are more likely to be successful. Companies that focus on solving human problems with technology are likely to fail. Companies that focus on resolving problems that can be expressed in terms of material things at least have the possibility of success.

There can be some seeming counter-examples to this rule. For example, isn’t the purpose of Facebook to connect people? That sounds like a human problem, and Facebook is very successful. But connecting people is not actually what Facebook does. It provides a medium through which people can communicate, but it doesn’t actually create or cause human connection. In fact, most people I know seem to have a sort of uncomfortable feeling of addiction surrounding Facebook—the sense that they are spending more time there than is valuable for them as people. So I’d say that it’s exacerbating certain human problems (like a craving for connection) wherever it focuses on solving those problems. But it’s achieving other purposes (removing space and time from broad communication) excellently. Once again, this isn’t an attack on Facebook, which I think is a well-intentioned company; it’s an attempt to make an objective analysis of what aspects of its purpose are successful using the principle that technology only solves physical problems.

This principle is also useful in clarifying whether or not the advance of technology is “good.” I’ve had mixed feelings at times about the advance of technology—was it really giving us a better world, or was it making us all slaves to machines? The answer is that technology is neither inherently good nor bad, but it does tend towards evil when it attempts to solve human problems, and it does tend toward good when it focuses on solving problems of the material universe. Ultimately, our current civilization could not exist without technology, which includes things like public sanitation systems, central heating, running water, electrical grids, and the very computer that I am writing this essay on. Technology is in fact a vital force that is necessary to our existence, but we should remember that it is not the answer to everything—it’s not going to make us better people, but it can make us live in a better world.

By oleru Oluebube..