Design Power Inc. (DPI) and ASD Software, Inc.- Applications of AI to Pipe Routing

Pipe routing is a labor intensive and repetitive engineering task that often requires more that 50% of the engineering time during detail design of a process plant. It involves considerable knowledge of engineering requirements, construction practice and maintenance needs for access to valves and other piping components. Both Design Power and ASD have developed automated solutions to this task that can dramatically reduce time and cost with equal to or greater quality because these solutions incorporate "best practices" that have been captured from experienced piping engineers.

DPI and ASD adopted algorithms developed at CIFE for searching available space for feasible pipe routs. This allowed them to optimize and improve the efficiency of their pipe routing software. Their pipe routing software is now being used by a number of large E/C organizations in the US and abroad.

CH2M Hill - Haztimator Site Remediation Design System

CH2M Hill is an engineering consulting firm specializing in environmental, water and waste and other public infrastructure problems. They have offices in many US and overseas locations. This firm has done considerable work in site remediation projects and worked with Professor Ray Levitt of the CE Department to develop a system to assist in this domain of their work. The system is called Haztimator, and uses Design++ from Design Power, Inc. to model a given site that has a problem with contamination of the ground water (say a leaking gas tank or other waste product). The system uses available information about the site (soils, degree of contamination at each level within the site, nature of contaminates, acquifer characteristics) together with information about the desired remediation goals to do the following:

1. Analyze the site to develop a list of feasible technologies that can be used for remediation.

2. For each feasible alternative, develop a detailed design of the equipment that would be required and the time necessary to reach the desired remediation goals.

3. Calculate the construction and life cycle costs for each design solution.

4. For the least cost solution, generate a 3D CAD model of the solution (using AutoCAD) and a cost report showing each breakdown of the construction and life cycle cost. This 3D CAD model is active in the sense that if any component of the plant is moved or changed, the cost is automatically updated in the estimate report.

The knowledge of appropriate site remediation engineering was furnished by an engineer from CH2M Hill. This knowledge can be enhanced over time as new experience is gained from actual experience. In this way, knowledge from all parts of the company can be captured and used

Dillingham Construction Co. - Simulation of Construction Schedule

Dillingham Construction Co. is a large construction company with headquarters in Pleasanton, CA. CIFE has been working with the Building Division on a large hospital retrofit project. The goals of this project were to develop an automated link between a construction schedule and a 3D CAD model of the hospital facilities (existing and new). Over a five year period, Dillingham will tear down a portion of the current facilities and build new modules. At all times there must be high quality support for all hospital services as well as access for emergency, patient and construction vehicles. This posed very demanding scheduling problems that had to be clearly understood by hospital personnel (doctors, nurses and administrators). Traditional CPM scheduling tools produced bar charts and network diagrams that are difficult for a non-construction user to understand, particularly when there are complex physical relationships that must be expressed, e.g., the location of the new surgery wing and how it will be serviced from older hospital facilities. To overcome these problems, Dillingham came to CIFE to develop a simulation of a construction schedule that would show an accurate representation of the new and old facilities for each day of the project. This was accomplished by building a 3D CAD model using AutoCAD and linking this model to a Primavera schedule using special software from Jacobus, Inc. The result then could be shown on a Silicon Graphics workstation using Walkthru software developed by Bechtel Corp. This project has a generated a great deal of interest by the hospital and contractor personnel who are using it to evaluate alternative construction sequences, review design change implications and the impacts of construction delays. The 3D CAD model may also become the starting point for the computer aided facility management (CAFM) system used by the hospital when the retrofit is completed.

Hollandsche Beton Groep NV (HBG) - Automated Design Systems

HBG is the largest design and construction firm in the Netherlands. It has a wide range of activities in building, waterfront structures, bridges, housing etc. This firm sent two of its software engineers to the CIFE Summer Program where they were exposed to Design++, and knowledge-based design system that links AutoCAD to an object oriented rule based system. This system is available from Design Power, Inc.

The first application developed with Design++ was a system for designing an apartment that allowed the user to select from a series of layout and interior design options, generate a 3D model of the selected design and then receive a cost estimate. If the client decided to order this design, the program calculates a complete quantity takeoff, generates input to the casting yard for the precast foundation components and schedules the production of all prefabricated components. In addition, all necessary drawings are generated. The completed apartment can be rapidly and efficiently built at a considerable saving to the client.

The second application involved the use of the same system to automate the engineering analysis of sheet piling work for structures that required excavations below the water table (almost all do in the Netherlands). This required considerable formalization of both engineering and construction knowledge coupled with input about the site conditions and construction requirements. Work that had previously required two weeks could now be completed in one day using the Design++ application. This automation of engineering design has resulted in a strategic advantage for HBG and the ability to market this engineering service to others. The program is now being improved and implemented on a larger number of projects.

Intel Corporation - Use of Intelligent Real-Time Maintenance Management (IRTMM)

Intel Corp. is a the largest manufacturer of semiconductor integrated circuits (chips) for micro computers and other applications. They have built a number (11) of large plants where these chips are manufactured. Because any unexpected downtime at these plants is so damaging to their production schedule, great importance is placed on reliable performance so that as little time as possible is lost. Intel has been working with CIFE to evaluate the use of a research project called Intelligent Real Time Maintenance Management (IRTMM). This system uses the KAPPA AI shell from Intellicorp to model the behavior of a process or power plant using software objects to model the various plant components (pipes, valves, pumps, etc.) and their connectivity. This model is then used for the following functions:

1. Situation assessment (diagnose real-time inputs from the monitoring equipment in the plant and also from manual inputs) and then use this data to determine the potential causes of problem symptoms. These alternative diagnoses are presented to the plant operator for review with the reasons for and against each hypothesis.

2. Planning of the maintenance actions that would be needed to repair or replace the failing component. These plans are based on the models of each component. These system also identifies opportunities for repair of other components that will also be available for repair work because of the shut down of the particular plant area (within the same isolation boundary).

3. Value analysis to calculate the best time to do the required repair or replacement work. The system has information about the value of the output, failure rates and todate hours of the components that are failing. It uses this to calculate the cost of doing the repair now versus waiting until a later time and taking a greater risk of a failure. It uses a simulation approach to generate alternative solutions and then displays the results for selected times. This makes it easy to test the impact of changing input parameters such as failure distributions, cost of unplanned failure, value of the output over time, etc.

The IRTMM system can be applied to any type of plant since the concepts are completely general. Intel Corp. is evaluating the feasibility of using this approach on its next large fabrication plant.

Timberline Software, Inc. - Model-based Estimating System

Timberline Software develops applications for estimating (Precision), cost accounting, leasing, and a number of related functions. CIFE has worked closely with this firm to assist them in developing links to 2D CAD (AutoCAD and others) and scheduling (Primavera). In addition, CIFE has used Precision Estimating in its research and teaching. The use of model-based estimating was a concept that was used extensively at CIFE prior to its use at Timberline. This concept involves the use of parameters of a facility such as the area, height, building type, etc. being used to generate more detailed work methods that can then be used for estimating the cost of construction. The basic building parameters are used in the estimating model to generate a detailed estimate of the work packages necessary to construct the building. The logic required for this generation is contained in the model created by the estimator using the rule language developed by Timberline. These models can be quite elaborate or very simple as required for a given type of building.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. - Automated Design System for Electrical Substation

PG&E worked with CIFE to design an electrical transformer station using Design++ to model current engineering practice and generate appropriate drawings, quantity takeoff and cost estimate. This project resulted in a prototype that allowed much faster generation of designs. It was not implemented because PG&E decided to use outside contractors for the design and construction of all their facilities.