Photo Courtesy of Sierra Nevada Corporation An ORBCOMM second-gen satellite is prepared for system-level vibration tests before launching late this year by SpaceX. Related Links: ORBCOMM Website SpaceX Website A worldwide provider of satellite and cellular equipment-monitoring devices is releasing a self-powered, heavy-equipment tracking piece of hardware that is powered by the sun and sends information from anywhere on earth using a network of private satellites.Rochelle Park, N.J.-based ORBCOMM's GT 1100 won an E-Tech award in May at the 2013 Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association's annual meeting. Its built-in solar panel allows it to send 2,900 messages from anywhere in the

(ENR) In 2005, the late Steve Jobs told Time Magazine, “One company makes the software; the other makes the hardware…It’s not working! The innovation can’t happen fast enough. No one takes responsibility for the user interface. It’s a mess.”Replace the words “software” and “hardware” with “design” and “construction” and Jobs could just as easily have been describing the AEC industry today. The industry should study his solution.Jobs left us with several remarkable concepts, including how to integrate others’ inventions in uniquely delightful and simple ways, and also with the realization that one can far better innovate superior and unimagined solutions

Related Links: Coordinate Metrology Society Laser Scanning for Building Documentation: Illuminating, But Not Necessarily Enlightening The Coordinate Metrology Society is launching the first level-one certification for portable 3D metrology. CMS members are users of coordinate measuring machines, laser trackers, laser radar, photogrammetry and videogrammetry systems, scanners, indoor GPS and laser projection systems.The first exam will be held at CMS's annual conference on July 22-26 in San Diego. Applicants for the test must meet eligibility requirements, sign a code of ethics and pass peer review.Joseph Romano, a principal at Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, Elmwood Park, N.J., and vice president for

Image Courtesy of LFM Software One feature touted by LFM is a real-time, smooth 3D view of raw point-cloud data that eases the visual selection of scanned assets. Related Links: LFM Software Software Automatically Translates Some Point Cloud Data to CAD Drawings Automating the laborious process of manually tagging building infrastructure assets within laser-point cloud data is a Holy Grail ideal that promises to save time and money. A recently updated suite of software eases that manual workflow and allows hardware and software platforms from various vendors to work in conjunction."We go straight from the laser-scan data to intelligent 3D

By Luke Abaffy The 360 Panorama app for iPhone and Android allows for not only panorama shots but actual 360-degree views of the user's surroundings. Related Links: 360 Panorama App Interior Shot of St. John's Baptist Church in Midtown NYC. Google uses 360-degree cameras mounted on vans that drive the streets of the world to collect data. The data populates Google's "street view" feature in Google Maps. The mobile app 360 Panorama can deliver the same interactive, 360-degree view from a mobile device as well as streamline the process of sharing detailed site photos. "We take many site photos and then

ENR's Construction Science Fiction Project is open for submissions Related Links: Science Fiction Prototyping Designing the Future with Science Fiction" Suggested Readings ENR Science Fiction Project Submission and Release Form Check Out A Submission: The Trouble With Bots In response to requests, the deadline for submitting entries to ENR's Construction Science Fiction Contest has been extended for one week to August 7, from the original deadline of July 31. Writers, you now have until midnight, August 7, to send your stories in. Click here for the submission form. First, second and third place cash prizes will be awarded to authors of

Photo Courtesy of Conti Construction Corp. Contractors survey the heating, electricity and hot water of a Superstorm Sandy-ravaged home by using iPad minis and e-Builder, a construction program management system. Screenshot Courtesy of eBuilder Inc. Related Links: e-Builder To define the extent of Superstorm Sandy's damage to residential properties, New York City and the Federal Emergency Management Administration last fall issued a request for proposals for a rapid repair program. One of the winning contractors now credits its use of a mobile construction program management app and a fleet of iPad minis for its ability to meet the city's exacting

The attendees this year's COFES (Congress Of the Future of Engineering Software) in Scottsdale, Ariz. last weekend witnessed examples of across-the-board engineering brilliance that will transform the garment industry, and which have implications for many industries, including construction.One presenter demonstrated a smartphone application that captures a complete set of body measurements by taking two pictures of a person fully clothed, and turning those pictures into a 3D model. Another presenter demonstrated a new weaving method called DPOL (Direct Pattern on Loom) which only weaves the cloth needed for a pattern, thus eliminating the 30% loss generated by weaving bolts of

Related Links: Top Apps Recommended by FutureTech Readers and ENR Editors AEC App Showcase by Case/SOM Nine Noteworthy Apps for Construction Something big is happening in construction technology. It goes beyond the recent rampant growth of smart devices on jobsites and the explosive development of apps around the globe. It even goes beyond the growth of cloud computing, helping to manage large project files with faster networks that connect far-flung work crews.As big as these trends are, an even bigger shift is happening: Collaboration and web services are becoming the norm on more and more projects and transforming how the

By Tom Sawyer IBM's Bartlett called for urgent action to reduce building energy waste By Tom Sawyer Rudolf and Sletten's Chris Jadwin speaks with EarthCam representatives. Related Links: The Rise of the Super Subs Collaboration Apps Top ENR Survey Results Construction practitioners are eager to embrace technology to improve the industry, but they are hungry for information that can help them see how.More than 300 construction professionals turned out for ENR's FutureTech Conference, held on March 14 in San Francisco, looking for just that kind of information. It was the fourth ENR-sponsored event in the past two years on the