Intelligent Services and Tools for Concurrent Engineering

ISTforCE Core Services ISTforCE core services are located at http://www.ISTforCE.com/db/services/. The core services are implemented as a database containing these tables: - people - People - companies- Companies they work for - services - Services they provide/use/like - projects - Project in which the above are involved - roles - Roles people play in projects - toolbox - Toolboxes that they have The database may be used either by a human using a Web browser or by other services. The intended human users of the core services are:

- application service provider, - chief information officer, - project manager, - engineers and architects. Users like architects and engineers are expected to use these services only to enter their personal information and preferences and not to use them to carry out engineering work, as they do in construction portals. In this respect the core services are not a portal. They could be a back end - support - of a portal, but the end user's portal functionality is not implemented. Portal's function have the launcher and the personal planning system (PPS). End-Users and Innovative features Core services (CIS) are providing thin, project web independent directory services on that key information that need to be stored in a centralized way. Key features: 1. Thin. The services are providing only the essential information. 2. Portable. The services may run on any platform including Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, Windows, Mac. 3. Open. Open source and free tools are used to in its construction. Full source code is available to the implementor. 4. Compatible CIS is using plaform and vendor independent standards such as XML. I may be accessed form any platform.

The Service Launcher is a a customisable software that enables the invocation of remote engineering applications. It fulfils the following objectives : - Provide a local client for platform and services access - Control and filter access to project and services, based on user identification - Manage e-Commerce preliminary steps required to use a rented service It includes the functionality to : - provide uniform access to local and remote applications - enable local clients to use the platform services - be used to configure & control the access to services

Within the European ISTforCE project (IST-1999-11508), preliminary development of a Process Matrix for the building construction industry was undertaken. The matrix provides a convergence of many existing but incompatible process models into a single high-level model. The Process Matrix is a table that sets down reference activities and, for each activity, identifies the project participants (actors) sending and receiving information. The information being sent and received for each activity is incorporated. The Process Matrix considers that communication occurs between actors fulfilling roles, whereby the same actual actor may fulfil multiple roles. An activity has a typical form of communication indicated e.g. 3D model, 2D drawing, cost plan, schedule, list etc. Each activity represents a single business process and the information communication shows the end result of the activity. Activities may be broken down further using more detailed approaches such as UML activity diagrams. A primary purpose of the Process Matrix is to support the development of a single reference process model by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) and to support development of a road map for their Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model.

Within the European ISTforCE project (IST-1999-11508), preliminary development of a Structural Extension Model for the building construction industry was undertaken. The Structural Extension Model describes the neutral definition necessary to exchange structural analysis, dimensioning and detailing information. The Structural Extension Model is an Information Model to describe a Product Model of the structural domain. The information being sent and received from architectural CAD and from structural analysis and design packages are addressed. The Structural Extension Model is also an input into international standardization work.
It is intended to influence the standardization within the AEC industry sector. As such it is designed to be an extension to the currently most influential Information Model in AEC the IFC standard. The Structural Extension Model has been provided to the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI), the standardization body of IFC, to provide the integration basis for the next release of IFC the IFC2x2 information model within the structural domain. The submission has been accepted and it is anticipated that the Structural Extension Model will be included in the IFC2x2 and implemented by various architectural and structural CAD packages in Europe.

MAS/EOS is a middleware service, that provides customisable interfaces for direct user-friendly product data access and management, as well as additional advanced services that enable reasoning about the models. It can be used both within the ISTforCE platform, together with PDS, or as a standalone server service. The service provides three use levels: 1. an access service to a broad range of Product Data Servers, due to the various interfaces the MAS supports and a plug-in framework for new interfaces; 2. a local Product Data Server and Logistics System to manage personal versions of downloaded product models, from one or more projects; 3. an Engineering Ontology Service (EOS) for ontology-based product model browsing. The integrated Engineering Ontology Service enables the translation of 'raw' IFC data to the vocabulary and semantics familiar to engineers and architects. Thus, MAS can be applied by end users after short learning times. The software runs as a prototype, based on the Enterprise Java Beans Technology. It is adjusted especially to the IFC 2x specification, but most of the services are developed generically, and are therefore prepared for further IFC versions or other emerging product data models. MAS supports several interfaces to other services as follows: - to Engineering Applications on the basis of Java RMI-IIOP or CORBA with appropriate transactional support; - to Web Browsers, on the basis of HTML via HTTP, rendered from ontology and/or IFC-based dedicated XML data by Servlets and JSPs; - to the CESP Information Server on the basis of XML; - to the Project Data Server(s), currently on the basis of an FTP-based API, ensuring maximum efficiency for the exchange of bulk product data, such as STEP physical files.

The Code Checking Service (CCS) is an (on-line) Web based service offering an automated checking tool for projects, currently validated through to the development of a practical software application in the area of accessibility of public buildings to disable people. The CCS can be used provided projects data are available as IFC models (produced by current CAD applications this is in order to deal with the variety of data formats existing in the CAD tools world). This tool is made of a core engine, where rule bases implementing a given regulation code can be plugged by third-party providers. The result of the process is then a verification report, listing unverified rules, together with offending items in the project, and in case coverage limitations due to insufficient information found in the submitted IFC data. In addition to this operational function, the presented tool allows the user to browse documentation related to the rules, such as extracts of official documents, short videos, pictures, and so on, which have been packaged with the rule bases. Providers of rule bases are of course welcome to provide such enriched contents, in addition to official documents, to assist end-users in the application of regulations, thus facilitating the dissemination and acceptance of involved regulations. Potential/Relevance: - Possibility for clients, administrations or regulation organisations to check submitted projects against regulations to be applied. - Ease of checking if a project complies with all relevant regulations (elaboration and validation steps): aspects of building construction are today regulated by codes, either national or, with the broadening of the market, European. These codes address concerns such as security, usability, accessibility, etc.. The amount of rules to be checked in the course of a project is also to be increased in a large extent as soon as the building is supposed to receive the public (e.g. a school, a post-office, or a company offices building). - Link with diffusion by administrations or organisations of regulation codes: this is still based mostly on paper documents publication, even if the electronic form becomes more frequent nowadays, thanks to the Internet. However, whichever diffusion support or tool is used, there is no real assistance for the usage of such documents, that are sometimes not so easy to interpret with their correct meaning. - Help / support to organisations responsible for elaborating and disseminating such regulations, by providing a value-added diffusion tool which can explain and illustrate rules and principles on the very concrete example which is the project under the end-user is working. Status: - Integration of the whole application to the ISTforCE platform. - Use in a standalone" mode also possible (online - see specific result URL above). - Demonstration of the concept (proof-of-concept of what can be done with the service): CSTB has included a rapid implementation of the French regulation concerning the accessibility of public buildings for disabled people, as defined by official documents included in the REEF. - Coverage of rules is still incomplete. First, the IFC2.X models are missing many of the building's semantics (potential full coverage is estimated between 50 and 60%). Second, models generated by CAD software do not include the whole model information, thus allowing to cover only 20 to 30% of the whole rule base at the moment. It's worth noticing that, with better export tools and modelling discipline, the coverage would be even better than the one allowed by the IFC2.X specification. Of course, this coverage figures applies only the accessibility rule base. Coverage is tightly coupled with the rule base itself.

ECS Electronic Commerce Services: The ECS is module of the ISTforCE platform that could also be considered, used and exploited as a stand-alone product/platform. Currently, it is in a prototype status and therefore would need refinement and some enhancements too. This module implements a platform that features an Internet gateway for hiring and using (on-line and off-line) software applications. The ECS provides four main functionalities or tools: - User certification & authentication (a certificate-based method of user authentication and access control, including its own private; - Certification Authority, a negotiation tool (an XML-based tool that offers a flexible and easy way of communication between the users and providers and eventually, applications); - secured electronic payment module (on-line and off-line) and; - billing too (an XML tool that allows the management creation, store and submission of bills). The ECS platform makes use of the most advance industrial standards of e-commerce, such as XML, HTTP, SSL, X.509, etc.

The Personal Planning System (PPS) is a workflow management system specially designed for the requirements in a distributed engineering environment. It supports engineers and architects, that are involved in different projects in parallel, by continuously monitoring the individual workflows of these projects. The user will be notified by the PPS about changes and modifications within the projects' workflow, which will enable him to control multi project participation with distributed project management server. The major features of the PPS are: - Immediate notification about changes within the workflow of the different projects - Automatically suggested personal workflows without conflicting parallel tasks, applying the principle of minimum project time, which may be accepted or rejected by the user. - Arranging the user's personal workflow according to the boundary conditions of all projects he is working on at the same time. - Guaranteed consistence of the project workflow and the personal workflow when all project workflows are managed by the PPS. PPS is designed to operate within the framework of the ISTforCE platform, as well as a stand alone application. The core of PPS is a workflow engine based on a relational database management schema adopted from the current IFC 2x process model. The PPS client, realised as a JAVA application, is the graphical user interface for the workflow data.

CESP - ISTforCE Platform. The platform which is an IT work place for the individual engineer and the SMEs with all its applications, services and consultancy. It includes all project developments. The ISTforCE Platform is an innovative, Web-based, user-centred concurrent collaboration and engineering services platform (CESP) for the construction industry, including the following features: - personalized work place and easy access to data, information and knowledge; - multi-project participation including legal and administrative support; - support for setting up of virtual enterprises / consortia; - easy access to specialised engineering software and design code repositories; - access to rental engineering services on the Web - training and online support; - electronic payment. *** End-Users and Innovative features *** The concurrent engineering service platform will offer the user a working environment with the following measurable properties: 1. Independenc - The framework of the platform will make the user independent of any kind of server in the different CE worlds in which he would like to participate in. The services will allow him to attach to any kind of server, to map the data into his unified form and to properly organize his multi-project dependent tasks with his personal planning service. An information logistics management system will support him to keep track of the proper information flow. 2. Individuality - The platform will allow the user to carry out his work according to his preferences and abilities. It will provide him with services and tools with individually configurable and adaptable interfaces and will give him the freedom to choose the sequences of doing his work according to his individual preferences. Plugged into the platform will be intelligent tools and services, which will assist him in handling complex data and information structures. 3. Capability - The platform will increase the user's personal capabilities for sophisticated and specialized engineering work as well as for daily routine work by providing him with just-in-time knowledge related to engineering and the IT system. This will be achieved through knowledge-based assistants and services and an easy access to external engineering services and knowledge repositories (e.g. code libraries) available on the global e-market place. 4. Sustainability - Due to the independence of the platform and the adaptability of the tools and services it will allow the user to accumulate his investments in the platform services according to his personal individual kind of working. The independence of the platform will shield him from the permanent evolution of the CE systems, i.e. new versions, interfaces, semantics and paradigms, which decrease his personal working capacity. This is of utmost importance as engineers often have to work in different environments. *** Market analysis *** In building construction 90 % of the projects are performed on short-term basis (1 to 1.5 years). Each project is carried out by new one-off virtual enterprise that are dissolved after the end of the project. The building industry has a lot of experience in virtual enterprising, but it still needs a coherent system that can combine different services for data and process management with a personalized desktop. Such a system must be capable to manage multi-project participation within the different environments of different virtual enterprises, i.e. different client-server systems. Furthermore, it should provide individual workplaces that are personalisable to individual working styles and sustainable over long time. Services should be focused on the needs of the individual user. They should support his work with task-oriented knowledge, allow him to access knowledge repositories and engineering services available on the Web, and provide the necessary e-commerce tools including e-payment, data security and e-signature. Additionally, the system must support simultaneous participation in different projects, and keep track of the right information flows from the individual user's perspective. Concurrent engineering in construction strongly needs an ICT environment that meets the above description. The ISTforCE platform is a fully operational prototype of such an environment. *** Potential Barriers *** The main barrier to the deployment of the developed new solutions and products is in the required evolution and sociological changes of the way of working. Professionals have to move from paper based way of working to entirely electronically supported model-based processes. Therefore, the partners are aware that considerable efforts have to be invested to achieve final commercial products from the ISTforCE platform.

TOS - Training and Online System. TOS is a multi-media based intelligent framework of a help desk for FAQs, lessons learned and training courses, structured in a user-oriented way, focused on the demands of the design in building construction. It provides the help desk services, including videoconferencing, blackboard for scripting. It can be broadly applied to any other platform or development with e-commerce, help desk or training services. The Helpdesk system represents an external service that can be called by different other services of the ISTforCE platform; it is thus be as open as possible for the most varied applications and in addition, has a modular structure.

The Product Data Server (PDS) is an external project-centred service that can be plugged in also to any other external remote engineering service. PDS provides a system with functionality for : - storing data belonging to user projects managed by the server; - keeping track of the various versions of these data; - providing access to product data, either in their whole, or based on a finer granularity; - insuring that only authorized users can permanently save data; - providing services for general users to check-out data, check-in proposals of modified versions of the data; - providing services for administrators to declare user, attributes privileges and rights, etc. The Product Data Server provides also a shared repository for projects hosted by the platform, uses standard and open protocols and standard and open data model schemata (IFC). Its features include : - User, session, workspace, project and version management; - Download/upload of whole models; - Download parts of projects (site, building, storey) and single instances; - Query functions (project list, version list, instance list,); - Implementation independent with respect to client applications; - Client API for Java applications provided as usage example.

The ISTforCE Design Assistance Service (DAS) supports engineers in designing structural systems of multi-storey buildings in the conceptual and preliminary design phase. The knowledge-based assistant is a self-contained application with a CAD-like user-interface, which intelligently adapts to the current design focus and thereby enables a concentrated work for even complex structural designs. The main feature of DAS is design knowledge that the engineer can apply to solve new design problems. Benefits to the engineer are a focused display of alternatives for each design step and an automatic completion of conceptual design input by engineering design knowledge and rules of thumb. DAS reasoning engine generates a complete preliminarily structure, which can be exported as IFC 2x data model in step physical file format and readily imported by arbitrary structural analysis packages. Thus, DAS can substantially reduce design time by freeing the engineer from tedious manual work and routine information input. The software runs as a prototype. Currently, knowledge base covers multi-storey office buildings. DAS can also run as a local service within the CESP.

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