IEEE Future Directions
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The construction industry is going to be reshaped in the next decade and the first signs are already visible today. There will be a number of “forces” steering this reshape, among them I would include the evolution in
- materials design and production,
- the physical construction of buildings and
- the embedding of electronics.
Construction materials are seeing a significant evolution, also thanks to the use of computers in their design. It goes from the very structure of the material (its composition) to the finishing. If you walk into a store selling tiles you will be surprised at seeing ceramic tiles that are practically indistinguishable from wood! They have been made using computer graphics… In Italy there is one of the strongest, and most advanced, production of tiles and they are all designed with the help of computers.
The physical construction of buildings will be taking advantage of robotics. There are already a number of “robots” that can build houses and they are getting more powerful and flexible every day more. MIT has developed a robot, see photo, that can “build” the structure of a house in a few hours (watch the clip).
In a way, even more interesting is becoming the possibility of embedding electronics, sensors and displays, in construction materials, like in tiles (see an example here).
The trend is clear. More effective manufacturing processes are now coming to the construction industry and electronics is going to become part of the house structure, making it aware and transforming the house into a platform to host services.
