Schinnerer's RM Blog - technology tag

A Scientific Ghost Town

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:26:00 GMT

A $1 billion city without residents is to be built in southeastern New Mexico to help researchers test everything from intelligent traffic systems to next-generation wireless networks. The “ghost” city will have all of the infrastructure that a normal city would have; including highways, houses, and commercial buildings. There will be no residents, and researchers will be able to test new technologies in the empty city against real infrastructure without worrying about bothering real people. Pegasus Holdings and its New Mexico subsidiary CITE Development selected Hobbs, NM as the site for this ghost town and said that the city will be modeled after Rock Hill, SC.

Goodbye Blueprints, Hello iPad?

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 15:48:00 GMT

Plangrid, a small startup, has released an iPad app that looks to replace printed construction drawings with a digital archive. According to news reports, the iPad app allows users to manipulate construction drawings in the field, and helps make sure that users are working off the latest set of drawings. Design professionals will have to be aware of technological and business risks that may arise from using these types of applications. Our management advisory “Placing Project Information in an Electronic Plan Room” addresses the issues that need to be considered.

Rutgers University Designs Robot That Diagnoses Bridge Problems

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:08:00 GMT

Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) has developed a robot that helps diagnose problems in bridges before they are visible to the naked eye. The center received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help support this project. The robot uses several different techniques to test a bridge’s steel lattice core, including sound waves to ferret out micro cracks, air pockets, and splits. The grant is also going to fund a smart phone application that excavators can use to create an instantaneous underground map of wires on the spot so that they can avoid ripping out installed infrastructure.

Army Corps of Engineers Uses Phone App for Flood Data

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:07:00 GMT

As the eastern seaboard recovers from the recent flooding, governments will have to assess the damage inflicted by the overflowing rivers on adjacent property. The Army Corps of Engineers is now using a smart phone application that automatically links photos, video, and text reports with Global Positioning System information that can be sent to the home office instantaneously. The Army Corps of Engineers developed the Android-based application, which has been used by teams of surveyors to transmit flood damage reports to the home office, allowing staff to accurately assess the damage and provide repair cost estimates.