## Project 1: A web-based application for automation and optimization of sheet pile design  

### The project 

Designing and optimizing sheet piles is a complex and time-consuming process with many iterations. In collaboration with VIKTOR, Voorbij Funderingstechniek has developed an application that centralizes all data to automatically calculate constructions, which reduces time, money, errors, CO2 emissions, and leaves more time for engineers to create the awesome! 

### Digital transformation 

Compared to other industries, the Engineering and Construction industry is lagging regarding the adoption of new technologies. This is not strange, since projects within this sector are often restricted with very strong deadlines, both budget- and timewise. There are however a lot of opportunities within the E&C industry when it comes to applying tech in the work field.  

Voorbij Funderingstechniek has used the VIKTOR platform to take on the transformation to explore the possibilities of digitization by automating and optimizing parts of their workflow in the design of sheet piles.  

### Process analyses 

Before the digital transformation could start, process analyses had to be conducted to determine what parts of the workflow would benefit most from being automated. For Voorbij, this seemed to be the design and calculation of sheet piles: A workflow that consists of many intense, repetitive, and time-consuming processes that always had to be conducted manually.  

To come up with the first design of a sheet pile, a lot of data needs to be gathered and put together. For example, the soil layout, measurements, and environmental factors. Unfortunately, it happens more often than not that one of the dimensions on which your design depends suddenly changes. When this happens, your entire design needs to be redone since all design elements rely on each other, which is a very time-consuming task. If automated, not only a lot of time, but also a lot of additional efforts could be spared.  

### Parametric design for automation and optimization 

This is where [parametric design methods](https://www.viktor.ai/blog/46/parametric-design-cloud-engineering-construction) come in. By digitalizing traditional design methods, repetitive tasks that previously had to be done manually can be automated. If you change a parameter (length, material, thickness) in a parametric design model, an online application will automatically calculate a new design for you with just the push of a button, meaning no more manual calculations are involved. 

Before the implication of parametric models, projects most of the time used a ‘normative’ design to start building from. This makes for fast design of the actual project, but made it almost impossible to create the optimal design. With [parametric models](https://www.viktor.ai/blog/46/parametric-design-cloud-engineering-construction) you can easily calculate all possible designs witin moments of time and the optimal design will always be found. 

Not only is the chance of errors zero, but engineers will have much more time left to apply their specialist knowledge to create awesome things! 

### A web-based application 

 Voorbij has created an easily accessible web-based application on the VIKTOR platform that uses these [parametric design methods](https://www.viktor.ai/blog/46/parametric-design-cloud-engineering-construction) to automate the calculation processes of sheet pile design. Once automation was implemented, optimization followed.  

If you want to be able to optimize your design, you first need to know what goal you want to reach. Less CO2 emissions? Cost reduction? Saving time? Easy execution? With the application it is possible to set conditions for all of these goals. Based on those conditions you can variate input to find the optimal design outcome. 

For example, if the goal of the design is to save more money, you can easily adjust that setting. Then, the application calculates ways to create a cheaper design, for example by replacing the sheet pile for a lighter and therefore cheaper material. 

## Project 2: Design and improvement of canal banks 

### The project 

Ballast Nedam won a tender to improve over 50 km of canal banks in Twente, which included the placement of new sheet piles. To know what type of sheet piles needed to be placed, calculations had to be done every so many meters.  

Calculations are done based on soil layout information that from geotechnicians. For every kilometre, about 100 soil samples are taken. Based on those samples you are able to determine where the weakest point is and what kind of sheet pile needs to be placed there to maintain a good canal bank. 

If you only have little time, which is often the case in construction projects, you do these calculations around every 1000 meters. However, if you determine the weakest point for every kilometre, your calculations are very global. It is possible that 200 meters ahead from the weakest point, the soil is very different and because of that the calculations are off for that area. Therefore, it is beneficial for not only your budget but also the future-proofness of the project if you are somehow able to do more calculations so you can base what type of sheet piles need to be placed more accurately. 

### A web-based application 

Luckily, there is a solution to this problem. With a web-based application, you can easily perform all these calculations in an instant. This not only saves budget and provides for a more future-proof canal bank, but also speeds up the project significantly, since you won’t have to spend so much time on manual calculations anymore. 

The VIKTOR platform can be used to create an application like this. If you have a soil sample for every 50 meters, you can simply tell the computer to calculate what type of sheet pile is needed every 50 meters as well. The only thing you have to do, is feed the system information about the soil, the CPT (a gef-file), the type of sheet pile you want to place (thickness, flexibility, material), and cross sections of the canal bed in that area (depth, width, etc.).  

![20210603_sondering.png](/uploads/20210603_sondering_7c9066e0dd.png)

*Visualization of soil samples in the VIKTOR application* 

Furthermore, there are a lot of additional details that can be taken into account and therefore you have to provide the application with a basic formula (D-sheet) which is used to determine what details are relevant and should be included in the final calculations. Then, the VIKTOR application verifies if your selected sheet pile qualifies all criteria or not, which can be seen in clear visualizations.  

![20210603_rekenresultaat_kaart.png](/uploads/20210603_rekenresultaat_kaart_08a378de69.png)

*Visualization of sheet pile qualifications (green qualifies, red does not qualify) in the VIKTOR application* 

Additionally, you can group parts of the canal into sections, so the calculating process runs smoothly. Geotechnical data cannot be gathered all at once but you don’t want to wait until all data is gathered before you can start your project. By dividing the canal into sections, you can easily start calculating for the parts that you already received geotechnical data about, so the project can already start before all data is gathered.  

Data and results can easily be viewed within the application itself. However, you can also download reports into Excel sheets if you like to. Results are presented in tables, graphs, and maps. Tables present the actual calculation for each section combined with the D-sheet (basic formula), gef-file for the indicated area, and cross sections of the canal in each part of that area. Graphs and map views provide an easy and quick visual overview of every sheet pile and show for each one whether they meet the requirements or not. 

![20210603_rekenresultaat_excel_download.png](/uploads/20210603_rekenresultaat_excel_download_c3fd915e25.png)

*Exported calculation results in an Excel sheet* 

 ![20210603_rekenresultaat_selecteer_visualisatie.png](/uploads/20210603_rekenresultaat_selecteer_visualisatie_245d642639.png)

*Visualization of calculation results in a graph in the VIKTOR application*

## Project 3: Design of the A16 tunnel 

### The project 

Together with joint venture de Groene Boog, BESIX designed the 2.2 kilometre long A16 tunnel through Rotterdam. This tunnel consists of many similar tunnel sections, thousands of foundations and sheet piles, a detailed 3D BIM model, and numerous technical drawings.  

The project focusses on the automation of repetitive work for the structural design of the tunnel to improve the process.  To do this, several small tools are developed in-house to facilitate geotechnical analysis of the foundation and sheet piles. For the design of the reinforced concrete tunnel structure a tool has been developed together with an external partner on a cloud-based platform. 

## Sheet pile design automation 

Over 4000 sheet piles were to be designed for the tunnel. First, hundreds of CPT measurements needed to be interpreted and matched to the piles for calculation. For this, a spreadsheet had been set up for a custom interpretation of the CPT measurements and a VBA routine to run this process in batch. 

For the calculation of the piles, the tools typically used in the Dutch market are straightforward to use, though they do not allow to create [parametric calculation models](https://www.viktor.ai/blog/46/parametric-design-cloud-engineering-construction). To avoid the need to manually change the model input for each unique set of soil and loading conditions along the tunnel, we created another spreadsheet to mimic parametric behaviour.  

The desired parameters of each individual calculation model are assembled in a single spreadsheet. As the calculation model can be easily read and edited through a text editor, we then use string manipulation to edit the textual contents of the model and create a unique calculation model for each unique set of parameters. These are in a following step computed in batch and the results automatically gathered – again in a spreadsheet– for post-processing. 

## Automate the boring. Engineer the awesome

VIKTOR is on a mission to unleash the world’s real engineering potential. We are developing a platform where engineers can build their own web-based applications. We work closely together with engineering, construction and manufacturing companies and help them boost their digital transformation. We would love to hear your feedback on our ideas, try out the platform, and help us create the perfect tools that enables you to **automate the boring and engineer the awesome!**

See how you can [create your own parametric design tools](https://www.viktor.ai/parametric-design-software).



Infrastructure & Construction

large_shutterstock_1820452658 - resize.jpg

medium_shutterstock_1820452658 - resize.jpg

small_shutterstock_1820452658 - resize.jpg

thumbnail_shutterstock_1820452658 - resize.jpg

Customer_case_parametric_design_python_pile_core_1

Parametric tools for pile core design automation

1. What is parametric design, and how is it evolving
2. Collaborative parametric design: working together for better results
3. How to make tools available to others
4. Active collaboration on parametric design tools
5. Parametric design in a billion-euro project
6. What collaborative parametric design means for you



large_Viktor White Paper The future of parametric design is_ COLLABORATION.jpg

medium_Viktor White Paper The future of parametric design is_ COLLABORATION.jpg

small_Viktor White Paper The future of parametric design is_ COLLABORATION.jpg

thumbnail_Viktor White Paper The future of parametric design is_ COLLABORATION.jpg

WP_white

large_parametric_steel_structure.png

medium_parametric_steel_structure.png

small_parametric_steel_structure.png

thumbnail_parametric_steel_structure.png

WP_white_2

The adoption of parametric design grows exponentially thanks to friendly programming languages like Python or visual programming packages like Dynamo or Grasshopper.
 
Our perception is changing. We no longer see parametric design as a model to solve specific technical problems, but rather as a new way of working, in which stakeholders collaborate to find the best solution for a project.

Learn about the latest trends and the future of parametric design in this white paper

Collaborative parametric design models allow you to work together for better solutions

Download the white paper and get INSPIRED

Did you know parametric design models are no longer just used to solve specific technical problems, but rather as a new way of working? Read here how stakeholders use parametric design to collaborate and find the best solutions for their projects!

The Future of Parametric Design is COLLABORATION

## The Digital Engineering Community is exanding

After successful initial developments, the community is now expanding with Boskalis, Dura Vermeer, Mobilis, Van Oord and Volker Wessels. “In the past period, we have learned how to work together more effectively without losing our distinctiveness: increasingly focusing on digital building blocks. In these building blocks, standard actions are automated based on which each participant can build their own strategic application. We are therefore calling on more market parties to participate!”.

## The starting point
Heijmans is one of the first companies to use the VIKTOR Platform on a larger scale. Great digital successes have been achieved on a number of projects such as Wintrack, Wilhelmina Canal and Dike Reinforcement Project Gorinchem – Waardenburg. Combining the technical challenges of these projects with automation of the design and construction process proved very valuable, allowing knowledge and know-how to be scalable, and increasing the number of generated solutions. For example, for the Wilhelmina Canal project, all kinds of damage scenarios could easily be calculated, making it possible to discuss all options with the client. With the Wintrack II project, it was possible to design the most optimal foundation based on construction-related criteria at the touch of a button, and with the Dike Reinforcement Gorinchem – Waardenburg project, the design stability calculations can be finished in a fraction of the time compared to before.

## First collaboration

You would expect a construction company to keep these kinds of innovations under wraps to distinguish themselves from their competitors. “This was also the first thought”, laughs Marcel. “That is still very much in our genes.” Nevertheless, Heijmans chose to seek collaboration. This has to do with the fact that Heijmans made two important observations during its own developments. “On the one hand, we saw that fellow construction companies were doing more or less the same thing. And just as importantly, if everyone does this side by side, it is unnecessarily expensive and slow.” These reasons prompted Heijmans to approach several infrastructures companies through the VIB to develop a joint application. “This was in 2018 with a number of sessions on two exciting topics: digitization and collaboration. Halfway through 2019, we agreed with Ballast Nedam, BAM and Heijmans that we had to try this.”

## First development: soil layout application

This led to the start of the development of an application for soil layouts. To start development, a Product Owner (senior geotechnical advisers) was appointed from each of the companies to jointly consider what functionality was needed to make the application successful. It turned out that the wishes of the companies were not that different, so that selection for “must haves” and “nice to haves” were quickly made. An interesting moment in the development of the application was when the user of the application changed from the geotechnical consultant to another end user, the cost expert and the planner. The application makes it possible for both of them to look for the best design solution for the project, without the direct intervention of the geotechnical consultant (who simply approved the model in advance).

![Soil layout modelling application in VIKTOR platform](/uploads/Soil_layout_modelling_application_16580bb351.jpg)
*Soil layout modeling application*

The application is a success, which was not certain in advance since a joint development like this had not been done before. Collaboration between the companies was also very positive and the feeling arose that collaboration might be essential. From this, the DEC idea was born.

## Founding of DEC

### Joint development

In February 2020, the resulting application was presented to the companies first involved in the discussions in 2018. Since then, most companies had experimented internally with coding and application development, and they have undoubtedly concluded that professional development costs more time and money than initially thought. The time was right to investigate whether joint development is possible, and the DEC was established. After a number of meetings, the most important follow-up steps were taken, in which the parties defined the following developments that will be tackled jointly. A GWW application is being developed that makes a universal link to and from Civil3D, MxRoad and AHN. As a second development, an application will be made for the design of pile foundations, linking Scia Engineer and D-foundation.

### Fascilitating role

Eight construction companies participate in both developments. VIKTOR itself is not a participant, but facilitates on the basis of experience and expertise. The fact that the applications are developed on the VIKTOR Platform was a logical choice. “The platform has been specially developed for technical companies, it has a rich amount of digital building blocks for our rapidly growing sector and facilitates collaboration and application distribution,” explains Marcel. “It also has a more practical reason. All participants use the platform separately. As a result, we develop in the same way, making collaboration possible and efficient. The output is also readable (Python) code with which companies can continue to develop independently of the platform. In addition, we make use of their knowledge and experience. That is VIKTOR’s core business and by engaging them we put some of the responsibility outside the door. Our own developers learn from this collaboration, but at the same time there is a high degree of certainty that developments will be delivered within time and budget. The Product Owners of the companies remain responsible for the functionality of the application. The development of the dyke application has shown that this separation of responsibilities works well and strengthens cooperation.”

## Cooperative construction companies
Until now, the collaboration has been very easy, and requires almost no effort. Construction companies are used to working together on projects and this new theme shows that we can easily find each other in different subjects and builds mutual trust. Of course, matters such as IP are contractually recorded, but this is in broad lines only, and not in every in detail, therefore trust is central. We assume that everyone participates with a positive attitude and has a name to lose. Everyone is also free to choose to participate or not in a development, possibly by joining later. Different ways to participate are by supplying usable existing code, by making an experienced programmer available or simply in euros. In the future, expansion with other companies is the obvious next step.

## The future of the community
To give the community more visibility and recognition, the digitalengineeringcommunity.nl website was established.  “The purpose of the website is mainly to show who is participating and what we are all developing. Hopefully it will be more widely recognised in the market that, being on your own is alone and that the future lies in developing together. We therefore urge all parties in the sector to contact us!”

### About DEC
The Digital Engineering Community (DEC) is being set up (formal start at the end of February) and consists of a non-exclusive collaboration between the companies Ballast Nedam, BAM, Boskalis, Dura Vermeer, Heijmans, Mobilis, Volker Wessels and Van Oord. The affiliated companies can submit topics for development and discuss periodically who wants to participate in which development. There is no obligation to join all developments and it is possible to join later in the process. Within the DEC, digital building blocks are being developed in a modular way. These digital building blocks can be anything from general functions such as calculating headpile reinforcement to an integral link with Civil3D. Companies are then free to jointly develop these further together into integrated solutions such as the soil layout or to integrate them within an internal process of the company itself.

### About VIKTOR
VIKTOR is a web-based development platform for building online applications for technical processes. By means of an SDK and the programming language Python, employees of companies can automate processes more easily, integrate with other software and distribute to colleagues, either on their own or together with the developers at VIKTOR. A large number of standard building blocks are already included in the VIKTOR Platform, both general and industry specific. For example, for the civil engineering sector, there are useful ways to process soil information, mapping functionalities and integrations with the most commonly used software packages.

The VIKTOR Platform makes version and user management of the use of applications easy. Because data is stored centrally, a “Single Source of Truth” becomes standard for all users. Changes in assumptions or requirements are therefore immediately visible in all disciplines, making interfaces more manageable and controllable. This speeds up and improves technical processes such as the design process.

Source: Magazine Land+Water nr 1/2 – February 2021

Engineering & Design

large_first collective automation application.jpg

medium_first collective automation application.jpg

small_first collective automation application.jpg

thumbnail_first collective automation application.jpg

customer_case_first_collective_automation_application_BAM_Ballast_Nedam_Heijmans_3

The Digital Engineering Community is Accelerating 

## Get the white paper

**INDEX**

1. Construction companies and digital transformation
2. Technology trends for a different approach
3. Technology trends in the construction industry
4. A new technology trend for the construction industry
5. Low code for the construction industry
6. The VIKTOR platform
7. What does it cost?
8. How to start
9. What's next?

small_White Paper Digital Transformation Engineering and construction industry.jpg

thumbnail_White Paper Digital Transformation Engineering and construction industry.jpg

WP_dark_blue

large_gravity-based foundation application.jpg

medium_gravity-based foundation application.jpg

small_gravity-based foundation application.jpg

thumbnail_gravity-based foundation application.jpg

Customer_case_centralizing_data_faster_gravity_based_foundation_analysis_2

Autonomous cars, algorithms that are trading stocks, people having conversations with robots and digital services from the valley make our lives easier. It is already part of many different industries and drives extreme productivity. Considering these benefits of digitalization, there is huge potential in introducing this in the engineering and construction sector.

However, the engineering and construction industry spends way less on digital transformation than other sectors or automotive. So when the benefits are obvious, why have the engineering and construction industry not yet fully embraced new digital technologies? The reasons of lacking behind are understandable and have to do with the characteristics of the industry. But we have come to a time where there are increasing opportunities at hand for 
the sector to speed up digital transformation.

What are these trends in digital transformation and how will it effect the engineering and construction industry? You can read the answers to these questions and more in the white paper.



Learn about the trends on digital transformation and how to take the next step.

Download the White Paper and get INSPIRED

What are the trends in digital transformation and how will it effect the engineering and construction industry? You can read the answers to these questions and more in the white paper.

Digital Transformation Engineering and Construction Industry

“It can save a lot of engineering time and money for the entire industry and helps to distribute knowledge more efficiently to our customers,” explains Jelle van de Ridder, R&D engineer at C-Job. "In the offshore sector a lot of repetitive tasks are done that need to be automated so that our engineers have time to focus on the creative processes".

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/545019231?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## Cargo distribution tool

At C-Job they build a 3D model of a ship in NAPA. There they can perform stability and strength calculations on this ship with different amounts of oil and water ballast in the tanks. “The combination of the cargo in the tanks affects where the center of gravity is, and it affects how your ship bends.” Van de Ridder explains. Together with VIKTOR, they are building an application that tests many different load combinations and determines the strength, stability and damage stability of each combination. “In the past, an experienced lead engineer made a rough estimate and tried out 10 combinations by hand. The application can do 300 iterations within an hour. ”, Van de Ridder. With the help of the application, they can find the optimal load distribution, in which they can fill up as much crude oil as possible. “The amount of oil is ultimately the most important factor.”

## Knowledge distribution

Van de Ridder: “The biggest challenge was sharing our knowledge without losing our business proposition.” In the developed tool they were able to digitize the specific knowledge of C-Job in an application, where the client could only see the results. In practice, this means that the customers of C-Job can generate an optimal load distribution via the web-based application in an easy and cheaper way. “This is also beneficial for our engineers as they no longer have to perform this calculation manually and can concentrate on the creative part of their work.”

The results of an application are immediately visible. Jelle van de Ridder, R&D Engineer at C-Job: “Every time they changed the layout of a ship, all calculations of the load distribution had to be done again. This was done manually and can take weeks for an engineer. “now they can reduce this computation time to just a few hours.



#### Future of web-based applications

C-Job sees opportunities in more web-based applications. Van de Ridder: “Our tool now determines the optimal distribution of liquid cargo on a ship. “We also like to develop further, for example by combining the load optimizer with the crane polar plot tool. With this tool we answer the question from a ship operator: “Can I lift this load at this position, or what do I have to change to lift this load?” It can be useful to optimise a load for a particular crane operation.

The time and money it takes to develop an application is quickly recouped by the engineering time and money saved by performing manual calculations by engineers. If there is a well-defined problem statement in which a repetitive element is present, it is worth looking for automation options.

![Web application calculations of the optimal distribution of liquid cargo on a ship](/uploads/the_optimal_distribution_of_liquid_cargo_on_a_ship_6147ec713e.png)
*Visualization of the calculations of the optimal distribution of liquid cargo on the ship in the web-based application*


Maritime & Offshore

large_Quickly generate many optimal cargo distribution combinations - resized.jpg

medium_Quickly generate many optimal cargo distribution combinations - resized.jpg

small_Quickly generate many optimal cargo distribution combinations - resized.jpg

thumbnail_Quickly generate many optimal cargo distribution combinations - resized.jpg

Customer_case_optimal_cargo_distributions_2

Quickly generate many optimal cargo distribution combinations

## Outdated process of a project plan

In the real estate it is common to make a few versions of the project plan, each with a different perspective on the problem. Top down those plans are analysed and the management team decides which one is the best and should be developed with more detail. There is hardly any room for discussion about a combination of plan A and plan B, because that is difficult to imagine how it is going to work out. But neighter plan A nor B is the optimal solution, it can be somewhere in-between. Or even something completely different. With the help of available data about the housing market and a tool which is able to process this data and apply this to the problem, optimal solutions can be found.

## Data Science will dominate the real estate industry

According to Joost van der Zon of Veneficus, it is not about the question whether the real estate industry will use data, algorithms and [artificial intelligence](https://www.viktor.ai/blog/40/artificial-intelligence-machine-learning-engineering-construction), but rather when will all the decisions be based on these. In other sectors digitization is already adopted or is making its appearance with amazing results. It is time for the real estate sector to follow that trend and if a company does not adopt the usage of data, it will no longer exist anymore in 10 years, van der Zon predicts. “The most successful companies in real estate are led by directors who dare to believe in applying data and analyses.”

## Benefits of the Houzr application

To be the frontleader, Veneficus created the Houzr application. In this tool they support project developers with data, models and algorithms to make better residential project plans. Van der Zon explains: “With the Houzr application you can find the optimal balance between returns, risks and market fit, with the result that you earn more and make better plans, faster.”

### Investing in innovation

At Veneficus they started with working on the tactical decisions process at insurance companies, retailers and the government. And for four years they are also working in real estate. Van der Zon: “We noticed that during the real estate crisis nobody was investing in innovation. Now they got money to do this again, although they have no idea how and therefor jump on all the hypes like BIM, blockchain or drones. But those are not effective, data science is what they really need!”

## Distribution of knowledge to customers

Veneficus already had their own algorithms, calculations and insights to be used for their customers. To make this faster and easier, they were searching for a web-based platform with a good user interface. That’s where they found a match with VIKTOR. “VIKTOR makes it possible for our customers to use our complex models, algorithms and data source without them noticing. They only need to set the correct input parameters and the result is clearly displayed in the practical user interface.” Van der Zon explains: “With the Houzr application they have made their knowledge and service proposition scalable and accessible to all their customers.”



![The Houzr application in action](/uploads/Houzr_application_GIF_be6c8fe315.gif)


Buildings & Real Estate

large_AI_real_estate.jpg

medium_AI_real_estate.jpg

small_AI_real_estate.jpg

thumbnail_AI_real_estate.jpg

Customer_case_artificial_intelligence_real_estate_sector_2

Veneficus - Artificial intelligence for the real estate sector

1. An introduction to Artificial Intelligence
2. Artificial Intelligence vs Machine Learning
3. AI and ML in organizations
4. Building a Machine Learning application
5. About VIKTOR

artificial intelligence AI machine learning ML engineering construction

medium_A4 - White Paper COVERwp ai cover.png

small_A4 - White Paper COVERwp ai cover.png

thumbnail_A4 - White Paper COVERwp ai cover.png

WP_green

artificial intelligence machine learning engineering construction

large_artificial intelligence machine learning engineering construction

medium_artificial intelligence machine learning engineering construction

small_artificial intelligence machine learning engineering construction

thumbnail_artificial intelligence machine learning engineering construction

Blog_AI_and_Machine_learning_engineering_construction_1

What exactly is artificial intelligence? 
What are the four types of AI? 
How does artificial intelligence differ from machine learning? 
And what are the different types of ML?

In this White Paper, we will answer all of these questions and more about the topic.

Find out how you can use AI to improve and automate (engineering) processes within your organization and learn how to build a machine learning application yourself as we guide you through the following chapters:

1. An introduction to Artificial Intelligence
2. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
3. AI and ML in organizations
4. Building a Machine Learning application
5. About VIKTOR

Find out how you can use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to automate engineering processes!

Artificial Intelligence in Engineering and Construction

## Optimal project planning

The Houzr application is going to change the project development sector in the housing market branch forever. “Within years, there will no longer be a project that will be developed without Houzr” Joost van der Zon, founder of Veneficus, claims. The Houzr application makes use of thousands of available datapoints in the housing market and uses them to create the optimal project planning with higher returns, less risk and a better market fit. This can be done by all their customers, even if they have no knowledge of data at all. The application does it all for them.

## How to get the optimal result

To get the optimal result from Houzr application, the following process should be followed:

### Initial information

First of all, some initial information must be set up to create an environment that best represents your reality for the project. These are things like cost profiles, the type of houses to be built, the height of the houses, etc. This is only happens once, and when this information is applied in the application, it will be used in all calculations. The project properties ultimately have an enormous influence on the eventual optimal result.

###  Location determination
Secondly, the location of the project must be set. The destination of the project somewhere in the Netherlands must be clear. For this location, the regulatory framework of, usually the municipality, can be entered, so that the application can make the project plan accordingly. In this regulatory framework, you can think of things such as maximum building height, certain number of houses, meeting parking standards, number of meters for green spaces / pieces of road / other facilities, etc.

### Algorithm instructions

When all of this set, instructions should be set about the units the algorithm can test. For example, only ground dwellings, only stacked dwellings or whether the user must adhere to certain numbers. Houzr will apply those settings in conjunction with the regulatory framework to run all possibilities for this location based on its internal database.

### Booting solutions

During this time you can make yourself a cup of coffee, the Houzr application will find many solutions, which are sorted to the goal you want to achieve. For example, if the return is most important to you, or is the goal rather to get a good market fit. You can then choose your optimal solution and get the perfect project plan from Houzr.

### Executing multiple scenarios

To anticipate possible changes in the environment, Houzr has the feature to execute multiple scenarios. Suppose that the municipality can be convinced that an elementary school can be built along with the project. This will increase the value of your homes. In that case you want it to be included in the calculations. Another example: if there are restaurants and bars nearby or if something is going to happen to the accessibility of the development. All of this has an impact on the value, and the optimal housing configuration can be different. Extending a metro line, for example, has an impact on a given part of the Netherlands, which makes it is better to build apartments rather than ground-level dwellings But how many and in what ratio; the Houzr application tells you.

## Quick integration with VIKTOR
Veneficus has worked for over a year on the algorithms, models and calculations for the Houzr application. With VIKTOR, they were able to incorporate all this into a web-based application within four weeks. They chose for this to be able to create their application in detail without a large knowledge base in the field of UI and platform design. Those gaps in knowledge are solved by the practical design of the VIKTOR platform. Now the Houzr application is available to all the customers of Veneficus in a web-based, user-friendly interface.

![Analysing scenarios with the Houzr application.jpg](/uploads/Analysing_scenarios_with_the_Houzr_application_a39d926e74.jpg)

*Analyzing scnarions with the Houzr application*

The Houzr application in cooperation with VIKTOR

medium_Houzr application.jpg

small_Houzr application.jpg

thumbnail_Houzr application.jpg

Customer_case_houzr_application_1

The Houzr application creates the optimal project plan within minutes

## What is workability?

In the maritime and offshore industry, workability refers to the actual working time of a vessel for a certain operation, taking into account weather conditions such as waves, wind, currents and ice. These are called metocean (Meteorology and Oceanography) conditions and can impact the vessel’s operational hours, thus time the vessel is capable of being put into effective operation.

## The perfect vessel for each tender

During a tender, the selection of vessels and equipment is often an iterative process. That is where the Workability Tool comes in, as it enables the user to repeatedly and quickly update the workability by combining the validated metocean data and the capabilities and limitations of the operational equipment. Differences in varying equipment can be visualized within the Tool and exported in order to select the optimal vessel configuration in terms of workability. Additionally, the Tool provides the user with insights into the raw metocean data. 

The picture below shows the average weather conditions for a specific location based on data from January 1990 to December 2018, calculated by the Workability Tool. It shows the direction and force of the wind per month. This information can be used to decide when is the best time to build a wind turbine at sea, since this depends on the weather conditions. During hard wind and/or high waves, dangerous situations can be encountered that make it difficult to place a heavy turbine, for example. The visualizations show that the weather conditions are the best from May to September. In January, the conditions are the worst.

![Workability of vessels.png](/uploads/Workability_of_vessels_bda64a48ba.png)]

The VIKTOR application is one of the innovative examples of digitization within Boskalis. The Workability Tool is operational now for mulitple divisions within the organization.

Copyright: Images courtesy of Boskalis


large_Workability Tool enables quicker decision making - resize.jpg

medium_Workability Tool enables quicker decision making - resize.jpg

small_Workability Tool enables quicker decision making - resize.jpg

thumbnail_Workability Tool enables quicker decision making - resize.jpg

Customer_case_workability_tool_2

Workability Tool enables quicker decision making

Original source: [Land+Water](https://mocs698.sharepoint.com/sites/Marketing/Gedeelde%20documenten/Marketing/Land%20+%20Water_%20Artikel%20module%20damwandconstructies%20%20ism%20Viktor.pdf), nr 3 – March 2020. K. Nijs / R. Reurings.

</br>

Companies in construction and infra are experiencing a turbulent transformation to higher levels of digitalization. The reason for this being that this sector is lagging behind quite significantly compared to other industries. Just like in other sectors, digital transformation is happening on all kinds of aspects and throughout all phases of a project. This means that digital transformation is a relevant topic from tender and engineering to execution and maintenance.
 
Voorbij Funderingstechniek noticed the potential of this transformation in their industry and decided to act upon it. How? By using VIKTOR to automate and optimize part of their processes to be able to generate the best designs fast!

## Process analysis determines potential

For the first step towards building their own app, Voorbij Funderingstechniek started with a process analysis. The goal of this analysis is to gain insight into the impact of automation on business processes and what this means for the current processes. 

This sparked some opportunities. Currently, a sheet pile calculation is still an intensive and iterative process. To come up with a first design, a significant number of variables needs to be considered, such as the layout of the soil, the desired excavation depth, environmental influences, loads, and desired construction phase. This results in one or more normative sections with corresponding starting points. 

After the first design, every small change requires a new model and a new calculation. That means that all files need to be copied and everywhere one parameter, such as the type of sheet pile, the length, or the drainage, needs to be changed manually. In a typical design process, the second design also does not meet all requirements yet. The process of copying and adjusting keeps repeating itself, for every defined section, multiple times. This is exactly where digitization makes a difference; by automating repetitive tasks a lot of time can be won. 

Another complication is that for projects with multiple sheet piles often a ‘normative’ design is used for all sheet piles. Here, a sheet pile is designed as well as possible (within the stated time) and duplicated to all other sheet piles.

![Blog_smart_application_contributes_sustainable_future_construction](https://cms.viktor.ai/uploads/Voorbij_areal_a17012b79f.jpg)


## Cost reduction

By automating the design process, a lot more design iterations can be performed, resulting in cost reduction with regards to materials used and time savings for engineering. Risk of errors becomes close to zero as well because processes are automatically copied, pasted, and adjusted. Additionally, and maybe most importantly, automating processes gives engineers more time to apply their specialist knowledge on more challenging projects to create a real added value. 

With their process analysis, Voorbij identified a couple of opportunities that function as input: 

- Repeatedly copying models
- Inserting variables
- Getting results per section

With a custom application on the VIKTOR platform, these processes can be automated and linked to different steps, such as analyzing CPTs, calculating designs in calculation software, and iterating until the results are sufficient. 

## Web-based

VIKTOR is a web-based platform for the development of online applications with Python. In Voorbij’s application, Python is used to program and guarantee professional and business knowledge, specifically by integrating all relevant data sources and software programs. 

With Voorbij’s VIKTOR app, data and analysis results are centralized and made available through a dashboard to all relevant (authorized) people. This ensures that everyone always has access to all insights and the correct up-to-date information.
 
To automate and later optimize sheet piles designs, the process first needs to be standardized in the application. To achieve standardization, the right ‘recipe’ needs to be discovered that always delivers a good result. Questions asked here are: “How do we process a CPT?” “How do we build the model and how do we process the results?”. Only after everyone agrees on this, automation can follow. 

![CC_Voorbij_sheet_piles](https://cms.viktor.ai/uploads/CC_Voorbij_sheet_piles_180f2cab82.png)

*Result output of the BASEFT Sheet Pile application*

</br>

## Automation

The online application is designed as a central entry point of all variables. It creates the models itself, performs the calculations, and generates a summary of the results. 

If we follow this route, there is no need to perform any repetitive tasks. Do all sections roughly have the same excavation depth? Does the engineer want to iterate sheet pile lengths? In that case, the input only needs to be adjusted in one spot in the application to recalculate all the sections! Fast iterations like this, combined with the results gathered from multiple sections, generate lots of information that can be used to make connections between, for example, drainage and required sheet pile length. 

Automation is of course not restricted to inserting variables and generating models. Other processes, such as drainage, determining head heights (instead of manually inserting these in D-SheetPiling), and more, are automated as well. 

![CC_Voorbij_sheet_piles2](https://cms.viktor.ai/uploads/CC_Voorbij_sheet_piles2_b90017729c.png)

*Parameter input of the BASEFT Sheet Pile application*

</br>

## Optimization 

Now that it is possible to automatically perform multiple sheet pile calculations, optimization can start. The most important question is: What is the goal of the optimization? Is this the cheapest, lowest CO2 emission? Or the easiest executable sheet pile? By specifically defining this goal, a couple of conditions will naturally follow. Based on these conditions, the application calculates the optimal design. This can be in either tens or even thousands of iterations. 

Let’s say that the cheapest sheet pile is your goal. In that case, the application works as follows: If the previous design is more than adequate and has a certain price, the next design can be repeated but for a shorter and lighter sheet pile with a lower price. If this design is no longer adequate, you can take a step back and make the sheet pile a bit heavier, but for a lower price than with the first design. This can be repeated until the optimum is found between price and requirements. 

In essence, digitization of the construction and infra sector should create a distinctiveness because the automation of repetitive work leaves engineers more time for the real and fun thinking. 

Automate the boring. Engineer the awesome! 

## Interested?

Are you interested in this development as well? Visit [www.voorbijfunderigstechniek.nl]( https://www.voorbijfunderingstechniek.nl/technieken/grondkerende-constructies/stalen-damwand) or contact Richard Reurings at r.reurings@voorbijft.nl for more information.


large_CC_sheetpile_voorbijFT

medium_CC_sheetpile_voorbijFT

small_CC_sheetpile_voorbijFT

thumbnail_CC_sheetpile_voorbijFT

CC_sheetpile_voorbijFT

VoorbijFT uses VIKTOR to automate and optimize part of their processes to be able to generate the best designs fast!

Optimal sheet pile design within reach

Customer cases