Macro for BIM simulation of work

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chakkree
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by chakkree »

Very Fantastic.
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walpa
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by walpa »

Thanks chakkree
walpa
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by walpa »

This is just a proof of concept.
I'm sure more experienced developers can do better.

IMHO, for 4D to actually be deployed, some things need to be discussed and how Yorik suggested "We should look at what / how others do and build a plan ...".

Some things I've been looking at:

IFC - Time
(As I understand it, at http://www.buildingsmart-tech.org/ifc/IFC4/Add2/html/):

1- The model provides the use of the types IfcDate (string), IfcDateTime (string), IfcTime (string), IfcTimeStamp (int), all represented according to ISO 8601.
2- Timestamp is preferably used in automation and maintenance during the building life cycle, where it is necessary to capture data in real time for facilities management. (BIM 6D)
3 - The other types are used in the management of processes and resources (planning, construction and maintenance). (BIM-4D)
So:
How should these types be created in the FRC in property types?
Should the data be archived in the FRC model obeying the IFC types?
For example, in the prototype I presented the time properties were stored as a string (I did not find a more suitable option), as indicated in the IFC, but for the purpose of processing operations, perhaps timestamp and datetime types would be more appropriate.

IFC - Resources (BIM 5D)

IFC provides a large number of schemas for resources(http://www.buildingsmart-tech.org/ifc/IFC4/Add2/html/), but in IMHO it would be redundant to enter those parameters into the FRC since the features are already in the management software.
Perhaps, IfcCostResource schema should be implemented to integrate with the ARCH Schedule workbench developed by Yorik.

Project Management Software
1- Is it necessary to develop a full built-in manager in the FRC?
2- Could not other software be incorporated into the FRC?
 Examples: GanttProject (Java-GPL license)
                 ProjectLibre (Java- CPA license)
                 2-plan Desktop (Eclipse RCP, Java, PHP-GPL license)
                 TaskJuggler Project Management (C ++, Ruby, QT-GPL license)

Key features found in leading 4D software:

Naviswork (4D and 5D) - (Revit)
- Model construction / animation simulation
- Clash Detection
- Model review
- Quantification
- Model analysis - time / cost
- Rendering
- Real-time navigation

Microstation (4D built-in)
- Model construction / animation simulation

Synchro Professional (4D) - Vectorworks
- Model construction / animation simulation
- Clash Detection
- Real-time navigation
- Marking of points of view for project review
- Custom Reports for Gantt, Features and Tasks
- Export to xls, pdf

Vico Office Suite (4D and 5D) - Arqhicad, Sketchup
- Model construction / animation simulation
- Clash Detection
- Model analysis - time / cost

Inovaya (4D) - (Revit)
- Quantification
- Model construction / animation simulation

All interface with Gantt chart.

If I'm talking some nonsense, please feel free to disagree ...
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saso
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by saso »

I would say THIS work should focus only on "Model construction / animation simulation". I do believe for the long term it would be best to have our own gantt chart, but for first versions it could work also just from object properties and import / export from other gantt tools...

Yoriks idea of having this properties similar to how materials work is probably a good way to do it, because we don't want to create the schedule "by each element / object" but "by jobs". This way you can assign several objects from the model to a single job / date. I am nut fully sure how import export would work in this way? But we do already also have schedule, so this data could quickly be pulled in to a schedule type view. This way most of the things could probably work for us, we would however still be missing the gantt chart... But who cares about such details :D
walpa
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by walpa »

saso wrote:Yoriks idea of having this properties similar to how materials work is probably a good way to do it, because we don't want to create the schedule "by each element / object" but "by jobs". This way you can assign several objects from the model to a single job / date. I am nut fully sure how import export would work in this way?
How do "materials" work?
I can try to adapt the initial idea accordingly.
saso wrote:But we do already also have schedule, so this data could quickly be pulled in to a schedule type view. This way most of the things could probably work for us, we would however still be missing the gantt chart... But who cares about such details :D
"Der teufel steckt im detail" - The devil is in the details :D
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yorik
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by yorik »

walpa wrote:IFC - Time
...
For example, in the prototype I presented the time properties were stored as a string (I did not find a more suitable option), as indicated in the IFC, but for the purpose of processing operations, perhaps timestamp and datetime types would be more appropriate.
Probably the right way to do it would be to create a new kind of property, which is derived from the PropertyString. Internally it would still be stored as a string (the timestamp), but we could make it appear in the property editor, for example, as a "readable" date. It would also therefore need a more user-friendly editor. Maybe Qt already has some date/time editing widget...

The question is which timestamp format would we use, there are several. The IFC one seems a right choice for BIM people, but maybe there is something more generic that would serve better all the FreeCAD users.

But we can start working with a PropertyString, it will just not be very user-friendly. Later on it will be easy to convert to something more advanced, if that something is internally stored as a string too.
walpa wrote:How do "materials" work?
I can try to adapt the initial idea accordingly.
Each Arch object has a "Material" property, which is a PropertyLink. This can link to a Material object, which holds the material definition. This allows several objects to link to the same material. All Material objects are gathered in a containing group, so thy are easy to locate in the tree.

So the idea would be for ex. to add a "Schedule" PropertyLink to all Arch objects. That would link to a Schedule object, which would hold all the necessary data like duration, start date, end date, "must happen after", whatever is needed. So you could have several Arch objects link to a same Schedule object. There would be a gathering object to grab all these, which would be what gets exported to any other external format. And you can easily perform all kinds of tests, for ex. locate objects without schedule, get all objects that link to a certain Schedule object, etc

Only I used the word "Schedule" in Arch already :) big problem to solve first :mrgreen:

*EDIT* but I see your current implementation implements a good part of this already! Sorry, I should have looked better before writing!
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yorik
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by yorik »

Another way to do it, instead of having the Arch object store a link to the Schedule/Planning object, is to have the Schedule/Planning object store a list of links to other FreeCAD objects. That would allow to work with ANY FreeCAD object, not only Arch. And it would work more like a job, like saso says, where you add objects.
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saso
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by saso »

yorik wrote:Another way to do it, instead of having the Arch object store a link to the Schedule/Planning object, is to have the Schedule/Planning object store a list of links to other FreeCAD objects. That would allow to work with ANY FreeCAD object, not only Arch.
Oh, yes that would also be good :)

Or what would be useful would be an "virtual group" where you could put objects from the model as "symbolic links" of the original objects... Hmmm, Yorik, where do you think I could have got that idea from ha? Some videos... ?! :roll:
yorik wrote:And it would work more like a job, like saso says, where you add objects.
Or as I have learned later I guess the proper term here is "tasks" :)

About the time format, is there not a standard format that is used by other such tools (eg. project, openproject)?
walpa
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by walpa »

saso wrote:
yorik wrote:Another way to do it, instead of having the Arch object store a link to the Schedule/Planning object, is to have the Schedule/Planning object store a list of links to other FreeCAD objects. That would allow to work with ANY FreeCAD object, not only Arch.
Oh, yes that would also be good :)
I agree, great idea. IMHO looks better this way.
saso wrote:Or what would be useful would be an "virtual group" where you could put objects from the model as "symbolic links" of the original objects... Hmmm, Yorik, where do you think I could have got that idea from ha? Some videos... ?! :roll:
Do I try to implement with the idea of Yorik, or wait for the "virtual group"?
Videos?... Sorry, I'm curious... :)
saso wrote:About the time format, is there not a standard format that is used by other such tools (eg. project, openproject)?
For export is used format ISO YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ss
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saso
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Re: Macro for BIM simulation of work

Post by saso »

walpa wrote:Do I try to implement with the idea of Yorik, or wait for the "virtual group"?
Better listen to Yorik :) that other idea I am not even sure if it is possible...
walpa wrote:Videos?... Sorry, I'm curious... :)
Check PM :)
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