Brayman is a leading heavy civil and geotechnical contractor with office headquarters in suburban Pittsburgh.

Brayman Construction Corporation

Project Intro:

The Koppel Bridge project was a $27 Million effort to replace the previous bridge. TyBOT performed bulk tying operations on this project in April of 2019 to assist the crews of Brayman Construction Corporation. The Koppel Bridge is located in rural Western Pennsylvania and serves as a crucial link between the towns of Koppel, and Ellwood City. It is a 4-span bridge that is 43 feet wide and 1,240 feet long. The new Koppel bridge opened in October of 2019. 

Role in Project:

TyBOT® is an autonomous rebar tying robot that ties up to 1,000 intersections an hour. TyBOT deploys to any job site that has screed rails in place and will do the work of an average crew. TyBOT easily deploys anywhere in the country to work on horizontal reinforcing steel installation projects. TyBOT performed the bulk tie portion of the Koppel Bridge deck reinforcing steel installation for two out of the four spans of the bridge.

Description of Project:

The Koppel Bridge project, located in Koppel, PA, began in January 2017 and opened to traffic in October 2019. The bridge carries two 12 ft travel lanes and 8 ft shoulders. The deck of the Koppel Bridge consists of 1 million pounds of rebar and 6,000 cubic yards of concrete. The structural steel supporting the deck weighs approximately 4.3 million pounds.

Project Features/Advancements:

Manhour savings: 34%
Schedule savings: 34%

Brayman Construction Corporation (BCC) meticulously recorded production data for the deck reinforcing steel installation of the project so that this case study could provide meaningful results. While self-performing the rebar installation on two spans that did not utilize TyBot, BCC expended 20% of their total manhours on the bulk tie sub-activity that TyBOT would perform on the other two spans.

When TyBOT executed the bulk tie on these two spans, the data showed that BCC not only saved the expected 20% of manhours for bulk tying but also saved another 14% for a total savings of 34% of their budgeted manhours. These additional savings was attributed to a couple of different factors.

BCC chose to augment their deck rebar crew with TyBOT meaning they did not reduce the level of manpower performing the installation. Not having to perform the 

bulk tie sub-activity allowed the crew to focus manual efforts on the remaining sub-activities associated with deck rebar installation. This allowed these activities such as carrying and placing the rebar to occur faster and more efficiently.

The use of TyBOT also prompted the operations team to perform more pre-planning of the deck rebar work to ensure the time TyBOT was waiting on placed rebar to tie was minimized. Typically, deck rebar work planning is done in the field where the crew often reacts to the daily changes and challenges that are frequent on construction projects. When using TyBOT, the manual labor was very focused on planning the work to make sure that “the robot didn’t catch up to them”. This created a sense of competition between the robotic TyBOT and the crew, pushing the work along faster.

With BCC augmenting their crew with TyBOT, the project realized both a 34% manhour savings and a 34% savings in the duration of the work. Experiencing schedule and productivity improvements that result in manhour savings is a great example of the power of utilizing robots in construction. With widespread shortages in skilled labor, using TyBot to augment and not replace the rebar crew is the best way to accelerate projects, meet tough schedule constraints, and best utilize the skills of workers.

Who was/is Involved:
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation: CLIENT

Brayman Construction Corporation: MAIN CONTRACTOR

Advanced Construction Robotics: SUBCONTRACTOR

Awards:

Associated Bridge for Construction & Design awarded the Koppel Bridge Project two awards: 

(1) Outstanding New Major Bridge Award (Brayman Construction as the main contractor) (2) Outstanding New Special Purpose Structure Award for Permanent Sheet Pile Wall System – Brayman Construction (Brayman Construction as subcontractor & Trumbull as the main contractor)

Source: https://www.constructionrobots.com/post/tybot-case-study-koppel-bridge

Koppel Bridge

ACR is a world leading innovator of autonomous robotic equipment. Our robots are transforming the construction industry by filling the skilled labor gap and increasing overall productivity of the construction industry. Our products give construction firms the ability to meet a rapidly growing demand.

Check out more case studies at: https://www.constructionrobots.com/projects

Rebar-Tying Robot Debuts on Pennsylvania Bridge

Wekiva Parkway Section 8 - Bridges 23 & 25

Advanced Construction Robotics

Advanced Construction Robotics Aims to Disrupt Construction Industry With TyBOT and IronBOT 

Victoria University (VU) Tower, the tallest university building in the southern hemisphere, comprises of around 43,300sqm floor area over 32 levels. With strong support from contractors and subcontractors, Ynomia was able to push the envelope and add immense value through a highly-automated and sensor-based application, tracking concrete structure, facade panels and other parts of the project to connect Supply Chain and Site like never before.

Victoria University Tower

Why?
Construction has always suffered from major Data Quality and Visibility Problems caused by manual workflows and fragmented data and tools, making it near impossible to maintain an accurate picture of progress and make informed decisions, especially in the management of complex supply chains with various off-site activities and stakeholders. 

What?
Ynomia tracks and reports on the progress of all building components, predominantly high-value off-site fabricated elements, including Precast Concrete, Modular Assemblies, Cladding/Glazing, M&E, Pods and more. We record progress and decisions as they happen and deliver actionable and real-time insights over the duration of the project as we build up a data-rich digital record of each building component across Design, Manufacture, Logistics, Construction and Handover. 

How?
We create best and densest possible set of data and insights, and bring it all together in our Real-Time Digital Twin Dashboard by combining Integrations with existing systems and tools, Automation via our own QR & Bluetooth Tag & Track, and our Low-touch Mobile App - the simplest and most user-friendly in the industry. 

Ynomia

The Brigade Group, a leading property developer in India, wanted to reduce the turnaround time for commercial testfits significantly. To do this, they realised that the client-facing sales team had to be empowered to make minor design changes without the intervention of the design team to speed up decision-making. 

The Client
The Brigade Group is one of the largest property developers in India, with well over 70 million sqft of developed space across the country. Their portfolio boasts developments across diverse property segments, including commercial, residential, retail and hospitality. They recently launched their own co-working brand 'BuzzWorks' with a portfolio of over 5 million sqft.



Commercial Testfits Created Rapidly with Snaptrude

BoQ of a Commercial Interior Project Auto-Generated on Snaptrude

Commercial Testfits Delivered in 90mins 

Snaptrude is a collaborative design tool for architects and interior designers. Design teams can build efficient buildings, with data & automation,  saving weeks’ worth of effort. Collaborate with your team in real-time for faster feedback and approvals. As Snaptrude works on a web browser, you can work on any device, from anywhere in the world. Revit, AutoCAD, SketchUp, Rhino, 3DSMax, ArchiCad, Vectorworks

Snaptrude

 Snaptrude New Snaptrude Features to Help You Grow in Your Architecture Practice

DPR Construction is a commercial general contractor and construction management firm based in Redwood City, California

View From Above: Block 185 Crown Install – Austin

DPR Construction 

A self-performing General Contractor focusd on highly complex and technical projects

To increase project success, DPR embraces construction innovations that come from outside the organization. A recent example of this is known as Canvas.

Canvas is a worker-controlled robotic machine that helps increase safety, save time, decrease costs and increase overall quality. Canvas automates the mudding and sanding portions of the drywall finishing process, which, according to Canvas, captures 99.9% of the dust produced by sanding, improving air quality—and reducing worker exposure to silica—and minimizing cleanup. It also helps make the work safer by both cutting out the heavy lifting of machine sanding, stress injuries from repetitive motion and by reducing the chance of falls by allowing workers to take on elevated work from ground level.

“DPR has been working with us for several years to refine our drywall finishing machine and make it more useful for self-perform drywall crews. As an early adopter, DPR has embraced the technology for its ability to improve safety and quality metrics, with an eye toward increased productivity,” said Canvas’ Jill Lonergan.

“We invest heavily in our thousands of craft workers. We’re excited to partner with Canvas to create a safer work environment for our tradespeople while providing them with a valuable new technology skill,” said DPR’s Jack Poindexter.

A team of DPR craft team members recently completed training and certification on the Canvas system, which they are set to deploy on an upcoming project. One of these craftsmen, Cande Talavera, shared his experience with the process: “I was excited to try the Canvas machine and put my hands on it. It was easy to learn and will limit the hard work tapers have to do.”

Source: https://www.dpr.com/media/blog/working-smarter-innovations-from-the-field

Canvas is a worker-controlled robotic machine that helps increase safety, save time, decrease costs and increase overall quality

Cleaning up the drywall finishing process

Canvas automates the mudding and sanding portions of the drywall finishing process

CANVAS IS A CONSTRUCTION ROBOTICS COMPANY.

We deliver unrivaled quality, speed, and predictability by putting robots in the hands of skilled workers. Through our novel approach, we have reinvented drywall finishing to give your projects better outcomes.

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS DESERVE BETTER EQUIPMENT

We’ve seen firsthand the unparalleled skill and expertise that a union drywall finisher leverages to make gorgeous interiors. We believe in creating tools that amplify those skills, and we exist to make them more successful.

Canvas

Learn how Ware Malcomb saved $200-$300k in non-billable hours

In this case study, we explore:

Developing a multifamily market
Reducing site planning time
2D to 3D modeling

How Ware Malcomb uses TestFit as a marketing tool

TestFit is the real estate feasibility platform that makes it easy to do site planning for developers, architects, and contractors who want to maximize site potential and get the right deals done faster. TestFit takes care of tedious tasks like counting parking stalls, drafting iterations, and calculating yield on cost by generating rapid concept iterations based on your parametric input.

Our AI configurators optimize the best design solutions for every site with real-time insights into design, constructability, and cost so you can save time on site planning, reduce risk on acquiring deals and increase potentials for all your sites.


TestFit

Mountain Back - 3D printed Snowboard Binding

Slicelab

A concrete exploration using 3D printed molds with a goal to see how delicate, detailed, and finite concrete can get while still being structurally rigid. Ultimately the focus was to create a piece of furniture that embodies an optimal balance of delicateness in form and strength in dentistry. Using 3D printing as a new way to realize concrete through its ability to make molds, we have been interested in pushing the concretes’ natural limitation through fine geometries.

Delicate Density

Rhinoceros 3D is a 3D computer graphics and computer-aided design application software developed by the American company Robert McNeel & Associates. Utilizing NURBS mathematical modeling to produce precise representations of free-form, curving surfaces, Rhino is used in industries such as architecture, industrial design, automotive design, product design, and multimedia and graphic design.

Rhino 3D

Grasshopper is a visual programming language and environment that pairs with Rhino 3D, a software program also developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. Grasshopper allows users to build algorithms by dragging and connecting components on a digital canvas. From parametric modeling and fabrication, lighting performance analysis, to building energy consumption, Grasshopper provides an intuitive way to explore design without requiring programming experience.

Grasshopper

What is Maya?

Maya is professional 3D software for creating realistic characters and blockbuster-worthy effects.

Bring believable characters to life with engaging animation tools.

Shape 3D objects and scenes with intuitive modeling tools.

Create realistic effects—from explosions to cloth simulation.

Maya

A civil engineering and building construction firm, which also carries out research, survey, planning, designing, supervision, and other related activities. Projects include bridges, highway tunnels, stadiums, hospitals, and office buildings.

Tobishima Corporation

Civil engineering and building construction firm

Tobishima Corporation had to reorganize management resources to deal with rising IT costs due to BIM implementation. After evaluating various CAD products, considering cost, operability, installations by other companies in the same industry, and potential, Tobishima switched from its existing 2D CAD to a different, but highly compatible solution: ARES CAD software.

Mr. Aihara (left), Chief of Construction Concierge Office; Mr. Mizukoshi (center), Manager of Civil Engineering Division; and Mr. Ozawa (right), Manager of Information System Division.

Tobishima Corporation Migrates 1,600 Computers to ARES CAD Software

Graebert‘s product portfolio is anchored by the ARES Trinity of CAD software — a powerful suite of DWG-based CAD software for desktop (ARES Commander), mobile (ARES Touch) and cloud (ARES Kudo). 

ARES is the modern alternative for 2D/3D CAD in DWG, already used by 3 of the top 5 construction groups in Japan, as well as leading manufacturers such as LG, Hyundai and Samsung.

CAD Anywhere: Desktop CAD (Windows, Mac, Linux), Cloud CAD (runs in your Internet browser), Mobile CAD (Android tablets/smartphones and iOS iPhone/iPad)

Modern workflows leveraging cloud and mobile to synchronize the work across all your users and devices

DWG for BIM features in ARES Commander to create smarter CAD drawings which geometry can be extracted and updated from Revit and IFC BIM projects

ARES Commander - Desktop CAD: All the 2D and 3D features to create and modify DWG drawings on Windows, macOS and Linux

ARES Kudo - Online CAD: Create and modify DWG drawings online and enjoy new collaboration features to comment with voice, photos, texts and stamps

ARES Touch - Mobile CAD: A full set of 2D features to create, modify and annotate DWG drawings on your Android smartphone/tablet and iOS iPhone/iPad with unique collaboration feature to markup with voice, photos, texts and stamps

The ARES Trinity of CAD Software | Create and Modify DWG Files With Modern Collaboration Tools

ARES Commander CAD Software for DWG | Modern 2D and 3D CAD for Windows, Mac and Linux

ARES Kudo Online CAD for DWG Viewing, Creation and Modification in your Internet Browser

ARES Touch Mobile CAD for Android and iOS to View, Create and Annotate DWG

The ARES Trinity of CAD software by Graebert

Taisei Corporation

TAISEI Corporation is one of the “Big 5” construction groups in Japan, with 8,572 employees as of March 2021. Technical drawings are required on construction sites, and a company as big as TAISEI uses more than most. Such drawings are created at the office by the design teams, and keep evolving during the project. Construction workers depend on a constant flow of drawings because they need to keep up with frequent design updates. In addition, they need a way to share feedback from the field with the design teams — which is ideally done within the drawings themselves. Centralizing files in the cloud enables users to circulate drawing updates in real time. But in TAISEI’s case, the challenge is also to deploy a Mobile CAD solution to the thousands of iPads used in the field, without compromising on productivity and security.

TAISEI Corporation Deploys ARES Touch Mobile CAD On 4,000+ iPads

ARES Touch is a full-featured mobile CAD app that provides a complete set of 2D drafting and annotation commands. It's the perfect companion to quickly review a drawing shared in the cloud or received by email while on the go.

Team members at the jobsite can collaborate efficiently with colleagues back at the office

ARES Touch: Mobile CAD for Android and iOS to View, Create and Annotate DWG

Mobile CAD in DWG: Technical Worker on Site at Work with ARES Touch

How Online CAD and Mobile CAD Improve Collaboration Around Drawings

The ARES Trinity of CAD Software: Create and Modify DWG Files with Modern Collaboration Tools

ARES Touch

Work productively on mobile devices with tools tailored to smaller screens

Franz Nüsing GmbH & Co KG

Nüsing designs and creates custom mobile walls, providing flexible room separation for any requirement. 

Franz Nüsing GmbH & Co KG, founded in 1878, is a world leader in movable wall technology, including mobile partitions, glass walls, and folding walls. These products are frequently customized to meet specific technical requirements. Nüsing uses ARES CAD software to produce the technical drawings that document its projects. The design is facilitated by an application developed by Nüsing and running on top of ARES Commander, named Nüsing CAD, which assists technicians with parametric components that can be inserted in the drawings. The Nüsing team can also use ARES Kudo to access drawings online, and easily share them with customers and other external users.

A project as seen by the Nüsing team in ARES Kudo. Users can make modifications with the editing features, which are accessible from the menu on the right, and from the command bar.

The same project, as seen by external contacts in an Internet browser. For that purpose, Nüsing uses a view-only link created by ARES Kudo, so there is nothing to install, just a URL that always displays the latest version of the project. Customers can use this to validate the project.

Custom Room Partition Creator Nüsing Designs, Documents, and Collaborates with ARES CAD Software

Premium EASYmatic movable walls by Nüsing.

With ARES Commander, users can work both locally and with files stored in the cloud to improve collaboration. Sync files across users and devices. Create and modify DWG drawings in 2D and 3D, leveraging the drafting and design features that you’ve come to expect — all at a significant cost savings. ARES Commander can stand alone or coordinate with ARES Touch and ARES Kudo to form the Trinity of CAD, unlocking productivity-boosting collaboration features. 

Files created in ARES Commander can also be accessed in ARES Kudo or ARES Touch.

ARES Commander CAD Software for DWG: Modern 2D and 3D CAD for Windows, Mac and Linux

DWG for BIM Features in ARES Commander: Drawings Automation

Read and Export BIM Properties with ARES Commander

DWG Drawings from Revit and IFC BIM Projects with ARES Commander

BIM Drawings Automation: Materials Mapper, BIM Labels, BIM Dimensions

ARES Commander

ARES Commander Standalone [Perpetual License]

ARES Commander [Perpetual License] with Trinity

ARES Commander Flex / Network Seat [Perpetual License]

ARES Commander runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux platforms.

ARES Kudo is the cloud's most agile CAD solution for DWG drawings. You just need an Internet browser to access, share, and modify your CAD files — anywhere, anytime, on any device.


ARES Kudo: Online CAD for DWG Viewing, Creation and Modification in Your Internet Browser

Online CAD in DWG: ARES Kudo User Working Remotely with Cloud

Online CAD in DWG: Enable Free Viewing and Commenting with View-Only Links

ARES Kudo

Cloud-Only Plan (includes ARES Kudo only)

Mobility Pack (includes ARES Kudo and ARES Touch)

ARES Trinity Plan (includes ARES Kudo, ARES Touch, and ARES Commander)

Because ARES Kudo runs in a browser, it can be accessed on any computer.

Keßler Solutions

As a provider of facility management solutions, Keßler Solutions has depended on the integration of CAD drawings and databases for more than 20 years. CAD plans are linked to databases and processes in FAMOS, Keßler’s GEFMA-certified computer-aided facility management (CAFM) software, by ARES Commander. This allows for bidirectional data sharing, informative visuals, excellent data quality, and FM process integration.

Graebert and Keßler are collaborating to expand this technology with strong, market-oriented CAD solutions. The Web-CAD, an integrated CAD core for the FAMOS WebPortal from Keßler, was built on the basis of ARES Kudo in a relatively short development period. This means that a CAD viewer is now available for users working on mobile devices, enabling them to work as they normally do, without having to learn anything new. This makes it easier to integrate CAD data into the database — for example, by comparing different planning stages on the construction site. The Web-CAD is ideal for everyday usage, such as on building sites (construction progress/status documentation) or in facility management procedures (occupation, relocation, inventory, events).

CADflow for ARES® is an add-on that synchronizes data between drawings and the FAMOS database.

Web-CAD overview of floor areas (DIN 277).

ARES Kudo enables users to access, create, and modify DWG files stored in popular cloud storage services such as Google Drive®, Box®, Dropbox®, and OneDrive®.

Facility Management Solution Provider Keßler Builds Web-CAD Tool with ARES Kudo

The Web-CAD, an integrated CAD core for the FAMOS WebPortal from Keßler, was built on the basis of ARES Kudo in a relatively short development period.

Explore Latest Case Studies