BIM-based electromechanical engineering bill of material visual integrated construction method

Abstract

The invention provides a BIM (Building Information Modeling)-based electromechanical engineering bill of material visual integrated construction method. The method comprises the following steps of: exporting and preparing data; a step of enriching external BOM information; associating the external data with the model; a model checking and information interaction step; and outputting and applying data. Under the condition that the purity and stability of a native model are kept, visualization and accurate mapping of BOM-level material information are achieved, fine management according to physical units is supported, site construction is enabled, design and operation and maintenance barriers are broken through, and a high-quality data foundation is provided for digital operation and maintenance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology, and in particular relates to a BIM-based method for the integrated construction of a visual bill of materials for electromechanical engineering. Background Technology

[0002] In the industrial manufacturing sector, the application of 3D digital models is already very mature. For example, it is possible to automatically and accurately export the Bill of Materials (BOM) directly from mechanical 3D computer-aided design (such as CREO) models. This BOM contains information such as the model, specifications, and quantity of all parts and components required for the product, which can be directly used to guide procurement, production material preparation, assembly, and inventory management, greatly improving production efficiency and accuracy.

[0003] With the digital transformation of the construction industry, Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology has been widely applied. In complex mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) projects, practitioners are eager to derive a Bill of Materials (BOM) with granularity similar to that of the manufacturing industry from BIM models, in order to facilitate precise material procurement, prefabrication, on-site installation, and subsequent operation and maintenance management.

[0004] However, current technologies face significant challenges and limitations in practice. While existing BIM software and processes can derive component lists from models, the depth and breadth of this export fall far short of the "BOM-level" granularity requirement. Specific problems include:

[0005] 1. Disconnect between model component and material information: Existing technologies primarily export lists based on "main components" (such as ducts, water pipes, valves, and equipment) already modeled in the model. However, a large number of "non-model components" indispensable in engineering construction, especially auxiliary materials (such as bolts, nuts, washers, welding rods, support fasteners, and sealants) and materials requiring on-site processing (such as pipe insulation layers and galvanized iron sheets), are typically not modeled individually in the model. Therefore, information on these materials cannot be automatically captured and exported.

[0006] 2. Adding information is labor-intensive and error-prone: A current solution involves manually adding shared parameters or custom attributes to related components in the model, attempting to link information such as auxiliary materials. This method is not only extremely labor-intensive, requiring significant manual intervention, but is also highly susceptible to data errors, omissions, or inconsistencies due to human error, reducing the reliability of the exported data and negating the purpose of BIM data automation.

[0007] 3. Polluting the Native Model: Manually adding a large number of non-standard, project-specific information parameters to the BIM model is essentially polluting the "native model." This leads to a bloated model, degraded performance, and may affect the model's stability and interactivity in other application scenarios (such as clash detection, performance analysis, and drawing generation). Furthermore, the lack of standardized information across different projects and stakeholders creates significant obstacles to collaboration and delivery of such "polluted" models.

[0008] 4. Difficulty in integrating with delivery standards (such as COBie): COBie (Construction Operations Building Information Exchange), a critical information delivery standard for the building operation and maintenance phase, emphasizes the complete transfer of asset information. However, due to the reasons mentioned above, directly generating an asset data sheet that meets COBie requirements and contains all BOM-level material information from the BIM model becomes extremely difficult, resulting in a break in the information flow from construction to operation and maintenance of the project.

[0009] Therefore, there is an urgent need in this field for an innovative technical solution that can solve the problem of automatically generating BOM-level bills of materials for electromechanical engineering without changing the original BIM model structure, and ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data. Summary of the Invention

[0010] This invention aims to solve the aforementioned problems in the prior art, thereby providing a BIM-based integrated construction method for visualizing and constructing a bill of materials (BOM) for electromechanical engineering. Without modifying the internal structure of the original BIM model, it achieves automatic association, accurate information, and precise positioning of the BOM-level granular bill of materials through an external intelligent association and mapping mechanism. It also ensures that the BOM can be seamlessly used for material procurement, cutting, and installation during the construction phase, as well as asset management and information delivery (such as COBie) during the operation and maintenance phase. Ultimately, it connects the entire lifecycle data flow from design and construction to operation and maintenance.

[0011] To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, this invention provides a BIM-based integrated method for constructing a visual bill of materials for electromechanical engineering, comprising the following steps:

[0012] Data export and preparation steps: Export the component schedule containing unique component identifiers from the native BIM design software, and export the native BIM model as a lightweight model file;

[0013] External BOM information enrichment steps: In the external copy of the component details table, using the component's unique identifier as an index, supplement the main component with operation and maintenance attribute information, and create new data records for non-model components that are not modeled in the model. Associate them with the corresponding main components through the association relationship, thereby generating a full external database of bill of materials.

[0014] External data and model association steps: Open the lightweight format model file in the 3D model platform, associate the full bill of materials external database with the model through the data linking tool, and establish the mapping relationship between the model components and the external database records using the unique identifier of the component as the key, so that the external material information is dynamically bound to the corresponding model components as a non-intrusive attribute.

[0015] Model viewing and information interaction steps: In the 3D model browsing platform or the integrated model generated by it, by selecting the component, you can view the BOM-level material information of the component bound to the external database in real time;

[0016] Data output and application steps: Based on the model that has been bound to external material information, export data reports that meet preset standards as needed or provide a bill of materials to the external management system.

[0017] Furthermore, in the external BOM information enrichment step, the non-model components include auxiliary materials, consumables, and connectors.

[0018] Furthermore, in the step of associating external data with the model, the 3D model platform is Autodesk Navisworks, and the data linking tool is its data tool module, which connects to the external database of the full bill of materials through the ODBC Microsoft Excel Driver.

[0019] Furthermore, in the model viewing and information interaction step, the user accesses the integrated model through an application on a mobile terminal and performs component information queries and interactions.

[0020] Furthermore, in the data output and application steps, the preset standard is the COBie standard, and the data report is an asset information spreadsheet that conforms to the COBie standard.

[0021] Furthermore, the component unique identifier is a globally unique identifier in the BIM model.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution provided by the present invention has the following significant advantages and positive effects:

[0023] 1. Non-intrusive operation, maintaining the purity and stability of the original model: All BOM-level material information is stored outside the model and mapped to model components through a unique ID, fundamentally eliminating "model pollution" and ensuring the lightweight, high performance and stability of the original design model.

[0024] 2. Significantly reduce manual workload and improve information processing efficiency and accuracy: Transferring information enrichment work to a familiar spreadsheet environment and utilizing its batch processing function significantly reduces labor and time costs and effectively reduces human error.

[0025] 3. Achieve visualization and accurate mapping of BOM-level material information: By dynamically linking external data with geometric models through a 3D platform, the "what you see is what you get" visualization management of information in a 3D context is realized, which greatly improves the intuitiveness and interactivity of information retrieval.

[0026] 4. Supports refined management by physical unit, empowering on-site construction: The management granularity can be refined to each specific piece of equipment, each section of pipeline and all its auxiliary parts, enabling on-site personnel to achieve precise material cutting, material delivery and installation verification through mobile devices.

[0027] 5. Breaking down barriers between design and operation and maintenance, providing a high-quality data foundation for digital operation and maintenance: It perfectly solves the information gap problem from BIM model to operation and maintenance system. All asset information required for operation and maintenance can be pre-bound, realizing "one-click query of maintenance information", laying a solid data foundation for the digital and intelligent full life cycle management of building assets. Attached Figure Description

[0028] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall process of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 This describes the process of viewing the device's association with an external database in this embodiment of the invention. Detailed Implementation

[0030] To better understand the purpose, structure, and function of this invention, the following description, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, provides a more detailed account of a BIM-based integrated construction method for visualizing and constructing a bill of materials for electromechanical engineering.

[0031] This invention provides a non-intrusive BIM model BOM-level bill of materials generation and management system and method based on external data association. The core of this method lies in utilizing native BIM design software (such as Autodesk Revit) without modifying the original design model. By using the unique component ID (GUID) as a key index, it precisely binds and visually maps finer-grained material information stored externally to the components in the BIM model, thereby achieving a lossless upgrade of the BIM model's information granularity.

[0032] See Figure 1 The preferred embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:

[0033] S101: Data Export and Preparation Phase

[0034] Open the native design model of the target project using Autodesk Revit. The level of detail (LOD) of this model is insufficient to include all the material information required by the Bill of Materials (BOM).

[0035] Exporting a component schedule: Using Revit software features, export a schedule containing a globally unique identifier (element ID) for each component and other basic attributes (such as type, size, material, etc.). This schedule is stored in a structured data format (such as Excel, CSV).

[0036] Exporting a Lightweight Model: Export the original design model to a lightweight format (such as NWC) for use with Autodesk Navisworks software. This process only converts the geometry and basic properties, without changing the original model data.

[0037] S102: External BOM Information Enrichment Stage

[0038] In the exported component list (Excel file), the material information is further refined and enriched based on the component ID.

[0039] For existing main components in the model, complete maintenance attributes such as manufacturer, model, specifications, and warranty information are added to their corresponding rows.

[0040] For auxiliary materials, consumables, and connectors (such as bolts, nuts, gaskets, welding rods, sealant, insulation materials, etc.) that do not exist in the model, create a new data row and assign it a logical component ID or associate it with the main component ID through a foreign key, based on the association relationship with the parent main component (such as the system to which it belongs or the installation location).

[0041] Finally, a complete bill of materials database is generated, containing information on all BOM-level granular materials, with each row of data having a (direct or indirect) ID association with the model component.

[0042] S103: External Data and Model Association Stage

[0043] Open the aforementioned exported lightweight model (NWC file) using Autodesk Navisworks.

[0044] Activate the Data Tools module in the software.

[0045] Create a new data link and connect it to the full Excel bill of materials database generated in the above steps via the ODBC Microsoft Excel Driver.

[0046] Within this data link, write an SQL query. The core of this SQL statement is to establish a one-to-one or one-to-many mapping between Navisworks model components and data records in the Excel table, using the component's unique ID (GUID) or associated ID as the primary key. For example:

[0047] SELECT * FROM [sheet1$] WHERE "ID" = %prop("ID de elemento", "value"); After performing the link operation, the data in the external bill of materials will be dynamically and non-intrusively bound to each corresponding component in Navisworks as a "property" attribute.

[0048] S104: Model Viewing and Information Interaction Phase

[0049] Save models that are associated with external data in an integrated, publishable format (such as NWD format).

[0050] Users can directly click on any component in Navisworks, and its "Properties" panel will display not only the original model information, but also more granular BOM material information and operation and maintenance attributes linked from an external database, achieving seamless information integration and viewing. Figure 2 The process is shown: first select a unit to place equipment in a station, then select a piece of equipment from the unit to view its BOM material information.

[0051] The NWD file can be uploaded to a cloud collaboration platform (such as Autodesk BIM 360 / ACC), and project participants (such as construction workers, supervisors, and maintenance personnel) can browse the model offline or online through corresponding applications on mobile terminals (such as iPads) (such as Autodesk BIM360Glue / Field).

[0052] On mobile devices, users can also click on a component to view all its bound BOM-level material information in real time, which can be used for various application scenarios such as on-site material delivery verification, construction and installation guidance, equipment information query, and completion information verification, thus realizing refined management of the construction site and subsequent operation and maintenance.

[0053] S105: Data Output and Application Stage

[0054] Based on the model already bound with rich information, the system can further:

[0055] Use Navisworks reporting features or custom scripts to export COBie-compliant spreadsheets as needed. Since all necessary information is already linked externally, the export process automatically maps component and associated material information to the corresponding COBie Asset, Component, and Spare data tables, easily delivering operational data.

[0056] Provide accurate material procurement and consumption lists for the project's ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or MES (Manufacturing Execution System).

[0057] Through the above steps, this invention perfectly achieves the economical and efficient acquisition of BOM-level granular information results without significantly improving the model's modeling precision, and provides a high-quality data foundation for the full life cycle management of buildings.

Claims

1. A BIM-based integrated method for constructing a visual bill of materials for electromechanical engineering, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Data export and preparation steps: Export the component schedule containing unique component identifiers from the native BIM design software, and export the native BIM model as a lightweight model file; External BOM information enrichment steps: In the external copy of the component details table, using the component's unique identifier as an index, supplement the main component with operation and maintenance attribute information, and create new data records for non-model components that are not modeled in the model. Associate them with the corresponding main components through the association relationship, thereby generating a full external database of bill of materials. External data and model association steps: Open the lightweight format model file in the 3D model platform, associate the full bill of materials external database with the model through the data linking tool, and establish the mapping relationship between the model components and the external database records using the unique identifier of the component as the key, so that the external material information is dynamically bound to the corresponding model components as a non-intrusive attribute. Model viewing and information interaction steps: In the 3D model browsing platform or the integrated model generated by it, by selecting the component, you can view the BOM-level material information of the component bound to the external database in real time; Data output and application steps: Based on the model that has been bound to external material information, export data reports that meet preset standards as needed or provide a bill of materials to the external management system.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the external BOM information enrichment step, the non-model components include auxiliary materials, consumables, and connectors.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the step of associating external data with the model, the 3D model platform is Autodesk Navisworks, and the data linking tool is its data tool module, which connects to the external database of the full bill of materials through the ODBC Microsoft Excel Driver.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the model viewing and information interaction step, the user accesses the integrated model through an application on a mobile terminal and performs component information queries and interactions.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, In the data output and application steps, the preset standard is the COBie standard, and the data report is an asset information spreadsheet that conforms to the COBie standard.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The component's unique identifier is a globally unique identifier in the BIM model.

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