Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing project execution within the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. As tools continue to evolve, our digital approach is changing. At the 2024 AutoDesk Dynamo Day Hackathon, we attended to challenge ourselves on emerging tools and technologies and how they apply to the evolving landscape of the AEC industry. We were tasked to utilize new and existing tools, from Dynamo and Revit to Forma, with each emphasizing the importance of adaptability, interoperability and innovation in meeting project’s challenges and achieving successful outcomes.
Site chosen in New York city
A unique project: Utilizing Forma to assess New York City’s soundscape
It could be seen as an impossible task to assess the noise volume of one the world’s largest cities – New York City. With an estimated population of over eight million in 2024, measuring the noise levels at any given location, at any moment, could seem like a fruitless endeavor. Or maybe not? Our team, The Utah Teapot Programmers, comprised of EXP’s Pierre-Andre Trudel, Builders Circle Cory D. Reeves, Autodesk’s Magnus Poppe Wang and HNTB’s Winston Pagliaro, set out to leverage the power of Autodesk Forma’s AI-powered tool, Rapid Noise Analysis, to evaluate the soundscape of New York City and its five boroughs, with a specific focus on developing a lightweight ‘test-fit’ solution for film production studios and municipal entities.
The project’s primary objective was to create an advanced and efficient tool for film and production studios and municipalities like New York City’s Department of Design and Construction (NYC-DDC) to use when selecting ideal filming locations. By utilizing Autodesk Forma’s Rapid Noise Analysis and interoperability with AutoCAD Civil 3D through the Dynamo in Forma Beta, our team aimed to provide an insightful analysis of noise levels, enabling better decision-making and planning for film projects.
Running noise analysis in Forma
Our approach: leveraging Dynamo for Interoperability
For this project, we combined advanced tools and methodologies, including AutoDesk Forma, Dynamo Forma Beta, Civil 3D and Revit, to model the intricate details of New York City’s blocks and neighborhoods. Utilizing data from NYC OpenData, we input film permits and 311 noise complaints to generate comprehensive heatmaps that visually depict areas with increased noise that a file crew might want to avoid.
Project context, with help from Forma
While not sexy, the first step was trimming the data down to something manageable to test our proof of concept. From over 38 million rows of data, we cut it down to 1000 complaints to give our laptops a fighting chance. The second step was using Forma and the Dynamo in Forma Beta to bring our NYC project into Dynamo and AutoCAD.
The video above shows us using nodes from the DynamaFormaBeta package and the MeshToolkit package to bring the NYC terrain and building elements from our Forma project into Dynamo. What would be an incredibly heavy surface for Civil 3D, Forma and Dynamo are able to process in seconds! Below, we extract the edges from the mesh and export them to AutoCAD as lines for helpful context later in the workflow when we import and manipulate noise complaint point data.
Terrain Edges exported to AutoCAD
From Points to Roads in Dynamo for Civil 3D
After cleaning our data and pulling in our Forma project data, we then pulled the noise complaint data points into Dynamo and projected those points up to the terrain mesh using another help MeshToolkit node. You might be curious as to why we imported Civil 3D COGO points instead of importing the data from a CSV or other file type. The NYC Opendata source wasn’t clear about what coordinate system or units the point locations were in. After much swearing and several cups of coffee later, we decided to “place” the points in the correct location using Civil 3D so that the data could eventually make it back to Forma correctly located. Not ideal, but we were low on licensed surveyors during the Hackathon.
Project points from C3D COGO Points onto Forma Terrain
The next crucial step was converting our points to lines/curves, since Forma’s Rapid Noise Analysis was really intended to perform analysis along noisy roads. Forma wanted roads, so we made some fake roads by simply offsetting the points a short distance and creating curves between them. What would we do without the ability to transpose a list?
Fake road creation for Noise Simulation
Back for Forma to make some noise
Lastly in Dynamo for Civil 3D, we converted those curves to Forma Basic Elements and sent them back to Forma. Forma roads have a lot of required properties like design speed and traffic statistics; we put in some placeholder to make it happy.
Noise complaint points
Once the data synced back to Forma, the 1000 “roads” were added to the project and noise analysis was run, generating the heatmaps below and showing us the noisiest areas that a film crew might want to avoid (or use depending on the movie).
Noise Analysis in Forma
Expansive Noise Analysis in Forma
Future Considerations and Applications
There’s always room to improve on an idea and even as the Hackathon was ending, we were already brainstorming on Version 2.
Many of the noise complaint points were spatially close together and could be grouped together in clusters. The density of the complaints in a cluster could be correlated to the design speed or Average Daily Traffic (ADT) which are both property inputs for the roads in Forma that would result in more noise pollution generated in the analysis.
Our team initially aspired to pair Forma’s noise analysis with generative design of sound barriers and other soundproofing structures in Dynamo for Revit to help film crews with initial design layouts to help mitigate noise. Our scope quickly narrowed for time reasons, but we still see huge potential for site-specific solutions that would help film and maintenance crews quickly iterate digitally without the added costs of physically mobilizing.
We see potential use cases for those outside the film industry as well. The tool could theoretically be used for those searching for quieter housing in major cities, general contractors seeking to minimize construction noise, and healthcare facilities requiring quieter environments and operations teams.
Takeaways from the Autodesk Hackathon
This year’s project was not simply meant to highlight the complexities of assessing urban noise and how to establish more efficient film experiences.
It was a lesson in how collaboration and interoperability can yield data-driven solutions for project success. As projects become more complex, the demand for advanced and interoperable solutions increases.
As BIM professionals, we are keeping track of the technologies that can help our clients reach their goals in a more cost-effective and efficient manner.
To learn more about EXP’s Digital capabilities, contact BIM technical director Pierre-André Trudel.
Originally published on the Dynamo’s blog.