The Art of Allen

Tesla is experimenting with “Fully Self Driving” automation installed on 100,000 vehicles. Autonomous vehicles, in industrial and mining functions, are becoming more common. For example, Cyngn a developer of autonomous driving software for industrial and commercial applications, finds that after two decades of research, development, and beta testing, autonomous industrial vehicles have grown beyond their startup phase and have risen to become an industry necessity. Industries ranging from manufacturing to mining, construction, agriculture, and dairy are using autonomous vehicles to change the way they operate. The implementation of autonomy yields key benefits with immediate results, such as increasing profitability, scalability, adaptability, and safety — such that early adopters are carving out a competitive advantage and setting new industry process standards. In a report , Cyngn gives a comprehensive overview of industrial autonomous vehicle deployments across 20 different sector...

IDTechEx suggests 3D printing’s continued innovation and meaningful adoption will lead the hardware and consumables market to surpass $41 billion by 2033. The post Fact of the Day – 9/30/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-30-2022/ via IFTTT

September is the month that traditionally ends summer and begins autumn. Labor Day is considered the changeover point, schools start, warm/hot weather slowly ends, leaves change colors and fall from the trees, cool breezes bring thoughts of winter celebrations. Unfortunately, the change also brings thoughts of “ending it all.” The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) recognizes that and has designated September as Suicide Prevention Month . The unofficial slogan for the month is, “You are not alone.” Depression, loneliness, a sense of isolation from friends, family, society in general, are leading symptoms of a potential suicide. And while suicide is one of the most emotional human acts, the definition CDC uses is cold and abstract: Suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. An attempted suicide is when someone harms themselves with any intent to end their life, but they do not die because of their actions. How clinical. Suicide is a leading ca...

IDC says worldwide collaboration applications revenues grew 28.4% year-over-year in 2021. The post Fact of the Day – 9/29/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-29-2022/ via IFTTT

The metaverse is coming for many verticals—and in some cases it is already here. Today in this column I want to look specifically at one example: mobility, which is projected to grow from $1.9 billion in 2022 to $16.5 billion by 2030, representing a growth rate of 31.4%. This is according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets , which suggests there is a growing inclination of automotive OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) to leverage technologies like digital twin factories and virtual showrooms in the metaverse space. The tech companies are delivering too. I recently had an opportunity to discuss this very topic on The Peggy Smedley Show with Henry Bzeih, CTO/CSO, automotive & transportation, Microsoft , who says there is a lot of discussion around the metaverse, not just from an automotive perspective, but overarching. What Is Metaverse? Perhaps the first step is defining the metaverse because it is a wide and vast concept that means different things to different people. ...

Railroads are one of the major ways to move people and cargo in Europe. Each nation has a goal for its rail system, and they want to connect their lines to those of other countries, making an EU (and non-EU) system. Even smaller countries are rapidly moving towards rapid rail traffic. For example, the 870 kilometers of Rail Baltica run across each of the three Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. An ongoing electric rail infrastructure project in the region, Rail Baltica’s purpose is to provide sustainable passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve rail connections between central and northern Europe. Rail Baltica is the largest railway infrastructure project in the history of the Baltic States with an estimated cost to competition of €5.8 billion (which they are quick to point out is less than the cost of the London Olympics in 2012). It offers unique opportunities by linking the three countries with a standard gauge railway and connectin...

In northern California, the Mosquito fire has ravaged the landscape, and it’s just one of several other fires burning in the state. Oregon, Washington, Montana, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah also had active wildfires burning in mid-September, according to the NIFC (Natl. Interagency Fire Center) . Besides scorching the landscape, wildfires endanger people and structures, in some cases forcing evacuation, and they also send billowing smoke and CO 2 into the atmosphere, affecting air quality across the U.S. and Canada . Can leveraging the IoT (Internet of Things) to detect wildfires early help mitigate the effects of climate change and drought that are contributing to such intense wildfire seasons? Companies like Aeris say early detection is key to containing wildfires, and IoT technologies can provide this early detection. Aeris’s Fusion IoT Network powers LADSensor’s Forest Supervisor solution, a wildfire detection system for governments and private landowners that leverages an ...

Gartner survey says 80% of executives think automation can be applied to any business decision. The post Fact of the Day – 9/28/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-28-2022/ via IFTTT

Two well-known construction groups have looked at President Biden’s recently reported urging of government agencies to enact PLAs—Project Labor Agreements—for federal projects over $35 million and came to opposite positions. NECA (National Electrical Contractors Assn.) is for them while the AGC Associated General Contractors of America ) is against them. The PLAs would cover work contracted by the DOD (Dept. of Defense, GSA (General Services Administration), and NASA. The NECA is the voice of the $202 billion electrical contracting industry that brings power, light, and communication technology to buildings and communities across the U.S. NECA collectively represents over 4,000 electrical contractor members served by 118 local Chapters across the country. NECA issued a press release saying it welcomes the implementation of President Biden’s February 4  Executive Order  requiring Project Labor Agreements on certain federal construction projects. According to ...

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, I have been covering the worker shortage in the construction industry, sharing some strategies for how to address it. For years, labor shortages have undermined the construction industry’s ability to keep up with demand. Throughout the pandemic, we have been talking about the uptick in workers changing jobs and moving industries. Some call it the Great Resignation. But I like to call it the Great Job Hop. Workforce Trends New research from WalletHub suggests millions of Americans are quitting their jobs each month, even in the face of high inflation. The incentives available from changing jobs, as well as a desire to get away from careers impacted most by COVID-19, are two big factors driving this shift. Its research suggests the states with the highest job resignation rates include Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arizona, and Wyoming. To rank the states and the District of Columbia, WalletHub considered the rate at which people quit their jobs in ...

For the past few months, we have been embarking on a blog series, looking at both emerging technologies—digital twin, metaverse, AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality), and more—and core construction processes that are enabled by technology such as estimating, project management, accounting/job costing, and more. Today, let’s wrap up with final thoughts on the overall technology market, amid changing economic conditions. Perhaps it is best to start this conversation by noting a confluence of factors are creating a perfect storm that are necessitating the use of technology in construction today. We have a labor shortage, supply-chain crisis, material shortages, and a looming economic recession. Construction, specifically, has tight margins and project deadlines. All of this is pointing to now being the ideal time to leverage digital transformation in new and interesting ways. Interestingly, even with inflation and market volatility, Gartner suggests CIOs’ investment plans ar...

ABI Research says despite post-pandemic slump, worldwide wearable shipments will reach 344 million by the end of 2022. The post Fact of the Day – 9/27/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-27-2022/ via IFTTT

EVs (electric vehicles) are growing in popularity. Sales of electric cars hit 6.6 million in 2021, more than tripling their marketshare from two years earlier, according to IEA . Truth be told, while growth has been impressive during the past three years, overall adoption is still low. In fact, there are just a few states leading the nation with EV adoption. Looking at sales share for Q1 2022, there were a handful of states leading adoption—mostly in the West. Some of these states include California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado, just to name a few. As I explored this further, I was curious what EV adoption looked like in my region—the Southeast. Here in the South, Florida and Georgia appear to be leading EV adoption. To dig in even further, I recently had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Stan Cross, electric transportation policy director, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy , to find out more about what is happening in my region specifically. The organization ...

Forrester says business leaders who plan for business-as-usual modest spending increases in the year ahead will fall short. The post Fact of the Day – 9/26/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-26-2022/ via IFTTT

The gutters may be the smallest element of a house, but they play one of the most important roles in protecting the property from damage. The post 5 Tips and Tricks For Cleaning House Gutters appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2022/09/5-tips-tricks-cleaning-house-gutters/ via IFTTT

Printed flexible sensors provide a plethora of benefits like flexibility, low weight, and lower manufacturing costs compared to their dated counterparts. The post 5 Innovative Printing & Flexible Sensor Technologies In The 2020s appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2022/09/5-innovative-printing-flexible-sensor-technologies-2020s/ via IFTTT

Juniper Research says soft POS user base to grow 475% globally by 2027. The post Fact of the Day – 9/23/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-23-2022/ via IFTTT

Electric vehicles—trucks, cars, buses, and even scooters—are getting a lot of publicity lately. The recent laws, state and federal, aimed at mitigating the country’s emissions problems all focus on getting more EVs (electric vehicles) on the road, replacing internal combustion and diesel engine vehicles. Many construction firms are publishing both medium-term and long-term targets to reduce their contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, outlining their commitment to support international efforts to mitigate global climate change. The IEA (Intl. Energy Agency ) estimates that the construction industry is responsible for approximately 20% of global emissions when the production of building materials (cement, steel, glass, etc.) and infrastructure construction projects are included. However, the carbon dioxide emissions from off-road construction vehicles account for only around 1.1% of global emissions while crew trucks, light-duty vehicles, and personal vehicles driven to and from job...

IDC says discrete manufacturing industrial IoT spending to reach $89 billion in Asia Pacific by 2025. The post Fact of the Day – 9/22/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-22-2022/ via IFTTT

Last week was a doozy in terms of cybersecurity breaches. Shortly after festivities for Labor Day weekend ended, the headlines proved organizations can never afford to let their guard down when it comes to protecting against, detecting, and responding to cybersecurity threats. Unfortunately, the first half of 2022 saw 817 cases of compromised data in the U.S., according to Statista , and at least 53 million individuals have been affected by data breaches, data leakages, and data exposures already this year. On September 6, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced it was the victim of a ransomware attack over the holiday weekend. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the district benefitted from an “extraordinary level of collaboration and cooperation” from partners as well as the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) . With the help of special agents and staff, the school system was able to offer a full school day as planned on Tuesday after the holiday weekend, although the...

I have been writing about circularity and the need to move from linear processes to a circular economy for years, but it is always exciting to see it in action. Consider one of the recent examples in the manufacturing space: the disassembly plant. To be clear, a disassembly plant isn’t necessarily new. Recycling plants have been around for a century, with the purpose of reprocessing used or abandoned materials. In fact, the first one opened back in 1904 in my hometown of Chicago, Ill. While that is technically when it started, modern recycling as we know it was truly catapulted forward in the 1970s during the environmental movement. Still, even amid an era focused on recycling, the take-make-waste model was successful for many decades. We saw many highly productive manufacturing factories prosper. Many factories proved plentiful as take and make systems. Now, there is a new movement ascending: circularity. A circular economy is more restorative by design. The objective is to design o...

By some estimates, the U.S. construction industry market size is over $1.3 trillion, made up of over 3 million small and medium-sized businesses. Unfortunately, the industry has a reputation for lagging behind others in technology adoption and has often been neglected by traditional financial institutions. Some companies are trying to change that situation. San Francisco-based BlueTape , for example, blends affordable financing options with easy-to-use accounts receivable and invoice management tools. Construction pros can use BlueTape credit to buy building materials at any supplier and pay back over time. BlueTape has also forged a community of construction industry dealers and suppliers that offer BlueTape credit instantly to their trade customers. This allows the construction suppliers to lower their risk and improve their cash flow and customer experience. Making money and credit available requires having money readily available, too. BlueTape recently closed a $50 mill...

Gartner survey reveals 51% of supply chain leaders increased the number of network locations in the past two years. The post Fact of the Day – 9/21/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-21-2022/ via IFTTT

Smart homes can start from the planning stage of a new build or they can be renovations of existing homes. Add a few controls, use a voice app, and Bingo, you have a basic Smart Home. But true integration and interoperability of IoT (Internet of Things) components requires more thought and planning than many realize. The key component is the bridge that spans the IoT devices and the controls. Olibra is one company that focuses on that bridge—with its Bond Bridge Pro . Bond Bridge Pro is a WiFi to RF (radio frequency) bridge connecting motorized shades, ceiling fans, and fireplaces to the smart home. Designed for those who want a convenient means to connect to all their environmental devices, Josh.ai now provides them with a simple and privacy-oriented means of control though its integration with Bond Bridge Pro.  The integration is a result of a strategic alliance between Olibra and Josh.ai, dating to early 2022. The pairing provides Josh.ai’s natural voice con...

For more than two decades, BIM (building information modeling) has proliferated the headlines in the construction industry. If done right, the process can save both time and money on construction projects, and construction professionals are more often turning to it. But where exactly are we now with BIM? Let’s dig in. Allied Market Research suggests the global building information modeling market size was valued at $5.2 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $15.8 billion by 2027, which is a 15.2% growth from during the time period. The key drivers for this process are the need for enhanced data communication and coordination among various stakeholders and the need for improved productivity. In some regions of the world, government mandates are fueling the market as well. Hurdles include high cost of the software, limited trained professionals, and the need for greater integration and greater bandwidth to manage the data. The pandemic also had an interesting impact on the adopti...

ABI Research says properly leveraging 5G infrastructure will lead to more than 3.6 billion 5G positioning-enabled device shipments by 2030. The post Fact of the Day – 9/20/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-20-2022/ via IFTTT

Homeowners can track their actual energy usage. Knowing when, how, and where energy is being consumed can help identify what the largest energy use is, and homeowners can then act with that data in hand. Some call this energy baselining, which is a home’s energy baseline for the current amount of energy that is being used. That baseline can then be adjusted, as needed, helping conserve energy in the home. But how exactly do we master and track energy efficiency? I scoured the resources at the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), and ENERGY STAR to uncover some strategies for how to do exactly that. Consider these 5 tips I compiled for how to master and track energy efficiency in your home: Do a professional home-energy assessment. These are conducted by experts that have industry credentials and generally go into detail about your home’s energy use. These individuals will walk through your home room-by-room and assess how much is being consumed a...

Every jobsite has them, every tool crib, every DIY (do-it-yourself) garage has them. Power tools are the basic tools in the 21 st century. Whether electric, battery, pneumatic or hybrid, power tools are the worker’s friend. How valuable are they? FMI (Future Market Insights ) puts the number for the global power tools market size at $33.36 Billion in 2021 with sales of cordless power tools driving growth by 5.1% CAGR between 2021 and 2031. According to the FMI study, the power tools market had registered growth of just 3.7% between 2016 and 2020. Power tools applications in construction include cutting, grinding, sanding, drilling, shaping, polishing, and many more. The usual tools include electric screwdrivers, hammer drills, circular and saber saws, etc. Cordless power tools are more in demand and will continue to grow in the forecasting period, so all power tool manufacturers are investing a significant amount in R&D for them. In turn, this is driving the advancement...

Forrester says 63 million jobs in APAC will be lost to automation by 2040. The post Fact of the Day – 9/19/2022 appeared first on Connected World . from Connected World https://connectedworld.com/fact-of-the-day-9-19-2022/ via IFTTT

People do not decide to renovate their homes simply because they suddenly feel like it. A pressing need usually necessitates every home remodeling project. The post What to Consider Before Renovating Your Home appeared first on At Home in the Future . from At Home in the Future https://athomeinthefuture.com/2022/09/consider-renovating-home/ via IFTTT