Configuration of a digital twin for a building or other facility via bim data extraction and asset register mapping

Abstract

The present disclosure provides, in various embodiments, technology for configuration of a digital twin for a building or other facility via BIM (Building Information Modelling) data extraction and asset register mapping. This is particularly relevant for the purposes of increasing efficiency and reducing risks of data errors in the context of configuring a digital twin interface for a building. Also described herein is technology configured to provide data flow management for defining of digital records representing building infrastructure based on building information modelling data. This is particularly relevant for the purposes of increasing efficiency and reducing risks of data errors in the context of configuring a digital twin interface for a building.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A computer method for configuring a user interface component which delivers a metric representative of completion of a building which is currently under construction, the method including:
 (i) accessing data representative of an architectural design file for the building;   (ii) extracting data from the architectural design file accessed at (i) thereby to generate a set of new records in an asset register, wherein each new record is configured to contain data representing an asset in a form of a physical networked device represented in the architectural design file, wherein each new record includes: a device unique identifier (UID) field which is populated based on data extracted from the architectural design file; and a network addressing field which and configured to contain physical network addressing information which is unpopulated in the new record and remains unpopulated until a physical commissioning process is performed based on a commissioning process at (vi) below;   (iii) processing the architectural design file thereby to generate digital twin three-dimensional representation data, wherein the digital twin three-dimensional representation data is configured to be rendered via a display object in a digital twin user interface system;   (iv) based on data extracted from the architectural design file accessed at (i), defining points at specific positional locations in the digital twin three-dimensional representation data which are respectively associated with locations of physical networked devices represented in the architectural design file accessed at (i), and for each point assigning an identification value including the device UID extracted from the architectural design file in respect of the physical networked device with which it is associated, wherein each point is configured to enable display of device specific data values when rendered in the digital twin user interface system;   (v) independently of the performance of (iii) to (iv), publishing the asset register derived from the architectural design file accessed at (i) to a cloud-hosted location accessible by a plurality of distinct networked user terminals, wherein each terminal provides a device commissioning interface that enables populating of fields for records in the asset register by users physically interacting with infrastructure of the building during physical installation/configuration of the networked physical assets;   (vi) operating a compliance monitoring module that is configured to, based on monitoring of population of fields in the asset register by the device commissioning interface via the plurality of distinct networked user terminals, determine a current compliance state for each record in the asset register, wherein the current compliance state represents whether the represented physical network device has been commissioned in a compliant manner; and   (vii) configuring a dashboard module to enable presentation of a building completion state dashboard at user terminals, wherein the building state completion dashboard is configured to render data representative of a quantum of records in the asset register having a current compliance state representing that the physical network device has been commissioned in a compliant manner, and of a quantum of records in the asset register having a current compliance state representing that the physical network device has not been commissioned in a compliant manner.   
     
     
         25 . A method according to  claim 24  wherein a data mapping component for the digital twin user interface system which enables the digital twin user interface system to access live data values for each of the points via the asset register by (A) identifying in the asset register a record containing the UID assigned to that point via the identification value; and (B) accessing live data values from physical networked infrastructure using the physical network addressing information in the network addressing field of that record in the event that the network addressing field is populated to be configured to contain physical network addressing information, and wherein valid completion of the network addressing field is required for a current compliance state representing that the physical network device has been commissioned in a compliant manner. 
     
     
         26 . A method according to  claim 25  wherein the network addressing data field is configured to contain information that enables access to data and/or a control interface for the represented physical networked devices, including a BACnet identifier defined in respect of a BACnet that is configured for the building. 
     
     
         27 . A method according to  claim 25  wherein the network addressing data field is populated to contain information that enables access to data and/or a control interface for the represented physical networked devices, including one of: a BACnet address; a network location; or a hyperlink. 
     
     
         28 . A method according to  claim 24  wherein (iii) includes operating a BIM model data input module, wherein the BIM model data input module is configured to communicate with a plurality of instances of a model data extraction module that executes at respective remote client systems. 
     
     
         29 . A method according to  claim 24  wherein (v) includes operating an asset data input module that is configured to enable a user of a remote client terminal, responsive to permissions maintained by a permissions management module, to add data values to data fields for a controlled subset of the records in the asset register. 
     
     
         30 . A method according to  claim 24  wherein the architectural design file includes one or more Autodesk Revit files, and wherein (iii) includes performing a conversion from Autodesk Revit into AutoCad, and performing editing of a visualisation file using AutoCad. 
     
     
         31 . A method according to  claim 24  including performing a scope-of-responsibility permissions assessment thereby to determine, for a given user of a 3D visualisation interface, a subset of assets defined in the asset register that the user is permitted to access. 
     
     
         32 . A method according to  claim 24  wherein (i) includes defining each new record to include unpopulated fields a given asset type for each physical networked device, wherein in each instance, a specific set of unpopulated data fields for the record is selected, responsive to a type of physical networked device based upon a construction-operations buildings information exchange (COBie) protocol. 
     
     
         33 . A computer method for configuring a user interface component which delivers a metric representative of completion of a building which is currently under construction, the method including:
 configuring a digital twin interface for the building, wherein the digital twin interface includes:   (i) an asset register which includes data representative of physical networked devices which are represented in digital building design files; and   (ii) a 3D navigable representation of the building based on 3D architectural design files, wherein the 3D navigable interface includes locations having UI points which each represents a respective one of the physical networked devices based on an expected location of the physical networked devices in the building upon completion;   wherein configuring the digital twin interface for the building includes operation of a device commissioning interface that enables populating of fields for records in the asset register by a plurality of networked devices operated by users physically interacting with infrastructure of the building during physical installation/configuration of the networked physical assets;   the method further including:   (i) executing rules thereby to records in the asset register a compliance status having assignable values representative of complaint and non-compliant, wherein the status is assigned responsible on completion of fields in the asset register via the device commissioning interface; and   (ii) configuring a user interface module of the digital twin interface to enable presentation of a building completion state dashboard at user terminals via the digital twin interface, wherein the building state completion dashboard is configured to render data representative of a quantum of records in the asset register having a current compliance state of compliant, and a quantum of records in the asset register having a current compliance state of non-compliant, thereby to allow a user to track a current completion state of the building in real time via the digital twin interface.   
     
     
         34 . A method according to  claim 33  wherein a user interface for the device commissioning interface is accessible via a cloud-hosted location accessible by a plurality of distinct networked user terminals, thereby to enable updating of the asset register by plurality of persons within the building during construction in real time upon installation/configuration of the networked physical assets. 
     
     
         35 . A method according to  claim 33  wherein records in the asset register are defined responsive to identification of physical networked devices which are represented in the digital building design files. 
     
     
         36 . A method according to  claim 33  wherein the digital building design files are the 3D architectural design files. 
     
     
         37 . A method according to  claim 33  wherein configuring the digital twin interface includes processing the 3D architectural design files thereby to generate digital twin three-dimensional representation data, wherein the digital twin three-dimensional representation data is configured to be rendered via a display object in a digital twin user interface system. 
     
     
         38 . A method according to  claim 33  wherein each record in the asset register has an asset type, and wherein a rules module that is configured to maintain, for each asset type, one or more rules for determining whether a record has a current compliance state of compliant or non-compliant.