Reconstruct leverages Autodesk Forge

I have known Keshav Sahoo for many years. Our history goes back as far as early versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD Civil 3D, but my fondest memories include our days working on reality capture technology (i.e., scanning, photogrammetry) that graduated into Autodesk ReCap and Autodesk ReMake. Keshav now works for Reconstruct Inc. and based on his first-hand awareness of technology that Autodesk has to offer, it should be no surprise that Reconstruct is an Autodesk Forge customer.

Recall that Autodesk Forge is our collection of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) that Autodesk uses to develop our web services. We make these APIs available to customers and 3^rd-party developers that want to leverage 2D and 3D CAD data as part of their own solutions. We provide documentation, sample code, discussion forums, and direct assistance to our Forge community.

Reconstruct provides a visual data analytics platform for construction projects. The platform allows construction project stakeholders to:

• Use its native engine to reconstruct and visualize as-built 3D reality over the project timeline.
• Create and manage location-driven 4D (3D plus time) BIM (Building Information Modeling).
• Map 4D as-built reality with 4D BIM.
• Measure progress, productivity, and analyze risk that could result in project delays.
• Download output of reconstruction in the form of .las [industry standard for storing airborne lidar data], .obj [standard 3D format that can be exported/opened by various 3D editing programs], or .ply [standard for storing 3D data from 3D scanners] files for interoperability with Autodesk products (e.g., Revit, Navisworks, BIM 360).

Here is how Reconstruct leverages Autodesk Forge as part of their platform.

1. Design Automation API

   The Design Automation API gives Reconstruct the ability to run scripts on their design files, leveraging the scale of the Forge Platform to automate repetitive tasks.

2. Data Management API

   The Data Management API gives Reconstruct a unified and consistent way for Reconstruct to access their customers' data across BIM 360 Team, BIM 360 Docs, A360 Personal. The Object Storage Service allows their application to download and upload raw files (such as DWG, RVT, 3DS, PDF, DWF, LAS, OBJ, or PLY).

3. Model Derivative API

   The Model Derivative API lets Reconstruct represent and share their designs in different formats, as well as to extract valuable metadata into various object hierarchies. This includes translation to SVF [industry standard simple vector format].

4. Viewer

   The Viewer is a WebGL-based, JavaScript library for their use in 3D and 2D model rendering. The Viewer communicates natively with the Model Derivative API to fetch model data, complying with its authorization and security requirements, and consumes SVF. The Viewer requires a WebGL-canvas compatible browser:

   • Chrome 50+
   • Firefox 45+
   • Opera 37+
   • Safari 9+
   • Microsoft Edge 20+
   • Internet Explorer 11

   Allowing Forge to render their files in the Viewer is a hassle-free way for their customers to view their data without having to deal with all of the peculiarities of these various browsers.

Reconstruct's platform is 100% cloud-native and browser-based, so there's no need for their users to install and manage versions of software, or data in files and folders. Data is managed in the cloud, and the user just goes to his/her project URL and works. How cool is that? Forge-cool, that's how cool.

Reconstruction is alive in the lab.