Trelligence Applies “Functional Knowledge Engine”

By Randall Newton

Almost everyone knows somebody who has a new home construction horror story to share. A recent survey taken by B4ubuild.com claims that 42% of homeowners would not recommend their builders to friends. There are many reasons for such a high level of discontent, but the cumbersome chain of communications in residential construction is due much of the blame. Trelligence, a young software company based in Houston, Texas, aims to reduce or eliminate the frustrations that occur in both residential and commercial construction through the use of its Affinity software product line and its underlying Functional Knowledge Engine.

Trelligence sees its software as a necessary foundational technology for the successful implementation of building information modeling (BIM), even though graphics are a byproduct of the software’s use, not a core technology. “We are expanding the term [BIM],” says Trelligence CEO and President Larry Ciscon. “The problem with 3D is complete representation. You need an accurate model to get an accurate analysis. Can you model every nail in a 3D drawing? Of course not. We offer functional knowledge to automate the design process, to fill in the blanks. You don’t need to model every board if you know the rules and purposes of boards.” Ciscon sees the data model (or the “I” of BIM, Information) as equal in importance to the CAD model.

The Affinity product model starts with data collection. In the residential version, the designer or builder gathers information from the client and uses the data to create an approved design. The software guides the user and the client through the process of agreeing on everything from dimensions to fixtures. In versions of Affinity for commercial builders, data collection and use is tied to existing software applications and workflows, customized for the builder’s context.

“We combine project specs with customer desires and domain knowledge to produce a project model,” says Ciscon. The software combines project specifications, customer desires, and domain expertise to produce a project data model, which is then used to validate design, check code compliance, and constantly apply best practice knowledge to the project. “We are automating the framework of constraints in design,” is how Ciscon explains it. “The data model acts as the plan definition, guiding all downstream work. Our goal is to create a production model for a one-off process.”

Many people talk about the Boeing 777 design project as the proof of validity for 3D design, but Ciscon points out a weakness in that argument. “The 777 started out as a data model, not a CAD model. The real decisions were made at the data model stage.”

Affinity is available three ways:

Affinity Residential: Project specification and tracking for residential designers and builders, using Trelligence-supplied residential construction domain expertise.

Affinity Enterprise: The Affinity data engine is tied to the user’s existing workflow and domain expertise.

Affinity Functional Knowledge Engine for Third Party Development: A wholesale version of Affinity for software developers or large construction companies.

The financial management software industry uses the term “straight through processing” to describe the automation of end-to-end processing of transactions for all financial instruments. It is as significant to the financial industry as supply chain management (SCM) is to manufacturing or customer relationship management (CRM) is to service and sales organizations. The AEC equivalent is building information modeling, but BIM is in its infancy as both a theoretical and practical model, when compared with SCM or CRM. Trelligence’s Ciscon sees this lack of clear technological vision and implementation as his target. “Take estimating as an example of the problem. If you create a CAD model first, the estimator will take it and cost it out. But the decisions he makes and the intentions of the designer may not match. Iteration is the result, and the need for iteration is the problem we are trying to solve. Instead of drawing and then estimating, we should be asking questions of the data model. Critical features are determined before drawing begins; that’s where we need to apply technology.”

There are three steps to the Affinity Residential workflow.

1. Home Owner Questionnaire: The builder or designer and the client work together to capture key project information. As data is gathered, the software turns the information into functional knowledge, meaning the knowledge is stored in such a way that it can be intelligently tracked and utilized for floor plan layout and other design functions. Progressing through the questionnaire, the client can specify as much detail as desired about each room of the house, how rooms relate to each other, and how the house relates to the lot.

2. Space Planner: All specifications gathered in the Home Owner Questionnaire are fed into the Space Planner. This component enables the designer/builder to continue the design process by developing the floor plan through the concept of a Space Plan Diagram, refining the project requirements specified in the Home Owner Questionnaire. The Space Planner uses the underlying data and knows conceptually what a house is, what a room is, and how the room fits within the house. It is knowledgeable about all relationships and constraints and how the rooms are connected together. Based on the concept of Bubble Diagram, the Space Planner tool provides a layout of the floor plan, which can be interactively modified. When project discrepancies occur, such as exceeded square footage or the incorrect placement of a room based on client specifications, the requirement becomes highlighted to notify the designer/builder of a violation. Reports are then generated to a text file or to Microsoft Excel, including room detail specifications, overall project information, project details, requirements details, and requirements history (which tracks all changes to the original specifications).

3. CAD Integration. Trelligence Affinity for Residential then exports a DXF file containing the project’s specifications and functional knowledge where the detailed design is finalized. This DXF file can then be integrated with most CAD applications to complete the final construction documents.

Trelligence released an update to Affinity for Residential in January 2004. Version 3.0 new features include improvements to job costing and change order management, improvements to the user interface, and enhancements to the DXF export engine to improve capture of project details. The retail cost is $795.

In addition to Ciscon, with a background in managing software companies, the senior management team consists of Gene Giles, Chief Operating Officer and David Easterby, Chief Technology Officer. Giles has a background in residential construction and design/build; Easterby background is in software development.

Ciscon says Trelligence prefers to be CAD neutral; it rights to the DXF format because it is the most widely accessible CAD format on the market. Trelligence is looking at compliance with the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) from the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) in future releases. “We see the standards now available as minimums; we want to go beyond standards,” Ciscon says. The company is more interested in developing new interfaces with AEC software using Microsoft .NET technology. It has no plans to work with ODBC; “it’s too low level,” is how Ciscon puts it.

More information: www.trelligence.com.