Autodesk gets cloudier with BIM in mind

Following on from its cloud-oriented partnership with Netsuite, announced earlier this year the big gorilla in the world of Computer Aided Design, Autodesk, has made further moves to exploit cloud delivery for its applications and services, with the world of major infrastructure projects being the target.  

The latest development from the company, Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro, forms part of an ongoing effort to drive the adoption of Building Information Modeling(BIM) within the infrastructure industry.  This offers the latest 3D modeling, visualisation and cloud-based collaboration technologies and is seen by the company as a way to help close the estimated $30 trillion gap worldwide between desperately needed infrastructure and the funding required to deliver it.

It provides desktop software and cloud-based capabilities that enable multi-discipline infrastructure project stakeholders in geographically dispersed offices to publish, store, collaborate and manage large models centrally in the cloud via desktop or mobile devices. Proposals can be created rapidly by creating and aggregating project information, which can then be viewed within the InfraWorks environment as it might appear in the real world.

 “As more civil engineers embrace 3D modeling techniques and adopt BIM workflows, the use of design-time visualization to improve infrastructure project outcomes is growing,” said Jeff Lyons, business unit leader of the AEC Solutions Group at Cole Engineering. “For example, we recently won a major water distribution project thanks to the ability to quickly create and share compelling 3D visualisations using Autodesk InfraWorks cloud-enhanced technologies.”

InfraWorks 360 Pro contains 3D modeling and visualisation technology that goes beyond traditional computer-aided design (CAD) by helping users quickly create simulations and visualisations of design alternatives. With its ability to import a variety of existing conditions data including GIS, satellite imagery, and point clouds (including those generated by Autodesk ReCap), it helps make it possible to design within the context of real site conditions from the start of a project lifecycle.

The system exploits the power of the cloud to transform the way infrastructure professionals manage big data, create 3D models and collaborate on infrastructure projects. Use of cloud-based technology provides nearly anywhere, anytime access via desktop or mobile devices for stakeholders to view and/or collaborate on project models.

To help users quickly and easily access and download the data they need to build site-specific models, it also comes with a link for direct access to a curated WeoGeo.comportal, enabling customers to access and acquire free or for-purchase geospatial data. In addition, computationally intensive processes, such as analysis, simulation and rendering of high resolution models, can be performed using the virtually unlimited power of the cloud.