Artificial Intelligence in Timber Design

An exciting new AI technology promises to revolutionise timber design for manufacture using genetic programming to find an optimal design for almost any floor system. Created by UK based Dr Luke Whale, a well known timber engineer and pioneer in development of building design software, the program is called DAISY, an acronym for Design AI Systems.

DAISY uses the principles of evolutionary search and natural evolution, and derives a more efficient solution comparing generation by generation until the optimum design is attained.

For a single rectangular shape floor, there are 50,000 possible combinations for a floor design. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, DAISY can find the optimal design automatically in under 10 minutes.

Using DAISY has created several benefits such as a reduction in total design time by 50% and a doubling of productivity. In addition, AI-optimised design is estimated to save about 8% of material waste per house, which equates to roughly 25 kg of wood saved.

Given the number of houses built each year in the UK, an estimated 4,000 tonnes of wood can be saved on an annual basis. In addition to this, a reduction in the materials used in automation also significantly impacts the transportation costs.

The future for DAISY is bright for construction as an area of great opportunity, with floor plan design is just an example of the broad applications of Artificial intelligence in construction design.

Courtesy of IWBC Offsite News