What role does artificial intelligence play for Noocoon?
Our CTO David leads the development of our AI & Machine Learning based software. As an important development step, the Noocoon Expert planning tool with automated floor plan recognition is now available for our users and once again drastically reduces planning times and costs. We spoke with David about the role of artificial intelligence technologies at Noocoon and their importance for the electrical trade as a whole.
What role does artificial intelligence (AI) play in the development of our planning software for electricians?
AI has played an outsized role at Noocoon since the very beginning. There are many forms of artificial intelligence that are already used in our software. For example, automatic planning is based on logical rules that we developed with our team of electricians. The planning software uses these rules to infer all the components needed for construction from the preferences selected by end customers.
Machine learning is used in the new floor plan recognition; here we do not specify any rules, but let the software learn the rules itself from the data, so that it becomes better and better and more accurate in the results.
Why are we developing our own automated floor plan recognition at Noocoon?
Noocoon keeps electricians off their backs - that is our product promise. For us in product development, this means we ensure less office work and more safety when planning demanding, modern construction projects. The key to this is anticipation. To achieve this, we at Noocoon rely heavily on artificial intelligence in all its forms.
In the meantime, so-called machine learning is taking on a prominent role, e.g. in the extraction of planning-relevant information from construction drawings/floor plans and other building documentation. The more information the software recognizes independently, the less work our customers have to do when entering project data. The planning process thus becomes increasingly efficient.
Where is Noocoon headed with the help of such technologies? What are the next steps?
In the planning tool, we will roll out our approach further into construction implementation and focus even more on the contribution of electricians in (energy) refurbishment in product development.
When I'm out with our electricians, I still see a lot of time-consuming and tedious steps. AI technologies offer a great lever to shorten these to the essentials.
Do you see the future of AI technologies in the skilled trades more in the office or on the construction site?
AI can still save a lot of time in office work. Data often has to be entered multiple times or checked manually, e.g. for quotations, measurements, invoices. The processes of planning and executing projects can also be supported and simplified much better. This applies to all construction trades. We are still in the early stages of development here.
When we talk about the use of artificial intelligence on the construction site, I'm sure many are already dreaming of robots doing the strenuous jobs: drilling, slotting, caulking, and so on. Frankly, I don't see that coming anytime soon. But nothing stands in the way of the craftsman getting the right information faster via cell phone, for example, or using voice assistants to complete the construction documentation directly on site and with his own hands.
It is also conceivable that in the near future you will be able to walk through the completed rooms and speak into your smartphone what everything has been installed. This list is then automatically compared with the original planning in the software.
