As part of the AI Innovation Competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Chair of Computing in Engineering of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Markus König and its partners of the "AI meets BIM" consortium were convincing with their concept idea and received funding for the development and establishment of AI technologies in the construction industry.

With the Innovation Competition "Artificial intelligence as a driver for economically relevant ecosystems" (AI Innovation Competition) the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy supports the realisation of large, outstanding projects, which show new approaches in the application of AI and can thus set impulses for important sectors in the German economy.

One of ten priority areas of the competition relates to "Intelligent Building (Building 4.0, BIM)". The Building Information Modeling (BIM) method makes it possible to network model data using standardised interfaces. However, the large number of people involved in construction projects continues to pose a challenge for digitization in the construction industry. If BIM standardization is extended to include AI techniques, planning, production or consumption data can be analyzed automatically. Based on predictions that the AI system can make on the basis of experience and analysis results, not only can the quality and efficiency of processes be improved, but considerable cost or time savings can also be achieved.

Prof. Dr-Ing. Markus König and the partners of the "AI meets BIM" consortium are now working on a research agenda for AI technologies in the construction sector in the current competition phase, which will focus in particular on construction planning, work scheduling, site automation and operating phase.

For the development of further relevant questions for the implementation phase and recommendations for action, an expert workshop with the partners of the consortium "AI meets BIM" as well as other stakeholders is already planned. Further information on the project "AI meets BIM" can be found here.

In total, the AI Innovation Competition counts more than 130 consortia which were submitted, of which 35 are being funded with 80 project partners. The best proposals will be awarded at the end of the competition and can then be further supported during the implementation phase (approx. 36 months, from the end of 2019). Further information on the AI Innovation Competition can be found here.