AI for Adaptive 3D Reconstruction in Air Force Civil Engineering

Hedral Inc. proposes an AI-enhanced engineering and design platform to revolutionize military construction (MILCON) for the U.S. Air Force. The platform addresses critical vulnerabilities in the Department of Defense's ability to rapidly scale up construction of industrial facilities in response to crises. Col Andrew Cullen (800th RED HORSE Group) and Captain Ross Jurek (435th Construction Training Squadron) are highly motivated to use Hedral's product for USAF expeditionary construction projects. By integrating generative AI with advanced computational geometry and physics, Hedral's platform, once it is adapted for USAF MILCON purposes, will significantly reduce structural engineering design time and costs and accelerate the design and planning of military infrastructure. Hedral's platform enables rapid deployment of adaptable and cost-effective structures crucial for the USAF's Agile Combat Employment (ACE) strategy, which requires quick setup of smaller, mobile bases in austere locations to enhance operational flexibility and survivability. Hedral's technology rapidly generates building geometry from a project's earliest stages through detailed design, solving for physics, project constraints (function, code, location), and data drawn iteratively from multiple disciplines. Key benefits include:Automation of design work, optimizing results for cost and constructabilityOrder of magnitude increase in productivityMinimization of costly mistakes and downstream RFIs/Change OrdersReduction of design time by 5-8x for light or heavy industrial facilitiesReal-time adjustments and optimization across disciplinesCreation of cost models and detailed bills of materialsPotential for up to 20% savings in hard costs per projectReduction of revenue losses by up to $2.4 million due to design delaysHedral's AI-driven platform addresses these issues by providing generative technology for design creation and editing across multiple disciplines: architecture, structural, and MEP engineering. The approach considers factors like local codes, site conditions, and historical designs to expedite design exploration, develop optimized solutions, and produce more accurate cost models. In addition to collaborating with 820th RED HORSE and 435th CTS, Hedral will partner with Professor Athanassios Economou of Georgia Tech to utilize his expertise in advanced geometric computation algorithms and shape grammars to analyze thousands of 2D drawing sets from past DoD projects. This will allow Hedral's system to produce designs that are not only structurally sound and efficient but also informed by decades of proven DoD construction practices. By bridging the gap between planning, design, and construction phases, Hedral's platform promises to revolutionize the MILCON process, improving operational readiness, reducing waste, and ultimately supporting the strategic goals of the U.S. Air Force and broader Department of Defense.