Daedalus was the mythical engineer and artificer of the classical world. What would he do with digital tools and digital concerns?

Odds and Ends: Looking to 2015

January 20, 2015 in COBIE, Consumer Electronics, Distributed Energy, Microgrids and Distrib..., Schedules

I have been quiet here for too long, and have made a New Year’s resolution to get back to writing. Many of my recent projects I cannot write about, for competitive or contractual reasons. Still, there are some big themes coming to light, ones that I have been writing about for years, and that are now hitting the market....

New Daedalus

Daedalus designed buildings, automated statues, and built wings for human flight. Daedalus worked by eye and hand, his designs scratched with a stylus on wax tablets. Until recently, we merely perfected his means of work, using better pens, and paper, and finally drawing on computers.

It is only recently that we have begun to leave the methods of Daedalus behind.

Simulations and digital twins guide each decision. Intelligence, or at least behaviors, imbue each system and device. Cyberphysical systems replace household servants and chauffeurs, operate factories, and manage energy logistics. The most pressing concerns are how intelligent systems and buildings will respond to us, and to each other.