Hypermedia-driven RESTful API for digital twins of the built environment

Automation in Construction, vol. 165, pp. 105551

Abstract

Core domains to establish digital twins of the built environment are Building Information Modeling (BIM), Geographic Information System (GIS) and Internet of Things (IoT). RESTful Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) of these domains allow easy access to the digital twin. While multiple information models are reasonable since the focus of these domains is distinct, interoperability becomes a challenge. Therefore, in this paper we propose a hypermedia-driven RESTful API for digital twins of the built environment. While the GIS and IoT interfaces are covered by established standards, we define a RESTful interface for Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) models of the BIM domain. The APIs are interconnected with a federated approach though hypermedia navigation links. An evaluation by two use cases – a planning model and a structural health monitoring application – shows that the API can be used to navigate through the models crossing seamlessly the scope of the domains and overcoming barriers of interoperability. • Exposing IFC models and their items by a hypermedia-driven RESTful API. • Interacting with IFC models and their items using HTTP verbs (e.g., POST, DELETE). • Provisioning of GIM layers from IFC files through OGC API compliant endpoints. • Modeling sensors in IFC and applying a linked model approach to their observations. • Implementation of the API4BE server and client to access BIM, GIM and IoT endpoints.

Authors 2

1. Stefan Herlé corresponding Aachen Geodetic Institute Chair for Computing in Civil Engineering & Geo Information Systems

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Geodetic Institute and Chair for Computing in Civil Engineering & Geo Information Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Str. 1, Aachen, 52062, NRW, Germany

2. Jörg Blankenbach Aachen Geodetic Institute Chair for Computing in Civil Engineering & Geo Information Systems

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Geodetic Institute and Chair for Computing in Civil Engineering & Geo Information Systems, RWTH Aachen University, Mies-van-der-Rohe-Str. 1, Aachen, 52062, NRW, Germany