Overview

The As-designed Models tool is used to synchronize your 2D and 3D design geometry into your asset so that your asset’s digital twin can help you visualize the design context. Once the asset’s design models are synchronized into your asset, you can use those design elements as a visual reference for the location of your IoT sensors, assisting the user in making spatially accurate decisions.

iTwin IoT accepts 2D and 3D design models created in a wide variety of design authoring applications like MicroStation, AutoCAD, Revit, etc., and almost all neutral file formats like STEP, OBJ, IFC, etc.

Note: Specifying the geo-location, elevation, and orientation of the design models plays a key role in ensuring that they align correctly and display coincident in the Model. It is best to specify the geo-location, elevation, and orientation of the 2D and 3D models in their respective authoring applications instead of post-correcting them after synchronizing them into an iModel. Please follow the instructions in this article.

Uploading As-Designed Models

To start integrating the model, upload your design model files in the iTwin Documents module. The iTwin Documents article will assist the user with uploading the design model into iTwin IoT. 

Synchronizing as-design models into an Asset's iModel

1. Navigate to the Configure page by clicking on the "Tools" icon in the lower left portion of an Asset Page.
2. Click on the As-designed Models tile in the middle of the page.
3. Select the iModel that already exists. If you do not see an iModel, create a new one using the "Create Model" button at the top of the window. An iModel is a repository of all graphical elements and non-graphical data of an asset.
4. Create a new connection. A connection is a mechanism to connect to your design models and synchronize all contents into the iModel.
5. Select the storage location of the design model files. If files were uploaded to iTwin Documents, select the tile iTwin File Service. If your files are stored in ProjectWise, select the appropriate ProjectWise tile. 

   

6. If the as-designed data is spread out in multiple design models that are referenced into each other, select the top-level design model. If working with a single design model, select the single file. 

7. The geo-coordinate system needs to be configured next. The coordinate sytem of an iModel is established once by extracting it from a selected design model. You can select the specific model from which the geo-coordinate system should be extracted within the window. You can also synchronize models that do not have a geo-coordinate system. However, this will result in an iModel that does not possess the required context to position the 3D geometry on the earth’s surface. In other words, locations in the model will not correspond to any latitude or longitude.

   Once the iModel’s geo-coordinate system is established, all future models will be synchronized into the iModel by utilizing the same geo-coordinate system. If one of the models consists of a different geo-coordinate system, its elements will be transformed from that system to the iModel’s system. 

8. The next page presents the user with connectors that are capable of reading your models and synchronizing them into the iModel. If you know the name of the authoring design application, you can select it from the list. Otherwise, select the default connector option. 

9. The next page allows the user to name the new connection. At this stage, you can optionally set up a scheduler to run the connection at planned intervals if you expect your design authoring team to be making changes to the design models regularly. Otherwise, you can choose the option "Initiated manually" to only trigger updates by manual action. 

10. Now that the configuration is complete, the user can Synchronize the connection by clicking the "Play" icon. The synchronization process may take a few minutes to complete. 

11.  When the synchronization is complete, you will see a success message in the Status pane. If you had multiple connections, they will be synchronized sequentially in a queue.

12. The Digital Twin Module can now be used to visualize the design model and sensor data in conjunction.