Overlapping Objects Tool

Overlapping Objects takes in two groups of objects, and clash objects from the groups against each other. Each found clash creates a new derived object into the model.

An example use case for the tool is to find on-site penetrations based on the HVAC and architectural or structural models. The objects from neither of the models don’t know anything about each other. If we go and ask a duct, which interior wall it is penetrating, it cannot answer. If we go and ask an interior wall, which ducts are penetrating it, it cannot answer. Not before we run this tool.

What makes the Overlapping Objects tool different from basic clash detection tools is that it creates derived objects based on its findings. It doesn’t just report the clashes; it creates new objects and data based on them:

• The new objects have the geometry of the clash. This represents the intersection of the two clashed objects.
• The tool creates connections between the clash object and the original objects. These connections can then be used for enriching the derived object with the property data from the original objects. 

This way, the derived object can know, for example, the location of the object (building, section, room, apartment, takt area, and so on), the type, dimensions, and other properties of the wall or ceiling the penetration goes through, and the type, dimensions, and other properties of the duct that penetrates the wall. The system the duct belongs to. And so on… Using the Copy Properties or Calculate or Aggregate Properties for Connected Objects tools we can copy properties from the clashed objects to the derived objects.

All of this allows us to create a whole new set of production objects for the model. To create BOM and BOQ based on these newly created objects. Plan, schedule, procure, tender, monitor, and manage, for example, the penetration objects.

Settings

Target Objects 1

The group, which contains the first set of objects. These are clashed against objects included in the Target Objects 2. Note that the objects within the group are not clashed against each other, only against objects from the other group.

In the penetration object example, Target Objects 1 would be the interior walls.

Target Objects 2

The group, which contains the second set of objects. These are clashed against objects included in the Target Objects 1. 

In the penetration object example, Target Objects 2 would be the HVAC objects.

Tolerance

Tolerance defines how big the clash needs to be so that it is still considered a clash. This measures the longest dimension of the resulting clash object. This gives us control over the clashes we want to create. We can use the units of our preference.

Derived Object Class

This defines the object class to which the derived objects are created. It can be any IFC object class, which can have geometry. For example, Covering, Member, Building Element Proxy, or Proxy. Which one we want to use depends on our use case and the semantics we want to apply to the objects.

Connection Name to Target Objects 1

The Overlapping Objects tool creates connections between the clashed objects and the derived objects. Connection Name to Target Objects 1 is the name of the connection property that connects the derived objects and the Target Objects 1 objects.

Connection Name to Target Objects 2

The Overlapping Objects tool creates connections between the clashed objects and the derived objects. Connection Name to Target Objects 2 is the name of the connection property that connects the derived objects and the Target Objects 2 objects.

Override Connections

We can use this option to choose whether we want to override (checked) or update (unchecked) the connection properties, if it already exists in the model. There are use cases for both. Maybe we want to run the tool multiple times for the same objects with different tolerance and different set of other objects, and collect all the clashes to the same Connection Property. Then we want to update/add to the Connection Property. On the other hand, if we make a mistake, we can override the connection properties with a rerun.

Layer Name

This defines the name of the layer (layer assignment name in IFC), to which the derived object is assigned. The layer name can be something we already have in the model, or we can create a new one here. The layer is a convenient way to find the derived object from the model after they have been created.

Create Groups

Turn Create Group is on, if we want to create a group for the newly created derived objects. The groups can be either a generic groups or an IFC groups. A generic group can only be used inside Simplebim. IFC groups are exported to IFC.

This is also a convenient way to find the newly created objects from the model, but we could also feed the group to other tools to further enrich the objects. The group can be used for example as a filter for the copy function when we copy the property data from the original object to the derived one. Or in Calculate Properties tools, to further enrich the derived objects with derived properties.

Group Name

Group Name defines the group where the derived objects are assigned to. If we use a group name, which already exists in the model (under the parent group defined below), then the objects are added to this group. If the group doesn't exist yet, then a new one is created.

Parent Group

Groups can be hierarchical. We can use Parent Group if we want to assign the groups under a specific parent group.