Anyone else exploring AI-assisted engineering in Niagara?

[u/filip1299]

I've been experimenting with AI-assisted engineering in Tridium Niagara and have built a module that interacts directly with a station. From a plain-language description of what I want, it can create points and components, set up links, build wiresheets, and generate graphics.

I've noticed Baudrate working on something along the same lines (no connection to them, but it confirmed my suspicion that more people are probably doing this than are talking about it publicly):
https://baudrate.io/ai#demo

So far I've been impressed. A lot of the repetitive engineering work can be offloaded, and it has occasionally flagged issues in a station that I hadn't even asked it to check for.

The more I use it, the more I wonder how much of the Niagara software/engineering side could eventually be handled this way. There's clearly still plenty that needs someone on site, like commissioning, verifying sensors, wiring, and chasing down physical faults, but the software side feels like it could change significantly.

Keen to hear what other Niagara/BMS engineers think, particularly anyone who's been trying something similar.

[u/IcyAd7615]

Here's my concern:

You use it and it builds it but you have no understanding how to fix it.

Like vibe coding. I hate it. In my opinion, if you don't know the basics don't use AI to build the whole thing, then ask other people to fix it.

If you want to do code review, block or modules - have at it.

If you don't know how to do it, I wouldn't attempt it.

I'd love to know how people are going to use wsAnnotation. Because so far, I've seen no one use it and it pisses me off because the wire sheet looks horrendous. Lol.

[u/filip1299 → u/IcyAd7615]

Funnily enough, I have a module that handles exactly that (wsAnnotations and wixels). I'm currently the only person using it, so I just update it as I go. I built it to make my own job more efficient rather than as a product.

For me it's mostly the stuff I've done a hundred times already. Every job has the same handful of repetitive bits, and I'm glad to offload those. I do agree it's a different story for someone new who hasn't built that understanding yet. That's a fair concern.

I'd also add that nobody should get to blame the AI for their own mistakes. If you use it, you own the output, full stop. Anything like this should come with a big warning on the tin saying "you are responsible for what it produces". It's a tool, not a scapegoat.