Open Source in aeronautics and space research

At the German Aerospace Center (DLR) many different Open Source products are used, especially in the field of software development. From source code management up to third party libraries open source software become more and more used in the process of development. At the same time, new programs as well as existing ones are getting open source or developers from the DLR spending time to contribute to existing open source projects. In this talk, we will give an overview about the different Open Source software tools that are used in the aeronautics and space research. We also will show how more and more software out of the research area are released as Open Source and why Apache Licence is playing a key role. Finally we will give an example about how the open source development of an Apache module leads to an cooperated project of DLR and NASA

Open Source Framework RCE: Integration, Automation, Collaboration

Open Source Framework RCE: Integration, Automation, Collaboratio

Visualizing Modules and Dependencies of OSGi-based Applications

The architecture of software it not tangible; but in different situations it is preferable to have it tangible. For example, while reviewing it against the intended design, introducing the software to others, or starting to develop on a new part. Basic aspects of a software architecture are the modules the software is constructed of and the dependencies between them. To comprehend these aspects is important especially for software using a technology such as OSGi, which key concept is modularization. In this paper, we describe interactive visualization tools that we developed to comprehend OSGi-based applications with their modules and dependencies. We focus on concepts to treat large number of modules and dependencies: navigation, filtering, and selection. We applied our solution for OSGi-based applications with hundreds of modules containing multiple submodules each. With the resulting visualizations, we can explore the modularization of the software architecture

Designing Future Aircraft with Eclipse RCP

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) uses Eclipse RCP to design future aircraft, like blended wing body aircraft or the SpaceLiner. It develops a distributed simulation framework based upon Eclipse RCP. The framework enables engineers from different disciplines to integrate their simulation tools at different sites while leaving the interaction between these tools to the framework. The talk will describe how aircraft design is done with the framework and why Eclipse RCP was the right way to go. It will address following aspects: - Modularity and dynamic OSGi services enabling multidisciplinary collaboration - Experiences with usability of Eclipse-based user interfaces when they are used by engineers - Managing different distributions specialized to different domains in aerospac

Integration Framework for Preliminary Design Toolchains

The goals defined by the ACARE Vision 2020 present a major challenge to aeronautic research. Besides developments in new aerodynamics and structures, advancements in aero engine research will account for a major part of the required reduction in fuel, emissions and noise. To enable a commercial launch of new aircraft and engine concepts, complex and often contradictory demands have to be fulfilled. Strong dependencies between the individual technical disciplines exist so that the optimization in a single discipline may not lead inevitably to a global optimum. Therefore it is necessary to look at the overall system in order to evaluate the potential of new technologies realistically. This article presents a typical design task in aeroengine predesign and a software solution which supports and enables multidisciplinary cooperation on the engineer side. A common data format based on XML, necessary for data exchange, as well as supporting programming libraries for the processing of this data format are introduced. Furthermore it is described, how a parametric representation can be realized for various geometries with the help of XML. A programming library with C and FORTRAN Interfaces supports geometrical computations for these representations. Finally it is demonstrated that the tools used by the different technical disciplines can be connected to a process chain within a framework

Open Source Software Framework for Applications in Aeronautics and Space

The DLR developed the open source software framework RCE to support the collaborative and distributed work in the shipyard industry. From a technology side of view a software from the shipbuilding field has many requirements in common with aerospace software projects. Accordingly, RCE has become the basis for further projects within the DLR. Over the last years of usage a subset of frequently used software components could be derived and are provided by the RCE framework. In particular, the workflow engine, allowing the integration of different domain-specific tools from local and remote locations into one overall calculation has become important for various projects. We present RCE and show how its software components are reused in two aerospace applications

Verteilung eines Plugin-basierten Systems innerhalb einer Grid-Umgebung

Ein Grid ermöglicht die Nutzung beliebig verteilter Ressourcen, um lokal fehlende Ressourcen zu kompensieren. So müssen in der Wissenschaft oft große Mengen an Daten gespeichert und analysiert, rechenintensive Simulationen durchgeführt oder kurzzeitig Anwendungen verwendet werden, die in ihrer Anschaffung auf Grund hoher Lizenzgebühren zu teuer sind. Ressourcen (Rechenleistung, Datenbanken, Anwendungen, Messgeräte) ermöglichen Dienste und werden daher auch als Grid Services in das Grid eingebunden. Ein Grid Service ist ein zustandsbehafteter Web Service. Ein Plugin-basiertes System ist bis auf eine minimale Laufzeitumgebung ausschließlich aus Plugins aufgebaut, die beliebig hinzugefügt und entfernt werden können. Ein solches System verfügt über großes Potential. Durch das individuelle Hinzufügen von Plugins kann das System zum einen beliebig mächtig werden und zum anderen ist es dadurch möglich, ein benutzerspezifisches System aufzubauen. Plugins können rechen- und/oder speicherintensiv sein. Sie können auch in ihrer Anschaffung teuer sein. Vergleicht man dies mit der Motivation für ein Grid, kommt man zu der Idee, Plugins als Grid Services im Grid zu verteilen. Da die Technologie des Grid und der Plugin-basierten Systeme relativ neu sind, ist die Frage noch offen, wie Plugins sinnvoll in ein Grid eingebunden werden können. Das Ziel dieser Masterarbeit ist die Verteilung von Plugins des Plugin-basierten Systems RCE (Reconfigurable Computing Environment) in einer Grid-Umgebung. Die Plugins sollen dabei als Grid Services realisiert werden. Weiterhin soll die clientseitige Integration dieser Grid Services in RCE betrachtet werden. Um die Aufgabenstellung umzusetzen, werden vier Realisierungsmöglichkeiten für den geforderten Grid Service erarbeitet und bewertet. Es stellt sich die Frage, inwieweit RCE serviceseitig integriert wird und wo sich die Logik des verteilten Plugin und gegebenenfalls die von RCE befindet. Als praktikabelste Möglichkeit wird die Variante erkannt, bei der RCE zusammen mit dem integrierten und zu verteilenden Plugin aus dem Grid Service ausgelagert wird. Der Grid Service dient bei dieser Realisierungsvariante als Kommunikationsschnittstelle zwischen Client und RCE beziehungsweise den Plugins. Beim Entwurf dieser Möglichkeit wurden neben dem Konzept des Grid Service weitere Aspekte wie die Abbildung von RCE-Funktionen auf Grid-Technologien, die Sicherheit, die Service Discovery oder die Realisierung des Verteilprozesses erschlossen und betrachtet. Bei der clientseitigen Integration der Grid Services in RCE wird das Stub-Konzept verwendet, mit dem sowohl eine transparente als auch eine nicht-transparente Integration realisiert werden kann. Abschließend erfolgt eine Beschreibung der Implementierung an Hand eines Beispielplugins und deren Test

Quantified Self: Android Apps for Self Tracking with Wearables and Health-Monitoring Devices

Quantified Self is about measuring, tracking, and analyzing data of our body and our daily life. The data can cover very different aspects, for example, food consumption, vital signs, mood, expenses, daily routines, environmental information, etc. Today, gathering data with wearable devices are very common, such as wristbands. The data is used to monitor or manage personal health and other environmental data. One goal of Quantified Self is to gain knowledge about oneself. This talk explains motivations for self tracking, showcases available (wearable) sensors, and demonstrates some Android apps. The main technical focus of the talk is on connecting wearables and other devices to Android apps. We explain and demonstrate how to access data of a couple of devices (such as activity trackers, wireless weight scales or other sensors). We describe the Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT), which is a IoT/messaging protocol for connecting small devices, that we use for delivering push notifications on sensor data updates. Based on the health and self tracking apps, that we developed for Android, and on our productive MQTT push notification service, we share our experiences and recommendations for other App developers

Towards Provenance Capturing of Quantified Self Data

Quantified Self or self-tracking is a growing movement where people are tracking data about themselves. Tracking the provenance of Quantified Self data is hard because usually many different devices, apps, and services are involved. Nevertheless receiving insights how the data has been acquired, how it has been processed, and who has stored and accessed it is crucial for people. We present concepts for tracking provenance in typical Quantified Self workflows. We use a provenance model based on PROV and show its feasibility with an example