Simulation Driven Virtual Reality:
A Framework for Large Scale Virtual Simulation
Lacey Duckworth – Ph.D. StudentFebruary 16, 2008
Tentative Committee:Dr. Strelzoff (Chair), Dr. Sulbaran,Dr. Seyfarth, Dr. Wang, Dr. Zhang
AgendaIntroductionProblem
◦Background◦Preliminary Study◦Difficulty of Problem◦Applicable Experience
ObjectiveMethodologyExpected Results and Impact
IntroductionThe objective of this meeting is
to get your feedback on an early version of my Ph.D. prospectus.
Form my Ph.D. committee
ProblemA robust and reusable
communicationmethod does not exist to
connect theexternal simulation languages
with thecompelling and accessible client-
serverVirtual Reality Environments.
Background
Creating Large Scale Virtual Simulation is very time consuming and the result is
not very reusable.
Preliminary Study
200 HoursCode is not
modular, extendable,or object oriented
Pascagoula example 46 major rigs
x 10 more complex than sample x 200 hours 96,000 hours
Why Is This So Difficult? 1Second LifeTM and all similar
client-server VR environments such as MultiverseTM and OpenSLTM were never intended for large-scale software development.
Ideal: object-oriented language for "top-level" process rigs then all instances and specialized rigs could more easily be derived.
Why Is This So Difficult? 2Computer Scientists are not
Refinery Plant Operators. Very hard to “get it right” from conversation and schematics.
Ideal: High-level behavioral simulation environment in which programmers would contribute a first version and plant operators and consultants could iteratively "get the details right” largely on their own.
Example of “Communication”
Sketch received from consultant and
interpretation of the atmospheric distillation
process.
Why Is This So Difficult? 3Second Life was not intended for
large scale computations. With larger numbers of numerical processes servers bog down and performance degrades.
Ideal: an external simulation language that could run independently on a dedicated server providing scalable performance as the size of the simulation grew.
Applicable Experience 1Our research group has a lot of
experience and success building bridges in and out of the environment.
Applicable Experience 2LabVIEW is a popular
Instrumentation simulation (USM has a license)
1 - Object Oriented – Hierarchal2 - Well known among Chemical Engineers3 - Reasonable performance – multi-core adaptive
MethodologyStep1: Define a
communication language protocol schema between a simulation language and a client-server Virtual Reality Environment.
Step 2: Test the robustness of the developed communication protocol.
Step 3: Develop a generalized framework to provide reuse of the communication protocol.
Restating the Problem
A robust and reusable communication method does not exist to connect the external simulation languages with thecompelling and accessible client-server Virtual Reality Environments.
MethodologyStep 1: Define Communication
Protocol◦Qualitative - Content Analysis
REASON
Step 2: Test Case◦Qualitative - Case Study
REASON
Step 3: Develop Reuse Framework◦Quantitative – Quasi-Experimental
Research REASON
Methodology (Cont.)Step 1: Define
Communication Protocol◦Finite state machine definition of
generalize simulation language (Σ1,S1,s01,δ1,F1)
◦Event-driven state machine definition of the client-server virtual reality environment (Σ2,S2,s02,δ2,F2).
Methodology (Cont.)Step 2: Test Case
◦Refinery or other Large Scale Construction Project
◦Virtual Environment SecondLifeTM
◦Simulation Environment LabVIEWTM
Methodology (Cont.)Step 3: Develop Reuse
Framework◦Create generalized protocol to
provide code reusability.◦Tested through small experiment
of new methodology of reuse vs. traditional.
Expected Results and Impact (1)
A communication language
protocol schema between a
simulation language and a
client-server Virtual Reality
Environment.
Expected Results and Impact (2)Communication between
virtual reality environment SecondLifeTM and LabVIEWTM.
Expected Results and Impact (3)Experimentally tested
framework to provide reusable simulation driven virtual environment components
Thank you for your participation.
Questions
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