Constellation: Invite-Codes for best Simulation-Ideas

[-horn-]

Hi Crunchers,

Constellation (http://aerospaceresearch.net/constellation/) is a platform for research projects that uses Internet-connected computers to do research in various aerospace related sciences and engineering. You can participate by downloading and running a free program on your computer. But until now it's only possible to register with an invite-code.

This is your chance to be awarded with an invite-code by just formulating your simulation-idea you want to see running on the Constellation platform.

Constellation is meant to be an open-platform for everyone or every institution with goals to do research in aeronautics and astronautics and beyond, be it student or professor or just an enthusiast.

We will grant 10 codes for the best ideas submitted in this thread or via pm, when you are shy.
There is no limit how much to write, but the more and better prepared it is the higher are your chances to be among the best. But keep in mind to describe it clear and how you think it must use from distributed computing.

For example:
A mars exploration rover drill. There is a high number of combinations which drill-dimension, -material, -speed-function and mars soil to compute. And this is very easy to parallelize.

Study the characteristics of ash-particle flow caused by a volcano Eyjafjallajokull in the atmosphere.

Well, I hope you got the point, otherwise feel free to ask.

Good luck, everyone!

Andreas Hornig
--
http://aerospaceresearch.net/constellation/
http://twitter.com/ARDNnews

[Bigred]

Since nobody else seems to have any ideas, I thought I would give it a shot.

How about a project that tracks NEOs (Near Earth Objects) using data supplied by observatories around the world. That way we would be able to track objects that might impact the earth. Oh wait. That's what the Orbit project was supposed to do.

Maybe since they haven't been able to get it going after several years of hype you guys could give it a try. You could even call it something like Orbitz. I for one would like to know if that Armageddon rock is headed my way. I think it would be a much more useful project than say the one that is looking for little green men.

[-horn-]

Hi Bigred,

I like your smiley by the way!

NEOs or "object tracking and path-estimation" is one way, BUT I would feel uncomfortable to wilder in Ortbit@home's terretory, you know? I allready contacted some observatories and planetariums to get an idea, if this would be possible to do with amateur-stargazers . So that they could provide object data and these are specified as an object from the db and then the path is analyzed. but it's still close to Obrit@home. And in my opinion, I don't like to much redundency as seen in the proteine folding scene . There should be a clear ede line what difines Constellation and what defines Orbit@home, or we should work together. But no competition between both of us, because the user would ask us wtf! .

But I still like the idea and it's described in a way we intend it for this action!
So anyone can see that's easy and now rocket-science, ..., hmmm, ..., okay, it IS rocket-science! But any space documentary should give anybody an idea.

What I would really like to see are ideas about "measuring" projects like quake cather network, where we need hardware to measure something. therefore I would even start a new boinc-project where all those measuring projects will run without affecting Constellation.

And, Bigred, Wiesbaden is rather near to Stuttgart .

Andreas

[Bigred]

Andreas,
I never expected you to go for the Orbitz thing. I just sort of wanted to stir the pot so to speak. Since you mentioned Quake Catcher, I'll give you an idea along those lines.

Solar@home
Using a small solar panel like the ones that come with the solar powered yard lights, create a module to be mounted outside the house. It could be simple and connect by USB or complex and connect by Bluetooth. It could then be used to collect information about the intensity and duration of sunlight received from all over the world. Would this information be useful? Maybe if you were planning solar power installations or growing crops or doing research into solar energy.

It's about a two hour drive from here on s good day. Twenty years ago I was stationed at Panzer Kaserne in Böblingen.

Since you liked the smilie here is another one

[Bok]

That sounds like a great idea actually. It would probably have to involve some custom electronics to gather and feed the data wirelessly, but it's not so dissimilar to the QCN USB sensors.

[-horn-]

Hi Bigred,

what I like about the solar@home idea is, that this can be usefull for more than just one field. so you can tell,
how much sun-intensity is there for one region and when the sun rises and sets (perhaps not right to the exact second, but qualitatively), what is usefull for the wheather forecasters.
or it is usefull for the photovoltaic people to find goodareas or se, if there is shadow-fall in this neighborhood blocking the sun for some time of the day.

then there is light polution, what is intersting for astronomers

and perhaps that's crazy, but at the end it's a big black-and-white camera sensor-array .

and it can be one part of a lightning detection array.

and of course it can be rather chep because the sensor pannels like 5x5 cm are not expensive. perhaps they can even been build as DIY, so no boincer has to buy them, BUT only if they can be calibrated somehow.

the only thing I don't know is how to filter errors. just think about light polution and the sensor is active during 8pm and 8am in winter times and it is realy dark, but you set it up near to your house, where your own christmasstree light shines out the window and directly on the pannel. that wouldn't be so wise. this must be handled somehow.

but nevertheless it's a nice idea. so you send in 2 ideas. perhaps you can give one idea to another person .

and, you don't have access to our internal forum, do yo? because I posted this idea on my wishlist .

Andreas

[Bok]

Sounds like BigRed deserves an invite

Still waiting on mine too :P

[Bigred]

Andreas
The sensor could be designed so it could be built from scratch, obtained from the project in kit form or only the circuit board or it could be sent as a completed package. It would just need to include a vairable resistor so that it could be adjusted. Then you would give instructions on how to adjust it. Say place solar panel 20cm from a 100w incandesant bulb and adjust output to 1.2v. The only thing you would have to monitor is the voltage (intensity) and the time (duration). If you wanted to do the bluetooth version, you could even have the solar panel charge the battery for it. I don't think light polution is that much of a problem as below a certian level they just don't put out power. It would be simple enough to test what level of power output you get for certian conditions and consider everything below that as night time.

No I don't have access to your forums. This is about the only place I show up. Really I only gave you one idea. The first one was just to stir things up and try to some of the many people that read the forums here to react. Didn't seem to do much good though. You can give that one to Bok. The next message contains an idea for a project straight out of sci fi and we'll give that one to Laurenu2.

[Bigred]

Andreas
I hope you're sitting down and try not to laugh too hard.

Terraform@home
This would be a project to find the most effective and efficient method to terraform a planet. In this case we'll use Mars as an example. The end result should be a habitable planet to support human life in comfort. No domes, no bulky space suits, just a place you can walk around like here. It should be able to support food production and biodiversity. Using computer modeling to determine the long term effects of changes to the planet. As an example, I'm no scientist but I know that carbon dioxide causes a planet to warm up. Instead of carbon capture and storage what would happen if we captured it and sent it to Mars. An atmosphere would start to form and as a greenhouse gas it should start to warm the planet. As the planet warms the frozen water deposits thaw and then you can start to send in things (plants) to convert carbon dioxide to oxygen.

The modeling would probably be similar to CPDN and I'm sure there are enough scientists out there with ideas and enough planets that would keep the project going forever. Is it a pratical or usefull project? I don't know but you have to admit I've given you a unique idea for what to do with this worlds excess carbon dioxide.

I'm starting to get the idea that I'm the only one here that reads science fiction.

[-horn-]

hi,

Sounds like BigRed deserves an invite

Still waiting on mine too :P

Definitively! He is a fountain of ideas. Without any competing ideas it won't be hard to decide, but even with some other ideas posted here he has given some of the best described ideas of all participating websites so far.

Andreas
I hope you're sitting down and try not to laugh too hard.

Terraform@home
...

No, I don't laugh about your idea, the only thing I do is smile, because of your creativety. And your not the only Sci-Fi fan (pointing on myself!) .

Terraforming@home:
Poluting your own planet is not wise, but polutiing other planetes in a virtual-simulation could be fun. I read some books about this topic and IF anyonewould ever think about doing this there must be preparation, because we can't even estimate our own involvement in global climate, and if we want to change another celestial body we must filter out at least the basic sideeffects. And even then there could be unforseen events.
I like the idea and perhaps this should be done in cooperation with CPDN, because they have the experise in this field of science.


By the way, Bigred, you made some great ideas allready, perhaps you want to dedicate our spare-ideas to someone, otherwise you will get 1 code out of 10.
And to the rest of you, DON'T BE SHY! Just do it like Bigred did and post the first think you can remember from a scifi film or tv-series, as long as it is doable with distributed computing.
Or if you are a model-plane pilot, there are often tasks to do that could also been done with DC. Almost all ideas were space-related so far, but I would like to see aviation based ideas as well.

Andreas

[Bigred]

Andreas,
Like I said, one for Bok and one for Laurenu2. The next three are up for grabs for anyone on the team that wants them.

Asteroids@home
If Orbit is going to track the objects we need to figure out what to do with them if one is coming our way. What do we use to destroy or deflect them. Lasers, Nukes, rocket motors to change course, space tugs or how about a giant robot with an equally big baseball bat. With different sizes and compositions you might need different solutions for different rocks.

Trajectory@home
Provided we find a way to deflect that armageddon sized rock, where do we send it to? Do we send it just off in any direction we can or do we send it to the sun or one of the other planets? What would the effects be?

Spacejunk@home
How do we track and collect all the trash we've left floating around in space?

Those are my last three unless somebody here needs help with one. If you want to claim one of these it is first come first serve so speak up now.

[-horn-]

Hi,

Andreas,
Like I said, one for Bok and one for Laurenu2. The next three are up for grabs for anyone on the team that wants them.

If Bok is Phil, the admin of this site, he allready has one code for just allowing this action to happen in his forum, so he is out of competition, because he will get other things to do (ranking the best ideas). So you can declare one idea to someone else.

Asteroids@home + Trajectory@home is only one idea in my opinion, because this is essential to know, where a deflected spacerock is heading after the trajectory change. I wouldn'tbe wise to play with "god's rules" without knowing, if this spacerock will hit earth the next orbit revolution.
I can think of a given scenario, like Apophis hitting earth and then trying to hit him with different kind of lasers on different hit-surface-areas, or by gravity tracktor pulling by a space-ship with different counter-masses and analyzing where the comet/asteroid will head afterwards.

Spacejunk@home
How do we track and collect all the trash we've left floating around in space?

This is tricky, because how should a DC project space debris? NORAD does this, but they are reallllly god supported and they are only able to track junk the size of a 2€ coin. And can you explain the garbage collection to me how to use DC?

I really like your distributed idea system . hopfeully I don't have to rank your idea in case there will be more then 10 posted idea

Andreas

[Bok]

Hi,

If Bok is Phil, the admin of this site, he allready has one code for just allowing this action to happen in his forum, so he is out of competition, because he will get other things to do (ranking the best ideas). So you can declare one idea to someone else.

Yup I am I'd want to set up the team ahead of time anyways..

[LAURENU2]

What about Sound pollution All you need is a Mic outside a window

[-horn-]

Nice and easy! And like the light-pollution idea a matter of callibration, because the sensetivity of each mic is different. It's not a sole aerospace related idea, unless you measure in the area around an airport or spaceport, but it's still a nice idea . BUT please keep in mind that it could be in conflict with some laws, because of it's spy nature. I think you wouldn't like your neighbours record what you talk and snore .

Andreas

[Bigred]

What about Sound pollution All you need is a Mic outside a window

You should have tried Sound Polution in computer rooms like yours.

[LAURENU2]

You should have tried Sound Pollution in computer rooms like yours.

Ya 120+ fans do make a lot of white Noise and a whole lot of RF static
Im just glad I don't live there

[-horn-]

Hi,

this action will end on this friday at 23:59 hrs (CET), so be fast to send in your ideas. Until then I will create lots and lots of WUs for you.
We will contact the winners to give them their codes and discuss the rest of the procedure.

Although BigRed has a lot of ideas there are still codes to win .

Best regards,

Andreas

[Bok]

going along with the sensor type theme here are a few others.

pollution@home where a sensor feeds back info on air quality?

barometer@home where a sensor feeds back barometric pressure. I know weather channels have these setup in various places - this could just be an extension and even a collaboration with them?

[Bigred]

What about Sound pollution All you need is a Mic outside a window

I think this would be a valid project because you wouldn't be recording sounds. The only thing monitored would be the level of sound. It could be monitored on a sproadic basis, say every five minutes making it a low impact project.

[-horn-]

going along with the sensor type theme here are a few others.

pollution@home where a sensor feeds back info on air quality?

barometer@home where a sensor feeds back barometric pressure. I know weather channels have these setup in various places - this could just be an extension and even a collaboration with them?

hi, I would wrapp this up to a full weather station with sensors for pressure, density, wind-direction and -velocity, moisture, etc, so anything waether channels need .

this could been done as a complete box but I don't know how expensive this is. but you shouldn't underestimate real-time data. when these boxes detect something and a workunit runs for one hour the data could be worthless because the twisster is gone before it was send back to the server .

Andreas

[Bok]

I wasn't really thinking about real time data, more for long term data gathering so modelling might be made more precise given the variety of locations, possibly even the affects of local infrastructure on readings

[-horn-]

Hi,

this posting is for me that I don't forget anyone's idea.
the following ideas were posted and no idea was send via PM. If I forget someon please contact me.
This is no ranking yet, only a chronlogical listing:

1. Bigred
near-earth-objects (almost Orbit@home)

2. Bigred
Solar@home

3. Bigred
Terraform@home

4. Bigred
Asteroids@home + Trajectory@home

(5.) Bigred
Spacejunk@home (more infos needed what this is all about to count this as an idea)

6. Laurenu2
Sound-Polution

7. Bok
pollution@home where a sensor feeds back info on air quality

8. Bok
barometer@home (one part for weather sensor box)

Next steps will be posted in here.

Andreas

[Bigred]

Any idea when we will know the results?

[Bigred]

I've been awarded five invite codes but I can only use one of them.


Up for grabs are the other four. The first four team members that PM me with the user name they want to use will get them.

[LAURENU2]

I can not seem to find this project in the stat tool config
are there No stats yet for this project ?

[Bok]

correct. Stats are exported, but Andreas asked me last week to hold off on publishing them. We just talked today about them though, so hopefully soon

[-horn-]

Hi,

have you received notices from other grabbers so far? we need a counter pole to all that german users!

and there will be stats exported http://aerospaceresearch.net/constel...hread.php?id=8 but we need to check some other things first. it's a matter of time now.

Andreas

[Bigred]

Hi,

have you received notices from other grabbers so far? we need a counter pole to all that german users!

and there will be stats exported http://aerospaceresearch.net/constel...hread.php?id=8 but we need to check some other things first. it's a matter of time now.

Andreas

Nobody from the Free-DC team has asked for one yet. I think that if you look at this you'll have to agree that the three of us are holding our own against the German contingent.

Looking forward to the stats.

[LAURENU2]

Ya the 3 musketeers __ with lots of Signs Ha Ha
Can you handle MORE Power

[gopher_yarrowzoo]

Count me in, I'm just waiting on my invite code yeah I figured I'd try it out

[LAURENU2]

correct. Stats are exported, but Andreas asked me last week to hold off on publishing them. We just talked today about them though, so hopefully soon

Yippy We Now Have Stats

[gopher_yarrowzoo]

And now we have a gopher

[LAURENU2]

Can you gopher a shot of some whiskey

[AMDave]

I have some thoughts about extending your existing application.

Given that we have 'probes' exiting the solar system and we now understand the magnitude of the vast distances between the sun and the nearest stars:
1 - using as many planetary or solar sling-shot passes as necessary what is the optimum path to obtain the fastest possible exit speed from the solar system whilst maintaining human-sustainable g-force?
2 - using as many stellar sling-shot passes as necessary what is the optimum path to obtain the fastest possible arrival at the nearest galaxy whilst maintaining human-sustainable g-force?

Parameters to be defined by some science would be initial mass and acceleration.
Constraints may be excessive time to exit solar system.
Assumptions might be deployment of solar sails between stellar objects or use of lunar based laser acceleration providing some acceleration.
Controls might be aligning solar objects and interstellar objects into artificial planes and alignments.
There are lots of data sheets about the mass and trajectory of solar and interstellar objects now so this should be possible.

The problem space suggests spatial and time variations of the locations of solar and stellar objects as well as attempting to arrive at a simplex optimal solution.

Alternatively, take the average size and estimated mass of an asteroid from the solar debris field, given the fastest possible path that it might leave the solar system, what are the motive properties of inter-stellar missiles that our future space-travellers have to look out for?
(Another old theory for inter-stellar travel was to carve out a large asteroid for living space, use the unwanted mass for a mass-drive and propel it out of the solar system)

Just looking to put some science behind the epics of SciFi
/ed - in StarTrek (..and in EVE, I just discovered..) they call it Astrometrics Since we are going to go there sooner or later we should figure out how to do it - ed/

NASA might even fund something like that

[AMDave]

Another simulation for you.

If we convert all automotive vehicles and power plants to Hydrogen around the globe, given the rate of absorption by the oceans and forests and the rate of expansion of the demand and supply of power, and the rate of conversion how soon would it be before either

a) the by-product levels of carbon-dioxide, nitric acid and hydrogen cyanide in the lower atmosphere achieve a human impact (SciFi reference - various)

a-2) will the atmosphere arrive at a flash-point through another reaction caused by the chemical imbalance? (I remember a SciFi story about that environment - Solar Attack)

b) I lost the option to go to a resort at the Whitsunday islands without having to land in a sea plane wearing a wet suit and scuba gear (normally you might do those things after you arrive ) - say a sea level rise of 2 meters ? is there actually enough ice on earth to do that? if it was all melted what would the levels be? how high would the tides be? (I remember a SciFi story about that environment - waterworld)

c) we run out of habitable space on the surface of the earth because we have dumped so much rubbish (I remember a SciFi story about that environment too - Wall-e)

[-horn-]

And now we have a gopher

where is my shovel!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krVXRCcr2M4

[gopher_yarrowzoo]

where is my shovel!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krVXRCcr2M4

One of my favourite films... I love the one liners and the ending is really funny. Gopher's ain't dumb

[LAURENU2]

. Gopher's ain't dumb

Well you proved that How many gopher's can Type on a keyboard

[-horn-]

Hi,

Just looking to put some science behind the epics of SciFi
/ed - in StarTrek (..and in EVE, I just discovered..) they call it Astrometrics Since we are going to go there sooner or later we should figure out how to do it - ed/

NASA might even fund something like that

so you are also a scifi fan like me?
hmmm, the action is allready closed, BUT I granted 10 codes for Free-DC and they got 8.
Your first idea is allready similar to 2 posted on german forums, and the second is intersting, but it sounds more suitable for climate prediction, or am I wrong?
Could you please give some more details how you think your ideas distinguish from other ideas? Perhaps we can do something.

One of my favourite films... I love the one liners and the ending is really funny. Gopher's ain't dumb

I only like the first movie of the series and I only watched it in German, and German synchronisations tend to cripple English humour .

Well you proved that How many gopher's can Type on a keyboard

A horde!

Andreas