A Component Architecture for High-Performance Computing [pdf]
http://www.llnl.gov/tid/lof/documents/pdf/241603.pdf
This preprint, written by researchers at Oak Ridge and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, discusses some important design decisions involved in developing a high-performance computer architecture for scientific applications. The authors introduce the Common Component Architecture and its orientation toward the general computing needs of the scientific community, as opposed to other approaches that are suitable only for specific tasks. The proposed methodology illuminates many aspects of future generations of large scale computing efforts. [CL]
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Developing an Open Source Option for NASA Software [pdf]
http://www.nas.nasa.gov/Research/Reports/Techreports/2003/nas-03-009-abstract.html
A NASA technical report from April 2003 suggests that the agency switch to an open source software development strategy. This report, written at a very basic level, allows for a general audience to understand what constitutes open source and why it can be useful. The 52-page report gives several definitions and outlines benefits associated with such a switch from several different standpoints. Specifically, the implications for academia, software users and developers, and NASA itself are considered individually to show how they might be affected. After identifying several candidates for an open source license, the report recommends the Mozilla Public License. [CL]
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Using Virtual Environments to Study Earthquake Effects on Buildings [QuickTime]
http://www.arch.usyd.edu.au/kcdc/journal/vol5/mehdi/INDEX.htm
This research paper presents the results of a joint effort between architecture and computer science faculty at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. A Virtual Structural Analysis Program was developed to allow researchers to "create and view realistic building models" in an immersive virtual environment. Taking into account many physical parameters and response criteria, different loads can be applied to the virtual buildings to simulate the effect of an earthquake. Based upon extensive analysis, the authors state that the program can be used to design more earthquake-tolerant buildings and minimize damage costs. [CL]
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MelbourneDAC [pdf]
http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/dac/papers/
The Fifth International Digital Arts and Culture Conference was held in May 2003. Nearly 70 papers presented at the event can be viewed online at this Web site. The papers cover a wide range of topics, including Internet shopping, virtual worlds, and multimedia animations. But, one of the most common themes of the conference's proceedings deals with the psychological and technical aspects of video games. Having seen enormous growth in the past few years, especially with the great popularity of online community games, this topic naturally drew the attention of researchers worldwide. Many interesting insights are given in the papers, including one that investigates the relationship between video games and art. [CL]
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KiRo: The Table Soccer Robot [pdf, postscript, Windows Media Player]
http://www.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/~kiro/english/index.html
The RoboCup Competition was founded with the goal of creating a robot soccer team that can beat the human world champion team by 2050. While it still has a long way to go, progress has been made on another front: table soccer. More commonly known as foosball, the game now has a robotic system that can beat inexperienced players. The system is called KiRo. By "using a camera it perceives the playing field and, (depending) upon the current game situation, it decides how the rods under its control should be moved." KiRo's homepage has pictures and video of the system, as well as a research paper that was presented at the International RoboCup Symposium in 2002. [CL]
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Computer Immune Systems [pdf, postscript]
http://www.cs.unm.edu/~immsec/
A research group at the University of New Mexico Computer Science Department is using an analogy to biological immune systems to develop similarly functioning computer security systems. This is a significant departure from existing methods. Computer immune systems are designed to detect and contain intrusions in the same way their biological counterparts deal with viruses and infections. The research group has a large collection of papers from conferences and journals available on its homepage. [CL]
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Power Delivery and Locomotion of Untethered Micro-Actuators [pdf]
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~brd/papers/ieee-mems03.pdf
The field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has gained significant attention in recent years, as micromachining processes and techniques have been refined. One area that has received little attention, however, is autonomous locomotion for MEMS. This research paper presents a method that accomplishes this task. Autonomous locomotion frees the MEMS device from restraining tethers used for power delivery, and results in significantly smaller actuator sizes. The proposed method uses capacitive coupling to power the device. The technique has been implemented and experimental results are provided. [CL]
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Scientific Computing on the Sony Playstation 2
http://arrakis.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ps2/
Scientific computing installations traditionally use clusters of workstations for massively parallel processing. This research effort at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is using clusters of the Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) for the same purpose. Since the gaming console has special vector processing capabilities, it is a relatively low-cost implementation that is suitable for complex matrix arithmetic (an important characteristic of most scientific computing applications). Technical aspects of the PS2 are given on the project's homepage, as well as details about networking 65 PS2 consoles. [CL]
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