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This presentation provides an overview of Problem Solving Environments (PSEs) with a focus on two specific applications: VizCraft and WBCSim. VizCraft addresses the design problems of High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT), facilitating design through an integrated GUI, instant feedback, and optimization capabilities. WBCSim supports wood-based composites simulations, integrating visualization with legacy simulation codes for enhanced accessibility. Both PSEs illustrate how visualization can enhance problem-solving efficiency for complex computational tasks.
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Visualization in Problem Solving Environments Amit Goel Department of Computer Science Virginia Tech June 14, 1999
Overview • Introduction to PSEs • Description of VizCraft • Description of WBCSim • Summary
Problem Solving Environments • Solve problems in a specific domain • Integrated set of facilities • Usually involve legacy codes • Provide a GUI to legacy codes • Visualization: an important component • Usually provide optimization capabilities • Web accessibility • Expert or “recommender” systems
Problem Solving Environments (contd.) • Two PSEs presented: • VizCraft: for configuration design of a High Speed Civil Transport • WBCSim: for wood-based composites simulations
VizCraft: A PSE for HSCT Configuration • Addresses the HSCT design problem • minimize an objective function (TOGW) • meet a series of constraints • Provides an integrated GUI to HSCT design code • wireframe model of HSCT planform • instant feedback on experimental changes in geometry • ability to store and retrieve designs
VizCraft: A PSE for HSCT Configuration (contd.) • Evaluate a single design point • Browse a database of design points using Parallel Coordinates • Graphical view of design variables and constraint violations • Point to icon transformations • VRML view of HSCT planform
Parallel Coordinates • Lay out design variables on parallel axes • Provide visualization of design vectors • Reduce 29 dimensions into a 2-D pattern recognition problem • No loss of mathematical information • Query/visualize databases of design points • Alternatives? • Techniques: Scatterplots • Packages: MATLAB, Mathematica, PVWave
Parallel Coordinates Example Single design point
Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Constraint violations for a single design point
Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Visualizing a database of design points
Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Recognizing patterns and relationships in a database
Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Result of “brushing” out design points
VizCraft: Concluding Remarks • Interactive data exploration: a key feature • Provides a high-level abstraction to complex underlying operations • Modular approach through object-oriented programming in Java • Parallel coordinates module used for visualizing other high-dimensional systems • Intuitive feel for parallel coordinates can be realized with usage and practice
VizCraft: Future Possibilities • Remote visualization via the Web • Integration of optimization tools (DOT, VisualDOC) • “Steering” capabilities
WBCSim: A PSE for Wood-Based Composites Simulations • Provides a GUI to legacy Fortran simulation codes • Integrates simulation, visualization, and optimization • Various simulations supported • Accessible off the Web
WBCSim User Interface Input window for the Composite Materials Analysis Simulation
WBCSim User Interface (contd.) Example output from Composite Materials Analysis simulation
WBCSim: Visualization • VRML chosen as the primary environment for visualizing output • a recognized standard for 3D visualization • VRML viewers freely available & easy to use • simple syntax makes VRML generation easy • VRML translators written to provide visualization for specific needs
WBCSim: Contributions • Provides an integrated set of facilities for solving problems in the wood-composite domain • Web-based implementation allows scientists to work away from their laboratories, and from various platforms • Greater use of simulation tools • Scientists uncovered new bugs
Summary • Two problem solving environments presented: VizCraft and WBCSim • Provide high-level abstraction over command-line driven simulation codes • Integrate visualization with computation, helping scientists be more productive