n-Body simulator survey

[tbocek]

I am developing an n-body/orbital dynamics simulation software package as a project for a course project at Washington State University. I am conducting a survey in order to gather requirements for this software. If development of this software is successful, I would release it as a freely available, open source package. The project's web site can be found at nbodyhydra.googlepages.com, where a very rough, early prototype is available (though the survey doesn't require you to investigate or evaluate the prototype in any way.)<br /><br />If you are interested in this software and/or are willing to participate in this survey, simply post your responses to this thread or email them to tim.bocek@gmail.com. No personally identifying information will be collected unless you are willing to respond to additional follow-up questions through email. If you do not have time to fill out the entire survey, responding even to part of it would be helpful and very much appreciated! Thank you in advance for your time.<br /><br />-------------------------<br /><br />Would you be interested in a new, freely available software package that performs n-body simulations?<br /><br />If so, for what purpose would you use this software?<br />___ Professional duties<br />___ Research<br />___ Education<br />___ Hobby<br />___ Other (Please Specify)<br /><br />On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, how important to you are the following traits in an n-body simulation package? Feel free to provide comments.<br />1. Simulation speed<br />2. Simulation Accuracy<br />3. Ease of use<br />4. Quality of Graphics<br />5. Customizability of interface (e.g. dockable panels)<br /><br />On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, how important to you are the following features in an n-body simulation package? Feel free to provide comments.<br /><br />1. Numerical manipulation of physical quantities (ie, typing in values)<br />2. Graphical manupulation

 

[MeteorWayne]

Research, Education, Hobby.<br /><br />Accuracy, Accuracy, and Accuracy<br /><br />regarding 1-10, I have to print out the list and think about that for a bit.<br /><br />I'll be back. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[emperor_of_localgroup]

a) What platform (computer system)?<br />b) What operating system?<br />c) What programming language <br /><br />are you using? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="2" color="#ff0000"><strong>Earth is Boring</strong></font> </div>

 

[tony873004]

I tackled the same project you are proposing, but just for fun, not as a school project. Here is my effort: www.gravitysimulator.com<br /><i>Would you be interested in a new, freely available software package that performs n-body simulations? </i><br />Yes.<br /><i>If so, for what purpose would you use this software? <br />___ Professional duties <br />__x_ Research <br />__x Education <br />__x_ Hobby <br />___ Other (Please Specify) <br /><br />On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, how important to you are the following traits in an n-body simulation package? Feel free to provide comments. <br />1. Simulation speed </i> <br />10. N-body is useful for determining what analytic methods can not determine. And analytic methods are very accurate for short periods of time. So N-body must be able to run long sims, where you might leave your computer on overnight, or even weeks on end.<br /><br /><i>2. Simulation Accuracy</i> <br />8. Accuracy is nice, but there is a lot you can demonstrate under less-than-accurate conditions. <br /><i>3. Ease of use</i> <br />10. If it's not easy to use, no one will bother to learn to use it.<br /><i>4. Quality of Graphics </i> <br />4. Eye candy. HQ graphics will only slow the program.<br /><i>5. Customizability of interface (e.g. dockable panels)<br /><br /> </i> 1.<br /><br /><i>On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most important, how important to you are the following features in an n-body simulation package? Feel free to provide comments. <br /><br />1. Numerical manipulation of physical quantities (ie, typing in values) .</i> <br />10. What good is it if you can't precisely specify your starting conditions? Other means of inputting data would be nice as well, such as pasting numbers directly from the JPL Horizons web site.<br /><br /><i>2. Graphical manupulation of physical quantities (ie, dragging points and vectors to change their values) . </i> <br />2. I