FRAME-Sim: A Free-Software, Multibody-Based, Pilot in the Loop Rotorcraft Flight Simulator

Author(s):  
Andrea Zanoni ◽  
Luca Conti ◽  
Pierangelo Masarati

In the context of a modern approach to the design of rotocraft, handling qualities should be the result of careful planning, rather than the output of a multitude of other choices, made primarily focusing on more immediate constraints. For a wide range of flight conditions and mission task elements, the test pilot feedback is the essential measure upon which the design choices are made. Thus, it is becoming of fundamental importance to be able to simulate a representative model of the vehicle in a pilot-in-the-loop environment as early as possible in the design stage. This work is intended to document the development process of one such system currently being realized at the facilities belonging to the Aerospace Science and Technology Department of Politecnico di Milano. Particular attention is given to the software architecture, based on the free and open-source multibody solver MBDyn. The development of a module specifically designed to exploit the environment visualization capabilities of FlightGear, also a free and open-source software, is presented.

Author(s):  
Heidi Lee Schnackenberg

The phrase “open source” is not something often heard in everyday conversation. However, the idea of downloadable, free software, particularly mobile applications, or “apps,” has become quite commonplace. Individuals often download free products, grateful that they are available and will potentially work well, without thinking where they originate or why they even exist. Not so long ago, most things associated with computers available to the general population came at a cost and were available from only a few vendors. This is no longer the case thanks to the ever-increasing availability and popularity of open source software, operating systems, and applications.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Ken Hartness

Although open source software has existed, in a sense, throughout the history of computing, it has only more recently become recognized as a valid means of producing professional-quality software. Although primarily conceived as a zero-cost alternative to commercial software, open source software also supports customization and verification as a result of the software being available to all users in human-readable form. The availability of free software supports both researchers with limited budgets and those who seek to confirm the findings of researchers or use similar methods in related research.


2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Squire

Artifacts of the software development process, such as source code or emails between developers, are a frequent object of study in empirical software engineering literature. One of the hallmarks of free, libre, and open source software (FLOSS) projects is that the artifacts of the development process are publicly-accessible and therefore easily collected and studied. Thus, there is a long history in the FLOSS research community of using these artifacts to gain understanding about the phenomenon of open source software, which could then be compared to studies of software engineering more generally. This paper looks specifically at how the FLOSS research community has used email artifacts from free and open source projects. It provides a classification of the relevant literature using a publicly-available online repository of papers about FLOSS development using email. The outcome of this paper is to provide a broad overview for the software engineering and FLOSS research communities of how other researchers have used FLOSS email message artifacts in their work.


Author(s):  
Anas Tawileh ◽  
Omer F. Rana ◽  
Wendy Ivins ◽  
Stephen McIntosh

This chapter investigates the quality issues of the free and open source software (F/OSS) development processes. It argues that software developed within the F/OSS paradigm has witnessed substantial growth rates within the software developers’ community. However, end users from outside the community are still sceptical about adopting F/OSS because of the perceived lack of quality assurance mechanisms within the F/OSS development process. The authors aim to promote higher adoption of F/OSS artefacts outside the developers’ community by exploring possibilities to provide appropriate evidence based assurances that F/OSS artefacts will meet the quality levels expected by users.


Author(s):  
D. Berry

Open source software (OSS) is computer software that has its underlying source code made available under a licence. This can allow developers and users to adapt and improve it (Raymond, 2001). Computer software can be broadly split into two development models: • Proprietary, or closed software, owned by a company or individual. Copies of the binary are made public; the source code is not usually made public. • Open-source software (OSS), where the source code is released with the binary. Users and developers can be licenced to use and modify the code, and to distribute any improvements they make. Both OSS and proprietary approaches allow companies to make a profit. Companies developing proprietary software make money by developing software and then selling licences to use the software. For example, Microsoft receives a payment for every copy of Windows sold with a personal computer. OSS companies make their money by providing services, such as advising clients on the GPL licence. The licencee can either charge a fee for this service or work free of charge. In practice, software companies often develop both types of software. OSS is developed by an ongoing, iterative process where people share the ideas expressed in the source code. The aim is that a large community of developers and users can contribute to the development of the code, check it for errors and bugs, and make the improved version available to others. Project management software is used to allow developers to keep track of the various versions. There are two main types of open-source licences (although there are many variants and subtypes developed by other companies): • Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Licence: This permits a licencee to “close” a version (by withholding the most recent modifications to the source code) and sell it as a proprietary product; • GNU General Public Licence (GNU, GPL, or GPL): Under this licence, licencees may not “close” versions. The licencee may modify, copy, and redistribute any derivative version, under the same GPL licence. The licencee can either charge a fee for this service or work free of charge. Free software first evolved during the 1970s but in the 1990s forked into two movements, namely free software and open source (Berry, 2004). Richard Stallman, an American software developer who believes that sharing source code and ideas is fundamental to freedom of speech, developed a free version of the widely used Unix operating system. The resulting GNU program was released under a specially created General Public Licence (GNU, GPL). This was designed to ensure that the source code would remain openly available to all. It was not intended to prevent commercial usage or distribution (Stallman, 2002). This approach was christened free software. In this context, free meant that anyone could modify the software. However, the term “free” was often misunderstood to mean no cost. Hence, during the 1990s, Eric Raymond and others proposed that open-source software was coined as a less contentious and more business-friendly term. This has become widely accepted within the software and business communities; however there are still arguments about the most appropriate term to use (Moody, 2002). The OSMs are usually organised into a network of individuals who work collaboratively on the Internet, developing major software projects that sometimes rival commercial software but are always committed to the production of quality alternatives to those produced by commercial companies (Raymond, 2001; Williams, 2002). Groups and individuals develop software to meet their own and others’ needs in a highly decentralised way, likened to a Bazaar (Raymond, 2001). These groups often make substantive value claims to support their projects and foster an ethic of community, collaboration, deliberation, and intellectual freedom. In addition, it is argued by Lessig (1999) that the FLOSS community can offer an inspiration in their commitment to transparency in their products and their ability to open up governmental regulation and control through free/libre and open source code.


Author(s):  
Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers

This chapter discusses the role of the project/product community in the open source product life cycle. It outlines how a community-driven approach affects not only the development process, but also (and more importantly) the marketing/sales process, the deployment, the operation, and in general the resulting software product. Participation in the community is essential for any organization using the product, leading to the concept of a community customer. Specific community participation guidelines are given to organizations and individuals who deploy and use open source software, further develop it, or offer lifetime services on the product.


Proceedings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Ioanna Panagea ◽  
Dangol Anuja ◽  
Marc Olijslagers ◽  
Jan Diels ◽  
Guido Wyseure

Agricultural cropping systems and experiments include complex interactions of processes and various management practices and/or treatments under a wide range of environmental and climatic conditions. The use of standardized formats to monitor and document these systems and experiments can help researchers and stakeholders to efficiently exchange data, promote interdisciplinary collaborations, and simplify modelling and analysis procedures. In the scope of the SoilCare Horizon 2020 project monitoring and assessment work package, an integrated scheme to collect, validate, store, and access cropping system information and experimental data from 16 study sites, was created. The aim of the scheme is to make the data readily available in a way that the information is useful, easy to access and download, and safe, relying only on open source software. The database design considers data and metadata required to properly and easily monitor, process, and analyse cropping systems and/or agricultural experiments. The scheme allows for the storage of data and metadata regarding the experimental set-up, associated people and institutions, information about field management operations and experimental procedures which are clearly separated for making analysis procedures faster, links between system components, and information about the environmental and climatic conditions. Raw data are entered by the users into a structured spreadsheet. The quality is checked before storing the data into the database. Providing raw data allows processing and analysing as each other user needs. A desktop import application has been created to upload the information from spreadsheet to database, which includes automated error checks of relationship tables, data types, data constraints, etc. The final component of the scheme is the database web application interface, which enables users to access and query the database across the study sites without the knowledge of query languages and to download the required data. For this system design, PostgreSQL is used for storing the data, pgAdmin 4 for database management administration, MongoDB for user management and authentication, Python for the development of the import application, Angular and Node.js/Express for the web application and spreadsheets compatible with LibreOffice Calc. The system is currently tested with data provided by the SoilCare study sites. Preliminary testing indicated that extended quality control of the spreadsheets was required from the system’s administrator to meet the standards and restrictions of the import application. Initial comments from the users indicate that the database scheme, even if it initially seems complicated, includes all the variables and details required for a complete monitoring and modelling of an agricultural cropping system.


Author(s):  
Shyamalendu Kandar ◽  
Sourav Mondal ◽  
Palash Ray

Open-source software abbreviated as OSS is computer software that is available with source code and is provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, and improve the software. For the commercial software the source code and certain other rights are normally reserved for copyright holders,i.e. the company who developes the software. A group of people in a collaborative manner often developes the Open source software, not under the roof of a large organization. This strategy makes open source software cheap, reliable and modifiable if needed. In this context we shall discuss mainly the features of Open Source Software, differences of open source and free software and open source software movement in Indian perspective.


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