MUSIM Hardware and Software Architecture
HARDWARE:
The MUSIM architecture has standardized on off-the-shelf hardware. As the hardware is improved, the developers
replace the old hardware with more current releases.
A new MUSIM installation starts with an off-the-shelf high performance computer and a 30" diagonal display. We are
currently using Apple Cinema and Samsung displays as a desktop display surface.
For the cental processor, we are currently using Intel ( www.intel.com ) quadcore
i7 CPUs with hyperthreading. The graphics adaptor is a key component of the MUSIM hardware. We are currently using
NVIDIA GeForce 285s ( www.nvidia.com ). A typical MUSIM has a 250 GB high speed
disk drive and 4GB high speed RAM. After doing some homework, a skilled engineer can procure the components at Newegg
( www.newegg.com ) for subsequent assembly.
A MUSIM operator use a keyboard, mouse and a 3D Connexion SpaceExplorer
( www.3dconnexion.com ) hand controller. The SpaceExplorer is used to manipulate the sensor camera in 3 dimensions:
heading, pitch, and field of view. The three dimensions are all relative to the spatial orientation of the platform the
sensor is attached to. The SpaceExplorer can manipulate one sensor camera at any given time. The mouse is used to
select the sensor of an alternate UAV (or other platform) by toggling )left mouse button) the appropriate active area on the
sensor or mfd screen displays. The keyboard is used for data entry and muChat communications.
TIP: Don't skimp on the hardware. Buying as specified herein is a cheap way to ensure performance.
SOFTWARE:
The Multiple Uav Simulator (MUSIM) is a flexible and modular UAV simulation developed by Silicon Valley Systems, Inc.,
( www.siliconvalley.com ) is under contract to the Aeroflight
Dynamics Directorate ( AFDD ) at NASA/Ames Research
Center for the Human Systems Interface group. The MUSIM is intended as a research tool, to investigate human/system
interactions.
The existing MUSIM employs a single or multi-platform, multi process architecture, using TCP/UDP sockets for inter-machine
and intra-machine process communication. The UAV operator (research subject) can use hardware controls ( keyboard, mouse
and SpaceExplorer) and a software GUI to control the active UAV. The GUI is/was designed internally at AFDD, and is
constantly being upgraded and revised to fit current requirements.
A new MUSIM installation starts with an off-the-shelf high performance computer and a 30" diagonal display. We are currently using Apple Cinema and Samsung displays as a desktop display surface.
For the cental processor, we are currently using Intel ( www.intel.com ) quadcore i7 CPUs with hyperthreading. The graphics adaptor is a key component of the MUSIM hardware. We are currently using NVIDIA GeForce 285s ( www.nvidia.com ). A typical MUSIM has a 250 GB high speed disk drive and 4GB high speed RAM. After doing some homework, a skilled engineer can procure the components at Newegg ( www.newegg.com ) for subsequent assembly.
A MUSIM operator use a keyboard, mouse and a 3D Connexion SpaceExplorer ( www.3dconnexion.com ) hand controller. The SpaceExplorer is used to manipulate the sensor camera in 3 dimensions: heading, pitch, and field of view. The three dimensions are all relative to the spatial orientation of the platform the sensor is attached to. The SpaceExplorer can manipulate one sensor camera at any given time. The mouse is used to select the sensor of an alternate UAV (or other platform) by toggling )left mouse button) the appropriate active area on the sensor or mfd screen displays. The keyboard is used for data entry and muChat communications.
TIP: Don't skimp on the hardware. Buying as specified herein is a cheap way to ensure performance.
SOFTWARE:
The Multiple Uav Simulator (MUSIM) is a flexible and modular UAV simulation developed by Silicon Valley Systems, Inc.,
( www.siliconvalley.com ) is under contract to the Aeroflight
Dynamics Directorate ( AFDD ) at NASA/Ames Research
Center for the Human Systems Interface group. The MUSIM is intended as a research tool, to investigate human/system
interactions.
The existing MUSIM employs a single or multi-platform, multi process architecture, using TCP/UDP sockets for inter-machine
and intra-machine process communication. The UAV operator (research subject) can use hardware controls ( keyboard, mouse
and SpaceExplorer) and a software GUI to control the active UAV. The GUI is/was designed internally at AFDD, and is
constantly being upgraded and revised to fit current requirements.
The existing MUSIM employs a single or multi-platform, multi process architecture, using TCP/UDP sockets for inter-machine and intra-machine process communication. The UAV operator (research subject) can use hardware controls ( keyboard, mouse and SpaceExplorer) and a software GUI to control the active UAV. The GUI is/was designed internally at AFDD, and is constantly being upgraded and revised to fit current requirements.
The MUSIM executes in a non-proprietary software architecture which features Suse Linux as a host operating system. We are currently operating with both 32 and 64 bit versions.
Going forward, we expect to implement 64 bit linux as the existing 32 bit implementations start to fail due to the age of the
underlying hardware.
Several software libraries are utilized in the MUSIM, both open source proprietary. The proprietary libraries are
purchased commercially and developed in house. The Process Hierarchy page in this
documentation gives a detailed breakdown of the libraries used by the MUSIM.
The following figure shows the basic software architecture of the MUSIM. In the diagram, the circles are software
processes and the squares represent TCP and/or UDP servers.
V1.0
