1. Visualization in Problem Solving Environments Amit Goel Department of Computer Science Virginia Tech June 14, 1999

2. Overview l Introduction to PSEs l Description of VizCraft l Description of WBCSim l Summary

3. Problem Solving Environments l Solve problems in a specific domain l Integrated set of facilities l Usually involve legacy codes l Provide a GUI to legacy codes l Visualization: an important component l Usually provide optimization capabilities l Web accessibility l Expert or “recommender” systems

4. Problem Solving Environments (contd.) l Two PSEs presented: VizCraft: for configuration design of a High Speed Civil Transport WBCSim: for wood-based composites simulations

6. VizCraft: A PSE for HSCT Configuration l Addresses the HSCT design problem minimize an objective function (TOGW) meet a series of constraints l 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

8. VizCraft: A PSE for HSCT Configuration (contd.) l Evaluate a single design point l Browse a database of design points using Parallel Coordinates l Graphical view of design variables and constraint violations l Point to icon transformations l VRML view of HSCT planform

10. Parallel Coordinates l Lay out design variables on parallel axes l Provide visualization of design vectors l Reduce 29 dimensions into a 2-D pattern recognition problem l No loss of mathematical information l Query/visualize databases of design points l Alternatives? –Techniques: Scatterplots –Packages: MATLAB, Mathematica, PVWave

11. Parallel Coordinates Example Single design point

12. Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Constraint violations for a single design point

13. Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Visualizing a database of design points

14. Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Recognizing patterns and relationships in a database

15. Parallel Coordinates Example (contd.) Result of “brushing” out design points

16. VizCraft: Concluding Remarks l Interactive data exploration: a key feature l Provides a high-level abstraction to complex underlying operations l Modular approach through object-oriented programming in Java l Parallel coordinates module used for visualizing other high-dimensional systems l Intuitive feel for parallel coordinates can be realized with usage and practice

17. VizCraft: Future Possibilities l Remote visualization via the Web l Integration of optimization tools (DOT, VisualDOC) l “Steering” capabilities

19. WBCSim: A PSE for Wood-Based Composites Simulations l Provides a GUI to legacy Fortran simulation codes l Integrates simulation, visualization, and optimization l Various simulations supported l Accessible off the Web

20. WBCSim Software Architecture

21. WBCSim User Interface Input window for the Composite Materials Analysis Simulation

22. WBCSim User Interface (contd.) Example output from Composite Materials Analysis simulation

23. WBCSim: Visualization l 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 l VRML translators written to provide visualization for specific needs

26. WBCSim: Contributions l Provides an integrated set of facilities for solving problems in the wood-composite domain l Web-based implementation allows scientists to work away from their laboratories, and from various platforms l Greater use of simulation tools l Scientists uncovered new bugs

27. Summary l Two problem solving environments presented: VizCraft and WBCSim l Provide high-level abstraction over command-line driven simulation codes l Integrate visualization with computation, helping scientists be more productive