Dynamics simulation using server cluster technology

Abstract

Learning Dynamics through Computational Experiments (LDCE) is a method that can achieve better results in basic engineering Dynamics courses. This method is a Problem Based Learning (PBL) approach, where students seek for knowledge by developing projects during the course. Projects include one or more experiments through which students can learn how a dynamics problem works. They are able to modify parameters and retrieve graphical and numerical results. Their primary task is to develop the theoretical basis of the problems and compare the numerical results with those produced by the experiments. To accommodate a large number of students simultaneously accessing such experiments, a High Performance Computing (HPC) server cluster technology will be developed and implemented. The cluster will also help for those experiments that are computational intensive. The students will be using a web browser on their own device, where the parameters of the experiment can be modified by a client application. The client sends input data to a HPC server cluster simulation application that runs the experiment. The server sends output data back to the student's device where the web browser shows motion and numerical results of the experiment. The implementation of a time-based collision physics engine on the server cluster uses parallel programming techniques for multi core processors. The HPC server cluster approach allows the development of different clients on many different platforms. This paper will show the details of the implementation of both, the client and the server applications as well as how the data interchanges between them. The paper will also illustrate the behavior of the system with some experiments. The development of the system includes only open source free software. The complete software package will be of both free distribution and access. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.