Date post: | 15-Jan-2015 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | igam4er-international-game-competition-for-education-research |
View: | 134 times |
Download: | 0 times |
Sam Geen, CEA Saclaywith thanks to Romain Teyssier, Yohan Dubois, Emma Geen, the pynbody team
● Research-level astrophysics on your home or school computer● Learn about astronomy and computing by building your own galaxies...● … then blowing them up with powerful cosmic explosions!
Mare Nostrum Supercomputer
What is it ?
The science case
● Galaxies form from gas and dark matter collapsing under gravity● When the gas cools, condenses and fragments, it forms stars● Rotational energy in the collapsing gas gives galaxies a disk structure● Spirals and bars are formed by waves building up in the rotating disk● Grains of dust block light, making dark ripples in the spiral arms● Radiation from big, bright stars, exploding dying stars and supermassive
black holes can blow galaxies apart!● Galaxies can collide together or swallow smaller galaxies whole
➔ The goal is to teach people how astrophysics works by doing the same experiments we do in real astrophysics laboratories
➔ Aimed at children 13+, or just curious players!
Simulations ? Simulations !
This film came out 15 years ago and I should probably stop referencing it
● Uses RAMSES (Teyssier 2002), developed at CEA Saclay
● Uses adaptive meshes and N-body particles to simulate anything in astrophysics you can think of (nebulae, planet formation, galaxies, or the whole universe, why not)
The grid structure around a single galaxy forming through galaxy collisions and streams of cold gas spiralling in under gravity
● If teams of highly-trained astronomers can do it, why not you ?
What does it look like so far ?
● Real-time interactive 3D interface with OpenGL + shaders● Fun, cartoony graphics trick you into thinking science is fun ! (it is!) (really!)● Prototype follows one galaxy in real-time, showing dark matter, stars and gas
Art by Emma Geen
What's the story ? (Morning Glo-OK Oasis is also old)
● Evil Octopoids from another galaxy have taken over the Milky Way● Humanity needs to build a new galaxy to escape their invasion● A cast of friends and colleagues advise you on what's happening● Learn through doing through defeating goofy space aliens
Program Design
● Challenge #1: Maximise simulating power of ordinary home computer● Challenge #2: Render simulation results as fast & efficiently as possible● Challenge #3: Rewrite Fortran code to work nicely with Python● Challenge #4: Make all of this fun!
RAMSES (Fortran → F2Py)
Thread #1 Thread #2 Thread #3
Data ReaderMain Program
Renderer User InputWritten in Python + Pyglet with OpenGL + GLSL
Uses Wiican for prototype Wiimote interface3D Graphics 2D GUI
Render Pipeline1) Render billboarded particle splats in vertex shader2) Draw to floating-point framebuffer3) Use reduction shader to find max/min of image4) Take logarithm of image to bring out dynamic range
Where to go from here?● Modify RAMSES Fortran code to allow real-time
user interaction – select stars to blow up, gas clouds to turn into stars, etc
● Create more scenarios – make a pretty nebula, discover the cosmic web, make a solar system
● Discoverable educational tips – create a journey of discovery in astronomy and computing
● Make a telescope view – learn how telescopes see the real universe and their limitations
● Give the player goals:● Guide a civilisation through your galaxy● Collect new powers inside the simulation● Collide your galaxy with your friend's galaxy
● Export your galaxies to put in your own projects● Add more graphics, sound, user controls, etc● Add user avatars, personalisation, sharing● I really want to get Oculus Rift working!● Test on real members of the public!
Thanks for your time!