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Introducing SIMPLE Tools - www.simplesim.tools

  1. G by germolinal on 2 Dec 2021, edited 21 Mar 2022 # +7 votes

    Hello all,

    I created this post to introduce https://simplesim.tools.

    What is it

    It is (a work in progress of) a Free, Open Source, and Integrated building performance simulation tool. Specifically, it has been designed with an architecture that allows communicating different modules—e.g., daylight, thermal and CFD—at runtime while keeping their code separated (i.e., while keeping the code maintainable).

    It also allows simulating complex control systems by using an actual programming language, enabling us to use functions, if/else, for/while, potentially random number generators, and more.

    Where it comes from

    I started developing SIMPLE during my PhD, when I studied what people mean by and expect from comfortable homes. I learned then that—contrary to our books and our software and our building codes—people do not separate thermal aspects from acoustic, visual and air quality issues. On the contrary, they do everything together... Based on this insight and a couple more (that I won't detail here because this post might become boring) I realized that our tools do not allow us to really assess comfort.

    How can you contribute?

    Starting a new Building Simulation tool involves a lot of things. From choosing algorithms and writing code, to writing documentation, testing it and validating it. At times this implies incorporating already existing equations and models... so, no real research, just coding basic functions. Everyone can contribute!. If you are interested in this, I am happy to help you learn coding for SIMPLE.

    Also, if you are doing research (such as a Master or a PhD) I think there is a great opportunity to add your findings to this code. Or, even, base your research on contributing to the code (e.g., "Implementation of modern rendering algorithms for daylight simulation").

    Some additional resources

    • Youtube channel: Let me know if you want me to record any specific video... I am far from a youtube at the moment

    • Github repos: Check them out

    I am happy to answer questions!

  2. C by Cyril on 2 Dec 2021, edited 2 Dec 2021 # +1 votes

    This looks interesting. All written in Rust, the most loved programming language past years :-).

    I watched your youtube videos. Maybe we should discuss together with also @agonzalezesteve to see if we can help each other or join our efforts.

  3. A by agonzalezesteve on 2 Dec 2021 #

    Hola Germán! We're really interested in early simulations and tools like this I think that fit really well. I still use an adaptation of Groundhog to run daylight simualtions, but they're really time consuming. @Cyril we can talk about it.

  4. G by germolinal on 2 Dec 2021 #

    Thanks for your interest! Let's talk! How and when?

    @agonzalezesteve said:

    Hola Germán! We're really interested in early simulations and tools like this I think that fit really well. I still use an adaptation of Groundhog to run daylight simualtions, but they're really time consuming. @Cyril we can talk about it.

    Yeah... I never got to publish version 1.0... it was almost ready, but I could not compile the new engine for Windows. I know some things that will make your adapted version much faster, though!

  5. D by duncan on 21 Feb 2022, edited 21 Feb 2022 #
  6. B by bitacovir on 25 Feb 2022 #

    @duncan said:

    Great project! Please add it to the wiki a few places:

    I think it is under development and not available for final users, yet.

  7. M by Moult on 26 Feb 2022 #

    This is awesome! Would you be interested in publishing a news article about it on OSArch.org? About 300 words and a picture :) We need to expose more people's initiatives doing open source and this is an excellent example!

  8. G by germolinal on 21 Mar 2022 #

    @Moult said:

    This is awesome! Would you be interested in publishing a news article about it on OSArch.org? About 300 words and a picture :) We need to expose more people's initiatives doing open source and this is an excellent example!

    Sure! I don't have much time very often, but I can certainly do something! For instance --> THIS

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