Simlab Info
First developed in the early 1980's at the University
of California at Santa Cruz under the supervision of Professor
R. Micheal Tanner, Simlab is a tool for the development and simulation
of discrete time based models of mathematical systems. This project has
evolved through several incarnations over the past decade and is the primary
learning tool of an undergraduate course at UCSC that teaches the principles
and applications of computer based modeling (CMP80B). The latest effort
is to completely re-engineer the application in order to better take advantage
of the processing and interface capabilities of modern desktop computers.
The emphasis has been on re-architecting the user interface to provide greater
real-time, dynamic support of the modeling environment and provide a more
fluid expression of Simlab's underlying system modeling concepts. The re-engineering
process and user interface design were the basis of Jim
Rodden's Master's Thesis
in Computer and Information Sciences.
The current design and re-engineering project has been supported by and
done in cooperation with another UCSC graduate student in CIS, Gil
Fuchs. Our long term goal for the project is to release Simlab as an
educational and research oriented tool complemented with a focused textbook
and workbook and distributed as a software/book combination. The current
undergraduate course curriculum will also be enhanced and distributed. The
target audiences for these products are advanced high school curriculums,
university students and researchers.
Related Links:
Gil Fuchs, MDL:
Analysis & Synthesis. Final Paper for UCSC:CIS203. Spring 1994.
James Rodden. MDL
& Simlab: Heir to SimScript? Simulation's SmallTalk?. Final Paper
for UCSC:CIS203. Spring 1994.
James Rodden. The
Design of a User Interface for an Interactive Simulation Environment.
UCSC MS CIS Thesis. June 1996.
rodden@alumni.cse.ucsc.edu