Download Simulation Software for Free to Help Them to Learn How to Create Electrical Power Networks
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Project Number: DC MQP 1102 Empowerment Simulation System April 23, 2012 A Major Qualifying Project Report: Submitted to the Faculty of WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Interactive Media and Game Development By: Timothy Kolek Advised by: Professor David Cyganski Abstract Empowerment is a new game being developed by WPI and FIRST, inspired by the FIRST Robotics Competition, aimed at educating high school students about Energy. The project goal was creation of a sandbox for game physics and GUI exploration. It allows a player to configure electrical power networks using 3D models of various (and adjustable) types of generators, consumers, transmission towers and interconnecting power lines. The simulator demonstrates the automatic solution for power distribution, a core component of game state, based upon system parameters and player choices. The simulator was built upon the JMonkey 3 game engine in Java, yielding an operating system agnostic, open source implementation as a basis for the future game system implementation. 2 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................................. 6 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 8 1.1 WPI Involvement ................................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Empowerment Group ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.3 Empowerment Competition ............................................................................................................... 9 1.4 Competition Focus ............................................................................................................................ 10 2 The Empowerment Game ........................................................................................................................ 12 2.1 Pre-Competition ................................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Competition Day – Phase 1 ............................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Competition Day – Phase 2 ............................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Empowerment vs. FIRST Robotics ..................................................................................................... 18 3 The Role of This MQP Project .................................................................................................................. 20 4 Game Display Design Requirements ........................................................................................................ 21 4.1 Different Structures .......................................................................................................................... 21 4.2 More Information ............................................................................................................................. 23 5 Components of the Empowerment Prototype ........................................................................................ 24 5.1 Game Engine Possibilities ................................................................................................................. 24 3 5.2 Deciding on an Engine ....................................................................................................................... 26 5.3 JMonkey Engine ................................................................................................................................ 27 6 Experiences .............................................................................................................................................. 29 6.1 Problems ........................................................................................................................................... 29 6.2 Beta Version ...................................................................................................................................... 30 6.3 Object Selection ................................................................................................................................ 31 7 Prototype Design...................................................................................................................................... 32 7.1 Controls ............................................................................................................................................. 32 7.2 3D Models and Textures ................................................................................................................... 46 7.3 Example Application ......................................................................................................................... 53 8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 57 9 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................... 59 9.1 Appendix A: Framework Analysis ...................................................................................................... 59 9.2 Appendix B: XML Example ................................................................................................................ 61 4 5 Table of Figures Figure 1: Graph of Sources and Uses of Energy (From U.S. Energy Information Administration / Annual Energy Review 2009, DOE/EIA-0384(2009)) ............................................................................................ 10 Figure 2: Image of the Empowerment Grid ................................................................................................ 14 Figure 3: A possible grid. ............................................................................................................................ 14 Figure 4: A second possible grid................................................................................................................. 15 Figure 5: A third possible grid. ................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 6: A grid with objects and connections. .......................................................................................... 16 Figure 7: Leaning tower .............................................................................................................................. 31 Figure 8: The Start-up (Splash) Screen ....................................................................................................... 33 Figure 9: Instructions Screen ...................................................................................................................... 34 Figure 10: Game World Screen .................................................................................................................. 34 Figure 11: Splash screen showing panels ................................................................................................... 36 Figure 12: On left clicking an object, selection is indicated by its 3D representation becoming a blue wireframe model. The object will now move with the mouse. ................................................................... 38 Figure 13: Once the selected object has been moved, it is de-selected by releasing the left mouse button upon which its solid representation reappears. ........................................................................................... 39 Figure 14: On right clicking an object, selection is indicated by its 3D representation becoming an orange wireframe model. A transmission line will be created between this and the next selected object. ............. 40 Figure 15: Once a second object has been selected, the solid representation reappears and a wire is created connecting the two objects. ......................................................................................................................... 41 Figure 16: Before updating the object, the max power is seen as 10 MW. ................................................. 42 Figure 17: After setting the slider to a value and updating the object, the object’s max power is 43 MW. 43 6 Figure 18: The connection between the towers is incapable of supporting the level of power demanded by consumers. This is indicated by its color turning red.................................................................................. 44 Figure 19: A consumer is not receiving its required power. This is indicated by the brownout percentage. .................................................................................................................................................................... 45 Figure 20: Example of a solved network