SIMOC development is a multi-stage effort. With each Phase, a fully functional application suite is completed. The first public-facing product was made available with the close of Phase IIIb and launched with partner National Geographic Society. An overview is provided for each Phase below, with detail provided in the subsequent, linked pages.
Phase I: June 2017 – May 2018 — Funded by Arizona State University, School of Earth and Space Exploration Interplanetary Initiative, the concept for SIMOC was developed and the first Agent-based Model (ABM), Config Wizard, Dashboard, and hard-coded agents were built by a Computer Science Capstone team lead by Kai Staats, Danny Jacobs, and Judd Bowman. Learn more …
Phase II: June – Nov 2018 — With continued funding by the ASU II program, redevelopment of ABM enabled dynamical engagement of agents, an all-new Config Wizard and Dashboard, and introduction of a curricula-based educational package by veteran educator Don Boonstra. Learn more …
Phase IIIa: February – May 2019 — Advanced resizing of the interface to accommodate phones, tablets, laptops, and desktops, support for command line execution and .csv data export. In conjunction with a plant growth experiment conducted at the University of Arizona Biosphere 2, non-linear agent interactions and growth patterns were introduced: normal, log, exponential, and sigmoid. SIMOC transitioned to a database driven, asynchronous processing model for improved performance and ease of deployment by means of Docker containers. Grades 5-8 and 9-14 SIMOC curriculum packages were completed, including documentation for Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) alignment. SIMOC was reviewed by the National Geographic Society prior to going live on their website. Learn more …
Phase IIIb: June 2019 – May 2020 — The development team continued with with advanced agents characteristics including compound growth functions, priorities, deprivation and terminations. SIMOC was reviewed by a National Geographic review panel who provided feedback for use in real classrooms. The database was redesigned for improved read/write performance with server to front-end communication using websockets. User defined Configurations, Dashboard, and download/upload data are enabled. Application of kubernetes and docker for auto-scaling across Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is complete. SIMOC is tested for accuracy against off-line models and comparison to real world ECLSS systems and plant physiology models. A second engagement of the National Geographic review panel is invoked, followed by further testing and launch on the Education Portal on June 1, 2020. Learn more …
Phase IV: June 2020 – June 2021 — This marks the transition from research and development into deployment with partner National Geographic Society on June 1, 2020. For the year that followed we focused on improving the scalable deployment functions of SIMOC on the Google Cloud Platform, ensuring a maximum up-time and rapid load of the application for the end user. This phase was principally focused on the application of containers, docker, github actions, and more efficient database execution. Learn more …
Phase V: July 2021 – May 2022 — We returned to the development of a higher fidelity simulation with increasingly engaged agent interactions, introduction to staggered crop rotation, a foundation for tracking food nutrition, advanced life cycle plant growth functions, a foundation for random variation and total system entropy, and improved server-side management of agent definitions and data. An interactive, 3D view of the exterior of the habitat was developed for both the Configuration Wizard and simulation Dashboard. In conjunction with construction of the hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog SAM at Biosphere 2, a SAM Configuration preset was added and a prototype for “SIMOC Live” was developed, enabling real-time data to be gathered from environmental sensors (e.g. CO2, O2, temp, pressure) for life support systems monitoring in SAM. This was first demonstrated for the Analog Astronaut Conference hosted at Biosphere 2 in May 2022. Learn more ….
Phase VI: July 2022 – July 2023 — This cycle sees simultaneous development of three SIMOC applications:
- SIMOC B2 is a research and development project funded by National Geographic Society and the University of Arizona Biosphere 2, to accurately simulate the original Biosphere 2 missions, employing original data.
- Continued development of SIMOC Live support for real-time sensor array data collection and visualization, with immediate use at the Mars habitat analog SAM.
- SIMOC Kiosk for the Arizona Science Center and other interactive science centers.
The SIMOC team continued to research and deploy improvements in run-time performance and resolution of the simulations while preparing to move SIMOC to a 100% open source project. Learn more …
Phase VII: August 2023 – current — With the completion of the prior VI development cycle, a true whirlwind of activity for the SIMOC team, we are taking things a bit slower, focusing on education and outreach, web content updates (as we fell behind), and the continued development of the SIMOC Live sensor array and associated software stack for use at SAM and in ten of the “World’s Biggest Analog” habitats, October 2025.
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