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D3.3 Requirements for the integration of SHIPLYS tools and compatibility with existing tools

D3.3 Requirements for the integration of SHIPLYS tools and compatibility with existing tools

Executive summary

The SHIPLYS project focuses on developing and integrating rapid virtual prototyping tools with life cycle tools. This is in order to empower European SME designers and production yards to make their own decisions on how to optimise early stage activities via a life-cycle approach, both in the realm of optimum ship design and when optimising retrofitting and conversion activities.

This report outlines the requirements needed to ensure software compatibility of any new SHIPLYS tools with the existing early design tools. It defines a variety of integration methods and a programming interface that supports interaction between disparate software components. Our over-arching requirement is that any component to be considered for inclusion in SHIPLYS must be capable of implementing one of these methods or at least interacting with another component that acts as a go-between. Such components are embedded in an architecture that defines services that operate both between them and at the global SHIPLYS level. These service types include meta-data, data, software registry and job services. Many associated factors have to be considered, including (a) synchronicity of execution, access authorisation and time to complete a given job. 

The report further provides a first sketch of a user interface and a dashboard that allows a designer to track their workflow through an activity map as they interact with various tools coupled to the SHIPLYS platform.

Finally, we include a template for a Software Integration Register in which we record all individual components and any detail about them pertinent to their ability to be integrated. A further update to D3.3 will define which particular components are to be used in order to address the needs of the three SHIPLYS usage scenarios.

Download the full version of the report