SpaceElevator
Our Basic Premises
- A wiki cataloging a critical mass of models, spreadsheets, simulations, and documentation, in open formats will attract people to help find and solve problems.
- One of the premises of the free software movement is that: proof of concept, running code, and presence of community are all that are necessary for success.
- No toys. Anything can be modeled in software so we will increasingly aim to simulate the real thing.
- Think big: what would we want from NASA and Intel?
Next Steps
Book Revision work
CAD models
We need 3-D models in free formats usable by apps like this: http://sketchup.google.com/
We could build all the basic parts as a 3-D model, then get people improving on all of them in parallel. What really does a climber need to look like?
Particle simulations
http://keithcu.com/wiki/index.php/Codebase_Analysis#Physics_Engines
Imagine you built a simulator so that when you added weight to the climber, the ribbon dimensions got bigger. I will figure out how to build that in a video game. If you create a spreadsheet which has the calculations, which boiled down to some simple formula, I could put that formula in. If someone improves the spreadsheet, they can put in a new formula.
Your math shouldn't just go into your book, it should go into spreadsheets you post on your wiki.
We will soon have running physics engines, graphics engines, etc. We could set you up with somethings you could play with, or supervise others on. If you can specify things, I can get them implemented.
P.S. Here is a list of people who will build models for sketchup. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/cldetails?mid=c9bd5e6d5b511d0e6c58fbbbefee0599
P.P.S. I just found a few space elevator models: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?q=space+elevator&btnG=Search&styp=m&reps=1
