GvSIG GSoC 2012 Ideas

Use this page to jot down and develop any good idea for the Google Summer of Code 2012 program with gvSIG project. Please, use the gvSIG mailing lists for discussion and check 2011, 2010, 2009 ideas pages for examples or reference.

Create a gvSIG plugin for drinking water analysis and management.

• Product: gvSIG Desktop
• Possible mentor: Francisco José Peñarrubia
• Possible student: if applicable

The analysis part will be done with Epanet's help (http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/wswrd/dw/epanet.html).

The idea is to define a layer model suitable to be exported to Epanet's .inp file, and a geoprocess to export this model to Epanet. So, we will need to define pipes, wells, valves, depots and so on in gvSIG, analize connectivity and test data integrity (with Network Analysis Extension) and then export to Epanet.

From Epanet, the user will be able to analyze and modify the network and then export the network again to gvSIG.

So, the main tasks are: Define layer model , Create a geoprocess exporter to .INP (we can start from an ongoing work) , Create a geoprocess importer back to gvSIG.

After having the network already balanced in gvSIG, we will develop some methods in order to manage the daily operation of the network. (See possible leaks, see wich pipes or valves need to be replaced, etc).

Create a solver for the Traveling Salesman and Vehicle Routing Problems

• Product: gvSIG Desktop
• Possible mentor: Francisco José Peñarrubia
• Possible student: David Pinheiro

The problem: The Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), as the well known Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP), is an Optimization problem whose goal is to determine the optimal set of routes to be performed by a fleet of vehicles (in the case of the TSP, just one vehicle) to serve (picking or delivering goods) a given set of costumers. It has plenty of application areas such as distribution and logistics, solid waste collection, passenger transportation …

The solution: These are hard NP-complete problems. Therefore, for reasonable sized problems, only heuristic (and meta-heuristic) methods are viable in a solution search.

The proposed work: The development of a solver for the TSP and VRP on top of the Network Extension. The work should address not only the simple VRP but one or more of its most popular variants, like the Capacitated VRP (CVRP) or others. The suggested project will continue a MSc thesis that the proposed student is taking and which has already leaded to a Java library with the goal of solving VRP (and TSP) using Genetic Algorithms (http://code.google.com/p/metavrp) and a prototype of a solver on top of GvSIG’s Network extension (http://code.google.com/p/vrp-for-gvsig-network-extension).

Adding GPS survey capabilities to gvSIG Mini

• Product: gvSIG Mini
• Possible mentor: Alberto Romeu
• Possible student: Raul Broseta

Storing GPS coordinates in a well-known vector format is a powerful professional-oriented feature, currently unavailable in gvSIG Mini. The suggested output format is SHP due to its popularity.

Suggested simplest version

• There will be a Start Survey button which will create an in-memory vector layer in gvSIG Mini using its geometry model (this has nothing to do with the output format yet).
• At any moment, the user will be able to push an Export button to create a vector data file in the device's SD card with the current set of coordinates. The suggested output format is ESRI Shapefile. Alternatives: GML, GPX, Sqlite, GeoJSon, etc.
• It is also important to let the user associate some values to each feature (attributes). In order to establish the attribute names and types and perhaps valid values, you could simply use a properties file (attributes.properties) so the implementation will be easier. I'm thinking about something like:

ELEMENT=STRING;TREE,ROCK,HOLE,POOL
SIZE=STRING;LARGE,MEDIUM,SMALL
COMMENT=STRING

• The geometry type will be POINT to make the implementation easier.

In this simplest version, gvSIG Mini will write a vector data file but will not necessarily be able to read it. If you choose SHP as the output format, you might use the shapefile writer available in gvSIG and gvSIG Mobile or use some other GIS library to perform the export operation (GeoTools, etc).

Suggested improvements

• Implement also the import option to let the user open the resulting vector data file.
• Let the user choose LINE or POLYGON as the geometry type of the new vector layer. This will make the application more sophisticated, as it will be necessary to think about a user-friendly way to finish the current feature and start a new one.

Add tests and educational games support to gvSIG Educa/Batoví

• Product: gvSIG Batoví/Educa (gvSIG desktop 2.0)
• Possible mentor: Cèsar Ordiñana
• Possible student: Nadal Francisco

gvSIG Educa

gvSIG Educa is an adaptation of the gvSIG Desktop project as an education tool, mainly for subjects with a geographic component.

The main objective of gvSIG Educa is to be applied to teach territory analysis and comprehension. It may be used not only for geography matters, but also for any matter which uses the territorial component, like history, economics, natural sciences, sociology, ...

gvSIG Educa makes learning an easier task, as it allows students to interact with the information, through the use of thematic maps, tests and educational games.

gvSIG Batoví

gvSIG Batoví is the origin project for gvSIG Educa. It is a project driven by the Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas (MTOP) of the República Oriental del Uruguay, developed by the gvSIG Association and the Facultad de Ingeniería de la Universidad de la República (UdelaR). Its main objective is to allow using gvSIG Educa in education through the Plan Ceibal project (Uruguay).

The project is ending the first stage, with the following outcomes:

• gvSIG plugins for building and visualizing thematic maps.

• A gvSIG Batoví distribution and installer for the Plan Ceibal computers, which are OLPC computes distributed to all the secondary education students in the public schools of Uruguay.

• A thematic maps viewer application, to be used in the Plan Ceibal computers for the elementary education.

Objectives

The objective would be to extend the thematic maps support already available to allow to design and play tests and educational games, to be used in geography and maps learning. The main tasks to perform would be:

• Extend the thematic maps editor plugin to allow to create tests and educational games.

• Extend the thematic maps viewer plugin to play tests and educational games created through the previous plugin.

• Add support for some types of tests and games like:

• • Localization of place names through the selection of geographic shapes.

• • Localization of geographic shapes through the selection of place names.

Idea template

• Product: gvSIG Desktop/gvSIG Mobile/gvSIG Mini
• Possible mentor: if applicable
• Possible student: if applicable

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