Open Channel Foundation Brings Space Station Maintenance Planning Software Down to Earth

Technology transfer specialists to publish NASA's ACARA II. Software models Availability, Cost, And Resource Allocation for complex, remote systems and equipment across a wide variety of industries.

CHICAGO - February 11, 2002 -- If the astronauts in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" had been using ACARA II instead of relying on the advice of their confused supercomputer, "HAL," chances are they wouldn't have been tricked into leaving the safety of their interplanetary cruiser. They would have known that a seemingly faulty part was nowhere near the end of its life cycle.

Fortunately for today's real-world space station crews and their earthly counterparts, the new version of ACARA --- a unique Availability, Cost, And Resource Allocation software that simulates and predicts the need to replace parts for complex systems in remote locations --- handles all types of industrial, scientific, and engineering applications so they can be predictably maintained and their down time eliminated.

Chicago-based Open Channel Foundation (OCF) is now hosting the product free of charge, downloadable at www.openchannelfoundation.org/projects/ACARA_II

ACARA originally was developed by a team of engineers at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH. ACARA II, the latest version, was created by NASA/Glenn's Dale Stalnaker.

ACARA II is an ideal tool for systems engineers involved with the design and maintenance of complex, remote equipment, both for private-sector applications --- such as energy drilling and exploration, (e.g., the Alaskan pipeline), power stations and power generation equipment for utilities, aerospace and aviation ----as well as public-sector applications for agencies such as DOD, DOE, and DOT.

ACARA analyzes availability, life-cycle cost, and resource scheduling for huge systems that undergo periodic repair, by evaluating system reliability at specified capacities on two levels: first for individual components then by simulating predictive failures on a system-wide level, overall.

ACARA's basic functionality includes: system availability/reliability on a period-by-period basis; user-specified constraints on spares and resources; three-part modeling, to simulate time-to-failure; user-friendly menu interface(s); graphical displays for most results; life-cycle cost estimating; and resource consumption estimating.

ACARA II incorporates full screen data entry and uses a file management system to store/retrieve input and results, presented in both tabular and graphical form. With no changes in algorithms from its original version, ACARA II was developed using APL2 for Windows. The product requires Windows98 or later to operate and features a number of other Windows98-based functions.

FOR COMPLETE TECHNICAL DETAILS, SEE HTTP://WWW.OPENCHANNELFOUNDATION.ORG/PROJECTS/ACARA_II

ABOUT OPEN CHANNEL SOFTWARE
Open Channel Foundation (OCF) is the nonprofit technology transfer arm of Open Channel Software (OCS), an Internet-based organization that publishes, distributes, and commercializes software created at academic and research institutions, serving as a central clearinghouse for high-quality, technically advanced scientific applications. By hosting these programs in open-source and other popular platforms, OCS is able to monitor market activity and identify breakthrough opportunities with strong commercial potential for appropriate hosted applications.

The OCS/OCF websites host innovative, cutting-edge programs grouped into categories, or Disciplines, actively promoting sponsored software by building and maintaining communities of involved users. If software has sufficient commercial potential, OCS provides the resources required to bring that software to commercial distribution, proactively markets it, and offers fee-based support and services to its customers.

Visit http://www.openchannelsoftware.org or phone 773-334-8177 to learn more about Open Channel Software, Open Channel Foundation, software Disciplines, products, services, or to become a participating author/developer.

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