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Image processing and 3-D graphics tools
created for the International Space Station serve double duty
by helping Hollywood with special effects, animation, and colorization
of old black-and-white television shows and movies.
Dynacs Engineering Company, Inc., is a minority-owned, Small
Business Administration-certified engineering company located
in Palm Harbor, Florida. In support of NASA programs, Dynacs
made advancements in multiprocessor-based computers and software
technologies. This work includes symbolic equation processing,
graphical user interfaces, and computer animation.
Dynacs Engineering has earned a reputation for its technical
capabilities in engineering analysis and modeling of aerospace
multibody structural dynamics. Using Dynacs-developed software,
a computer model of the Space Shuttle's multi-jointed robotic
arm was created. This software-generated model proved highly
accurate when ground simulations were contrasted with both original
manufacturer data and actual data taken during Shuttle missions.
Two Dynacs software products, originally designed for NASA,
have been commercialized. GenSoft is a code generation tool.
It automatically generates Fortran and C code for mathematical
equations. GenSoft was originally used by Johnson Space Center
for Space Station simulation. Marketing of the software as a
commercial product started in 1993. The product found commercial
acceptance in the aerospace world and is in use by prime spacecraft
contractors.
A second product, Dycom, was first designed at Marshall Space
Flight Center in 1985. Originally called TREETOPS, this computer
code was formulated to analyze and design controllers for a number
of large space systems, including the Hubble Space Telescope.
TREETOPS is capable of simulating the dynamics and control of
flexible systems as complex as the Space Station, robot tasks
and manipulations, and the rendezvous and docking of spacecraft.
Dynacs was funded to further enhance the software, with the
firm acquiring the TREETOPS copyright in 1994. The resulting
Dycom software package is now used on such projects as the Space
Station, as well as by federal agencies and contractors, including
the Defense Department, the U.S. Navy, Lockheed Martin, and the
Aerospace Corporation.
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Dynacs
Engineering Company, Inc.'s Dycom is a multibody dynamics and
control system simulation tool. |
Dycom is a multibody dynamics and control system simulation
tool. It provides an integrated software environment to perform
kinematic and dynamic analysis of space structures and robot
manipulators and mechanisms, including their control elements.
Dycom users can graphically construct models of mechanical systems,
specify forces, torque, and other conditions. The animation package
allows zooming into areas of interest. Variations in viewpoint
as well as lighting conditions can also be displayed.
Dycom consists of a suite of software tools, all working together
in an integrated environment. This powerful product has been
made commercially available by Dynacs Engineering. Portions of
the software have been adopted by the medical and entertainment
industries. In the arena of medical application, Dycom code has
been tasked with medical imaging using computed tomography scanners.
NASA has recognized Dynacs for its contributions to space
projects on several occasions. In 1997, the firm earned the space
agency's Small Disadvantaged Business Prime Contractor of the
Year award. The following year, the Johnson Space Center bestowed
Dynacs with the Small Disadvantaged Business Contractor of the
Year award for the company's contribution to the Space Station
team.
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