[Kstars-devel] Fwd: [kde-edu]: GSoC ideas

[Luiz Romário Santana Rios]

Hello, let me introduce myself.

I'm a Computer Science student from the Federal University of Bahia, 3rd
year. I got interested by the idea of implementing support for OpenGL in
KStars, because I was previously interested in learning that API and I want
KStars to look more preety.

I know C++, already know some Qt and am studying OpenGL. I think I can learn
it in enough time. I cannot say exactly how and what I'll do, but I already
have some ideas:
 - Make a 3D ambient for the projections with perspective.
 - Make it possible to define a SkyObject a mesh, in the case of the orbs
which we can see with more detail (Solar System's planets, the moon,
etc....)
 - Use particles to represent the Milky Way.

I already talked to Akarsh about it, and he said it is fine for me to apply.

2010/3/30 Victor Carbune <victor.carbune at gmail.com>

> Hello !
>
> I am student, in my 2nd year at Politehnica University of Bucharest.
> I'm passionate amateur astronomer as well as a programmer experienced
> with C++ and some basic Qt skills (developed a simple GUI some couple
> of moths ago).
>
> > Brief explanation: This feature is expected to be of use to amateur
> > (hobby) astronomers. The idea is that there are aspects of amateur
> > astronomy which are collaborative. For instance, one might want to
> > view observations by other amateur astronomers around the world before
> > making an observation of an object. Again, one would like to share
> > their own observations with everyone else. There are more
> > possibilities, and the student is encouraged to come up with them.
>
> I'm very enthusiast of the idea of doing everything written above in a
> real-time manner too, as much as possible.
> I have researched a bit more into the topic and I have found qwaveclient
> [1].
>
> Having this client extends the OAL implementation to a collaborative
> experience for users with several extra code lines (of course, and
> some GUI specific features that can really enhance the user experience
> - like adding special comment fields depending on the type of the
> object observed, etc.). This will then be done just by simply creating
> a wave for the object, and further working directly on OAL xml (as
> wave already works with xmls we will not need any further changes or
> effort on making it compatible).
>
> Astronomers using their laptops at astronomy observations could
> simultaneously see who else is observing what, exchange information or
> simply get enthusiast by seeing that so many other are out there
> observing and get out fast in the yard with the telescope.
>
> I think this would be a unique feature, the first of it's kind in an
> astronomy software, and since there already  exists a wave
> implementation for Qt I believe it is a really feasible idea for the
> summer, attaching it to the full OAL support.
>
> > 1) KStars produces observation logs in an XML format that is expected
> > to adhere to the OAL 2.0 schema. The project will involve extending
> > the existing implementation of the OAL 2.x schema and ensuring that it
> > is fully compatible with the schema.
>
> I have researched more about the OAL schema on their website and I am
> currently seeing where exactly in the KStars code is the save done and
> I'm trying to analyze where modifications have to be made (I'd
> appreciate some tips, if you get the time).
>
> > 2) A very user friendly GUI has to be implemented for viewing imported
> > logs [ And a good SQL backend for accessing the information from them
> > efficiently ]
>
> I'm not sure yet how I could detail the GUI in this stage, probably
> the best thing I could do would be a drawing / sketch of it,
> containing information that can be retrieved from logs.
>
> > 3) Ability to handle objects in the logs which are not there in the
> > current KStars database.
>
> I'm thinking on a mix implementation of the this and the import
> catalog feature for KStars in a single project. The catalog import
> feature seems like a great opportunity to get really familiar with the
> code and everything. Currently I am having in view the community
> bonding period too (actually I believe that's a great opportunity on
> getting started with the project and after all, it is a whole month of
> coding time).
>
> > 4) Retrieval of logs from the internet (and other sources) on a filter
> > based query. [ Filter could be anything like, Object name or location
> > or observer name ]
>
> From my past experience, I've seen that Qt has some great classes that
> can be used to efficiently implement filter function in the GUI.
>
> If anyone has the time, I would highly appreciate some feedback
> regarding this sketch of ideas, as I'm currently trying to detail them
> and looking forward to submit them through the application page.
>
> Best regards,
> Victor Carbune
>
> [1] http://code.google.com/p/qwaveclient/
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>


Best Regards
-- 
Luiz Romário Santana Rios
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