OpenVSP, also known as Open Vehicle Sketch Pad, is an open source parametric aircraft geometry tool originally developed by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. It can be used to create 3D models of

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

and to support engineering analysis of those models. Predecessors to OpenVSP including VSP and Rapid Aircraft Modeler (RAM) were developed by J.R. Gloudemans and others for NASA beginning in the early 1990s. OpenVSP v2.0 was released as open source under the NOSA license in January 2012. Development has been led by Rob McDonald since around 2012 and has been supported by

and AFRL among other contributions. OpenVSP allows the user to quickly generate computer models from ideas, which can then be analyzed. As such, it is especially powerful in generating and evaluating unconventional design concepts.

Features

User interface

OpenVSP displays a

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

upon launch. A workspace window and a "Geometry Browser" window open. The workspace is where the model is displayed while the Geometry Browser lists individual components in the workspace, such as fuselage and wings. These components can be selected, added or deleted, somewhat like a feature tree in

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

software such as

Solidworks SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes. According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies we ...

. When a component is selected in the Geometry Browser window, a component geometry window opens. This window is used to modify the component. OpenVSP also provides

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...

capabilities which may be accessed using

Matlab MATLAB (an abbreviation of "MATrix LABoratory") is a proprietary multi-paradigm programming language and numeric computing environment developed by MathWorks. MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation ...

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

or AngelScript.

Geometry modelling

OpenVSP offers a multitude of basic geometries, common to aircraft modelling, which users modify and assemble to create models. ''Wing'', ''pod'', ''fuselage'', and ''propeller'' are a few available geometries. Advanced components like ''body of revolution'', ''duct'', ''conformal geometry'' and such are also available. OpenVSP Geometries

Analysis tools

Besides the geometry modeller, OpenVSP contains multiple tools that help with aerodynamic or structural analysis of models. The tools available are: * CompGeom - mesh generation tool that can handle model intersection and trimming OpenVSP CompGeom

* Mass Properties Analysis - to compute properties like

centre of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force may ...

and

moment of inertia The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular mass, second moment of mass, or most accurately, rotational inertia, of a rigid body is a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired angular acceler ...

* Projected Area Analysis - to compute project area * CFD Mesh - to generate meshes that may be used in

Computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...

analysis software * FEA Mesh - to generate meshes that may be used in FEA analysis software * DegenGeom - to generate various simplified representations of geometry models like point, beam and camber surface models * VSPAERO - for vortex lattice or panel method based aerodynamic and flight dynamic analysis OpenVSP VSPAERO

* Wave Drag Analysis - for estimating wave drag of geometries * Parasite Drag Analysis - for estimating parasite drag of geometries based on parameters like wetted area and skin friction coefficient * Surface fitting - for fitting a parametric surface to a point cloud * Texture Manager - for applying image textures to geometry for aiding visualization

Compatibility with other software

OpenVSP permits import of multiple geometry formats like

STL STL may refer to: Communications * Standard telegraph level *Studio/transmitter link International law *Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, is a ...

, CART3D (.tri) and PLOT3D. Point clouds may also be imported and used to fit a parametric surface. Geometry created in OpenVSP may be exported as

, CART3D (.tri), PLOT3D,

STEP Step(s) or STEP may refer to: Common meanings * Stairs#Step, Steps, making a staircase * Walking * Dance move * Military step, or march ** Marching Arts Films and television * Steps (TV series), ''Steps'' (TV series), Hong Kong * Step (film), ' ...

and

IGES The Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) is a vendor-neutral file format that allows the digital exchange of information among computer-aided design (CAD) systems. It's an ASCII-based textual format. The official title of IGES is ''Dig ...

, OBJ, SVG,

DXF AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs. DXF was introduced in December 1982 as part of AutoCAD ...

and

X3D X3D is a royalty-free ISO/IEC standard for declaratively representing 3D computer graphics. File format support includes XML, ClassicVRML, Compressed Binary Encoding (CBE) and a draft JSON encoding. X3D became the successor to the Virtual Rea ...

file formats. These file formats allow geometries to be used for mesh generation and in CFD or FEA software.

OpenVSP Hangar

OpenVSP Hangar provides users a place to upload models and promotes sharing of geometry created in OpenVSP. Each model is allowed revisions with accompanying details on source quality. VSPHangar Screenshot

OpenVSP Ground School

OpenVSP Ground School is a set of comprehensive tutorials under development by Brandon Litherland at NASA. Ground school tutorials provide details on OpenVSP features and techniques, along with tutorials for beginner and advanced users.

References

{{Reflist Free and open-source software