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Opticks Open Source Programming Contest

COAN1 announces the first Opticks Open Source Programming contest. The contest is to write an Opticks extension that does something interesting. Interesting is a fairly open ended criteria but submissions should somehow related to the core focus of Opticks which is remote sensing and video analysis. We don't want to stifle ideas so feel free to suggest something a little different but don't expect a Twitter client for Opticks to be an acceptable submission. If you have an idea and you're not sure if you're on the right track, feel free to talk with Opticks developers for feedback and suggestions. You can contact us in a variety of ways, such as our developer's email list and IRC chat channel.

The winning submission will receive a Nintendo® Wii and bragging rights. All valid submissions will receive constructive feedback.

The last day for submission will be March 15, 2010 and the contest results will be announced on April 1, 2010.

What is Opticks?
Opticks is an extensible imagery analysis workbench. To get a quick understanding, read the Feature Tour.

FAQ

  1. What computer languages can I use to develop my extension?
    Most Opticks extensions are written in C++ but support is in place for IDL (Interactive Data Language) extensions and some initial support exists for Python extensions. Any of these are acceptable languages. IDL and Python extensions can be found on the extensions page.
  2. What operating system can I use to develop my extension?
    Opticks officially supports Microsoft Windows XP (32-bit and 64-bit) and SUN Solaris for SPARC 64-bit. A non-official port to Linux for x86 64-bit may also be used. Testing for Microsoft Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) is pending but initial smoke tests show that Opticks works fine on Vista. We try to develop extensions which will work on all supported platforms but at least one of the above must be supported. See the System Requirements page for more information.
  3. Where can I find more information on Opticks?
    Go to the official Opticks web site at http://opticks.org. There's quite a bit of information there as well as ways you can contact Opticks developers. Information for extension developers can be found on the extension development page.
  4. Where can I host my source code?
    The COAN repository is hosted on Github which provides free hosting for open source projects using the Git revision control system. There are similar services provided by Google Code, Sourceforge, Launchpad, and bitbucket.
  5. Can I submit multiple times?
    Sure, the most recent submission of a single extension will be used. You are welcome to solicit feedback on the developer's mailing list at any time you'd like. If you want to submit multiple entries you can do that too but if we are overwhelmed with submissions, we may not look at all of your entries.
  6. I'm a scientist/analyst and not a programmer, can I still enter?
    Sure! We are looking not just at code quality but also capabilities. You should be able to write reasonably clean and maintainable code, as that is part of the review criteria. If you don't know C++ you can submit IDL or Python extensions, but be aware that only part of the extension API is available to non-C++ extensions.
  7. I'm not sure where to begin. Do you have any extension ideas I can use?
    There are some ideas on the Summer of Code 2009 page which might get you started. Not all of these are necessarily applicable to the contest as they are not extensions but changes to the core application. Here's a summary of a few applicable ones:
    1. Basic synthetic aperture RADAR (SAR) processing tools such as FFT analysis, image formation, and sub-aperture processing.
    2. Video processing and object tracking tools such as background suppression, optical flow tracking, and shape recognition tracking.
    3. Hyperspectral data point clustering and classification. (supervised or unsupervised)
    4. Astonomical image processing tools such as noise removal and point source intensity classification.
    5. Index all data in a directory or directories and place markers on a globe view (NASA World Wind, KDE marble, etc.) such that the user can click them to load the data.

Contest Rules

  1. The Opticks Open Source Programming Contest is open to individuals or teams, but not to corporate entities. Core developers2 and members of their immediate families are not eligible to enter.
  2. All submissions must be open source including but not limited to the software, algorithms, techniques, and concepts associated with the entry and must be licensed under GNU LGPL v2.1 license or a compatible license.
  3. If you enter, you agree that COAN and members of the Opticks development team may publicize your name, likeness, and the description of work submitted for the contest.
  4. There will be no compensation for submissions. The contest winner will receive a Nintendo® Wii and will not be required to pay applicable shipping costs.
  5. Submissions must be made to the Opticks developer's mailing list. Submissions may be zip, tar.gz, or tar.bz2 files with all source code and build files needed to build the extension. Alternately, a link to a publicly accessible source code repository may be sent to the developer's mailing list. Binary builds of the extension or Opticks AEB install files are not required, but may be submitted as well. Submissions must be received by the mailing list server by 11:59pm EST on March 15, 2010. It is suggested that you submit earlier. A single entity may submit multiple extensions but, if many entries are submitted, one entry will be given priority. If a single entry is submitted multiple times, the most recent submission prior to the deadline will be used.
  6. The winner will be selected by three arbitrary and punctilious judges with no formal criteria. When making their decision, judges will account for:
    1. interesting and novel capability
    2. usefulness of the extension
    3. end user documentation and code commenting
    4. general code quality and readability
    5. reuse and integration of existing Opticks functionality

The judges are Trevor Clarke, Kip Streithorst and David Sulgrove. All entrants will receive constructive feedback. Submissions which are deemed non-applicable will be ignored.

1 This contest is sponsored by Comprehensive Opticks Archive Network (COAN) not by or related to Ball Corporation or its subsidiaries.
2 Core developers are:

  • Dustan Adkins <dadkins>
  • David Sulgrove <dsulgrov>
  • John Prikkel <jprikkel>
  • Kip Streithorst <kstreith>
  • Michael Considine <mconsidi>
  • Ryan Evans <raevans>
  • Richard Forehand <rforehan>
  • Trevor Clarke <tclarke>
  • Todd Johnson <tjohnson>

 

Document generated by Confluence on Oct 21, 2009 09:29