Software being developed at Ohio State University is letting scientists conduct major research over the Internet by helping them avoid traffic congestion problems and costly errors.
The software, Remote Instrumentation Collaboration Environment (RICE) helps researchers perform experiments that for example use high-powered microscopes and telescopes more efficiently, regardless of network congestion.
According to Ohio State, institutions across the US often share the costs – and also the use – of expensive instruments. With the Internet, it’s possible for distant research partners to run their own experiments on shared instruments without leaving home. But Internet traffic congestion can make remote operation slow, frustrating, and even dangerous. Communication delays can prevent remote operators from knowing exactly what is happening with an instrument at a particular moment, and that can lead to making the wrong decisions as a result, researchers said. When that happens, one wrong keystroke could spell disaster. Expensive physical components in the instrument could smash into one another. Repairing these damaged components can cost over $100,000 to fix. All because the remote video feed froze up, and the researcher couldn’t see what he or she was doing.
RICE looks very familiar to anyone who’s used Internet videoconferencing software, or even an Internet chat program, Ohio State scientists said. There’s a window that lists the names of researchers who are logged in, and another window for text messaging. A third window shows a video feed of the object being studied, along with buttons to control the instrument. One primary user – presumably, the lead researcher on an experiment – can transfer control of the instrument from one remote researcher in one location to another, scientists said.RICE employs special algorithms take control of the software when a user’s commands – in effect, the user’s demands on the system – outweigh the supply. In this case, the “supply” is bandwidth consumed by the video feeds from the instrument. For example, when Internet congestion has caused the video feed to freeze up, RICE blocks commands from the user, who may mistakenly think that the instrument hasn’t moved, when it actually has.
The National Science Foundation recently began encouraging the use of remote operation on the major instruments that it funds. And some laboratories are seeking to recoup their investment in expensive instruments by allowing outside researchers to rent the use of instruments and related analytic tools over the Internet, for a fee. Ohio State Supercomputer Center eventually plans to make the RICE software code publicly available, but didn’t indicate when.
