OpenVSP (also 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 agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. It can be used to create 3D models of

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

and to support engineering analysis of those models.

History

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 The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research and development detachment of the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of direct-energy based aerospace warf ...

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 A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

upon launch, built with

FLTK Fast Light Toolkit (FLTK) is a cross-platform widget (graphical control element) library for graphical user interfaces (GUIs), developed by Bill Spitzak and others. Made to accommodate 3D graphics programming, it has an interface to OpenGL, but ...

. 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 software such as

Solidworks SolidWorks (stylized as SOLIDWORKS) is a brand of software used for solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE). It was one of the first 3D CAD applications designed to run on a desktop PC. The brand is owned ...

. 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 connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

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, implementat ...

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 (prog ...

AngelScript AngelScript is an open-source game-oriented compiled scripting language developed by Andreas Jönsson at AngelCode. AngelScript features static typing, object handles (similar to C++ pointers but garbage collected via reference counting), ob ...

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.

Analysis tools

Besides the geometry modeler, 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 barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For a ...

and

moment of inertia The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular/rotational mass, second moment of mass, or most accurately, rotational inertia, of a rigid body is defined relatively to a rotational axis. It is the ratio between ...

* 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 dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

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 In fluid dynamics, the wetted area is the surface area that interacts with the working fluid or gas. * In maritime use, the wetted area is the area of the watercraft's hull which is immersed in water. This has a direct relationship on the overal ...

and

skin friction Skin friction drag or viscous drag is a type of aerodynamic or hydrodynamic drag, which is resistant force exerted on an object moving in a fluid. Skin friction drag is caused by the viscosity of fluids and is developed from laminar drag to turb ...

coefficient * Surface fitting - for fitting a parametric surface to a point cloud * Texture Manager - for applying image textures to geometry for aiding visualization * FEA Structure - for creating internal structures such as

ribs The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

and

spars SPARS was the authorized nickname for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve. The nickname was derived from the USCG's motto, "—"Always Ready" (''SPAR''). The Women's Reserve was established by law in November 1942 during Wor ...

Compatibility with other software

OpenVSP permits import of multiple geometry formats like STL, 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 STL, CART3D (.tri), PLOT3D, STEP and

IGES The Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) is a vendor-neutral List of file formats, file format that allows the CAD data exchange, digital exchange of information among computer-aided design (CAD) systems. It is an ASCII-based textual for ...

, OBJ, SVG,

DXF AutoCAD DXF (Drawing Interchange Format, or Drawing Exchange Format) is a computer-aided design (CAD) data file format developed by Autodesk to enable CAD data exchange and interoperability between AutoCAD on different computing platforms. His ...

and X3D file formats. These file formats allow geometries to be used for mesh generation and in CFD or FEA software.

Community repository

OpenVSP Hangar

''OpenVSP Hangar'' (also ''VSP 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. Since end of 2023, OpenVSP Hangar has been closed and no backup downloads has been provided.

OpenVSP Airshow

On 22 August 2024, ''OpenVSP Airshow'' (also ''VSP Airshow''), a successor to OpenVSP Hangar, has been launched.

OpenVSP Workshop

''OpenVSP Workshop'' — is an offline event where developers and users meet to discuss progress and use of OpenVSP. The Workshop has been held annually since 2012 (except 2018). The 2020 and 2021 Workshops were held online due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The 2024 Workshop was held at the

Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is a private Nonprofit organization, non-profit Aircraft, air and Spacecraft, space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of Boeing Field, King County International Airport (Boeing Fi ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. Papers, slides and other workshops materials published on OpenVSP wiki site in a few days after workshops ends.

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, and are hosted on the

Langley Research Center The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, near the Chesapeake Bay front of Langley Air Force Base, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. LaRC has focused primarily on aeronautical research but has also ...

website.

References

External links

VSP Airshow
{{CAD software Free and open-source software Computer-aided design software Aerospace companies Langley Research Center NASA Computational fluid dynamics Finite element software