Rachelle Howell and Ellen M. Rathje
University of Texas at Austin
NEEScomm IT Development Team

Introduction to NEEShub
◦ Project Warehouse
◦ Group Space
◦ Tools

How NEEShub can help YOU
◦ Research Planning
◦ Experiment Execution
◦ Data Analysis

Getting the most from YOUR hub
We’ve got a
HUB for that!
The
Project
Group
Warehouse
Space for
Tools
An environment
collaborative earthquake
engineering research
Ancentralized
easy wayvisualization,
to
public
sharerepository
content
and
for
For A
simulation,
and analysis
managing,conversation
sharing, storing, and
publishing research data
There are different levels of sharing and collaboration within NEEShub
NEEShub
Personal
Workspace
(private)
Group
Spaces
(restricted)
Project
Warehouse
(private/ public)
A centralized data repository for managing, sharing, storing, and publishing research data
The
Project
Warehouse
Think
of the
Project
organizes
project
data
Warehouse
as the
and
information
in
a
interface between your
clear
and
easily
project and the public
navigable manner
Every project is created
Projects
are created
with
the same
structure
using the Project Editor
(Weprovides
will demonstrate
thebetween
Project Editor
later)
This
consistency
projects
and
aids in the navigation of project information
A centralized data repository for managing, sharing, storing, and publishing research data
Descriptions
Data
Photos
Drawings
Publications
The model governing the organization of data within a project


Project
Experiment
Trial
Repetition
A project contains a suite of tests that are
differentiated in some significant way such as
test type, test location, or test date

Each test is set up as an individual experiment

Within each experiment there are several trials or
separate events for which data is measured

If the same trial is performed more than once, it
may have multiple repetitions
The model governing the organization of data within a project
Project
Experiments
Trials
Effectiveness of Prefabricated Vertical Drains in
Mitigating Liquefaction
Centrifuge Test 1
May 2007
Sine Waves
PGA 1
PGA 2
Centrifuge Test 2
December 2007
EQ Motion 1
EQ Motion 2
Centrifuge Test 3
June 2008
EQ Motion 1
Repetitions
EQ Motion 2
PGA 1
PGA 1
PGA 1
PGA 1
PGA 2
PGA 2
PGA 2
PGA 2
PGA 3
PGA 3
PGA 3
PGA 3
Remember the data within the Project Warehouse is PUBLIC

For each repetition within a trial, there are four data
folders that are automatically created
1.
Unprocessed data

2.
Raw voltages, channel names, potentially non-standard formats (e.g.,
binary files or files requiring proprietary software to view)
Converted data

3.
Measurement units, instrument names, ASCII tab delimited or comma
delimited (CSV) formats
Corrected data

4.
Filtering, baseline corrections, removal of bad data
Derived data

Units derived from measured units (data not directly measured)
The nuts and bolts

The Project Editor
◦ Create, edit, and update projects
◦ Preview project display
◦ Small file uploads through web interface

The Project Explorer for NEES (PEN)
◦ Faster download/upload speed for bulk file
management
◦ Direct file upload (not a web interface)
◦ File organization capabilities
◦ Can be used even while offline
An easy way to share content and conversation
Think of the Group
Space as a user forum
An easy way to share content and conversation

Groups can be:
◦ Public, restricted, or private

Purpose
◦ To facilitate conversation, collaboration, and data
sharing between group members. Discussions, wiki
posts, and files are in one central location available
to all group members.

Features
◦ Wiki, messaging, discussion boards, and file
sharing via the dropbox
An easy way to share content and conversation
The nuts and bolts

SynchroNEES
◦ A graphical user interface
for transferring files
 Local PC to NEES
group workspace
 NEES Personal workspace
to NEES group workspace
The first time you use them
Tools & Resources > Tools
Tools that you use most often will appear on your “My NEEShub” page
Your
current
sessions
The tools
you use
most often
My NEEShub
For visualization, simulation, and analysis
NEES has created tools
to help you visualize
and analyze your data!
Specimen Authoring
Tool
InDEED
For visualization, simulation, and analysis

Specimen Authoring Tool
◦ Specify instrument names, types, units, and locations
◦ Organize instruments into groups
◦ Load specimen views and locate the sensors on the view
to aid in the visualization of the specimen setup

InDEED
◦ Visualization and analysis capabilities
◦ Utilizes the instrument and specimen information from
the files created by the Specimen Authoring Tool

Use the Group Space to coordinate and communicate with
your project group
◦ You can share planning files such as drawings, test plans, etc.
with your entire group
◦ Discussions on the discussion board are retained and can be
easily located later
◦ The messaging feature makes it easy to email your entire group at
once
◦ The wiki can help your group keep track of significant events in
the planning process

Use the Specimen Authoring Tool to view planned
specimen geometry and assist determining sensor
placement locations

Use inDEED to quickly create data plots
during the execution of the experiment.
◦ Compare data plots from different trials or
repetitions to see how changes in the test
conditions have impacted the results
◦ Share your inDEED sessions with other group
members

Use the Group Space wiki and messaging
functions to keep your group members
updated on the testing progress

Use inDEED to analyze the data
◦ Plot data from several files at once, allowing for
comparison of data across trials or repetitions
◦ Download plots to image files of various formats
◦ Associate videos with the data
◦ Calculate averages or differences between data sets




Create drawing files during the planning process
that can be used in the Specimen Authoring Tool.
Create instrument lists and data files in formats
compatible with the Specimen Authoring Tool
and inDEED
Create your Specimen Authoring Tool files before
you begin testing so you can quickly load and
plot data in inDEED during testing
Organize your instruments into groups that
correspond to the plots you will make most often

Before making your project public, remove any data that you do
not want in the public realm.

Do not upload files that are not necessary. Having too many files
can make it difficult to find the important files.

Create processed data files that are in an accessible format (e.g.,
ascii) with headers.

Consider using fewer trials or repetitions to facilitate bulk
downloading of the data.

Do not upload zip files. Someone may want to download a single
file rather than ALL of your data files.
**The NEEScomm Data Curator has already created projects in the
Project Warehouse for all 2009 and 2010 projects**
You can automatically forward NEEShub messages to your email
My Account > Messages > Settings