Grid computing has made a significant contribution to reducing the cost of resource-intensive engineering programs. Several engineering services that require collaborative design efforts and data-intensive test facilities, such as the automotive or aerospace industries, have embraced grid technologies.
The NASA Information Power Grid (NASA IPG) has deployed large-scale engineering-oriented grid applications in the United States. The IPG is a NASA computing network with distributed computing resources ranging from computers to large databases and scientific instruments. One of the applications of great interest to NASA is full aircraft design. A separate, often geographically dispersed team of engineers manages every key aspect of the aircraft, such as airframe, wing, stabilizer, engine, landing gear, and human factors. The work of all teams is integrated by a network that uses parallel techniques to coordinate tasks.
Thus, network computing also speeds up procedures related to the development of engineering-oriented programs.
Today, data is coming from everywhere – from sensors, smart gadgets, and scientific instruments to the many new devices of the Internet of Things. With the rapid growth of data, grid data plays a crucial role. Grids are used to collect, store, and analyze data, and at the same time to derive patterns to synthesize knowledge from the same data.
The Distributed Aircraft Maintenance Environment (DAME) is a suitable use case for a data-driven application. DAME is a networked distributed diagnostic system for aircraft engines developed in the United Kingdom. It uses network technology to manage large amounts of in-flight data collected by aircraft. The data is used to design and develop a decision support system for aircraft diagnostics and maintenance by utilizing geographically distributed resources and data that are combined in a virtual structure.