DEVELOPMENT OF A ROBUST CAD-TO-GEANT INTERFACE FOR PHYSICS DETECTOR SPECIFICATION

THE PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT A USEFUL SOFTWARE INTERFACE CAN BE CONSTRUCTED THAT IS CAPABLE OF FAITHFULLY CONVERTING NORMAL COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN (CAD) OUTPUT FILES INTO A FORMAT THAT IS DIRECTLY READABLE BY THE GEANT HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS DETECTOR SIMULATION CODE. GEANT, ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED IN THE 1970S, HAS EMERGED AS A STANDARD TOOL FOR DETECTOR SIMULATION; IT IS SUFFICIENTLY VERSATILE (BY VIRTUE OF ITS GENERAL AND FLEXIBLE GEOMETRY PACKAGE) TO BE USED AT ALL STAGES OF THE DETECTOR DESIGN PROCESS, MERELY BY ADJUSTING THE GRANULARITY OF ITS INPUT. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SUBSTANTIAL EFFORT (OFTEN, MANY PERSON-MONTHS) REQUIRED TO CREATE GEANT INPUT FILES WILL ONLY INCREASE FOR THE NEW GENERATION OF LARGE, COMPLEX DETECTORS THAT MUST SOON BE DESIGNED FOR THE SUPERCONDUCTING SUPER COLLIDER. THE ADVENTOF CAD AND POWERFUL GRAPHICS PACKAGES HAS PROVIDED A WELCOME ASSIST TO THE DETECTOR SIMULATION COMMUNITY, BUT THE BENEFIT IS FAR FROM FULLY REALIZED, SINCE DETECTOR GEOMETRY INPUT IS SUBJECT TO WASTEFUL DOUBLE ENTRY (ONCE INTO THE CAD SYSTEM, IN ITS FORMAT, AND THEN INTO GEANT, IN ITS). THUS, THE APPLICANTS SEEK TO DEVELOP A GENERIC, PROFESSIONAL INTERFACE CODE THAT CAN BE USED WITH COMMERCIAL CAD PACKAGES TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE TIME AND LABOR INVOLVED IN CREATING GEANT GEOMETRY INPUT FILES FOR LARGE-SCALE DETECTORS. IT SHOULD EVENTUALLY BE POSSIBLETO INCORPORATE SEVERAL USEFUL FEATURES INTO THIS INTERFACE, SUCH AS GEOMETRY-CHECKING ROUTINES, ENGINEERING AND PHYSICS RULES OF GOOD PRACTICE, AND PRELIMINARY COST-ESTIMATING CAPABILITY.