Biodiesel sim: crowdsourcing simulations for complex model analysis

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel source that can be easily made by novices with an inexpensive home-made reactor using waste vegetable oil, but producing high quality fuel using a home-made reactor is difficult due to the complexity of the chemical interactions and the configurations of the processor. A biodiesel processor is a complex system that can be modeled and simulated using formal modeling methods, but accurate modeling can require prohibitively expensive analysis. In this work we present our model analysis approach designed to ‘crowdsource’ simulations of a formal Stochastic Hybrid System model of biodiesel production. The approach uses an iPad application called Biodiesel Sim, which allows users to play a simulation game that calculates trajectories of a formal stochastic model of biodiesel production. The results of simulations run in the game are collected in a centralized database, which can be searched by users or researchers via a website to encourage users to improve their simulations. The framework used in this application can be used as a template for analysis of other formal models.