SOCRATE (System to Organize, Conceptualize, Record, and Analyze Training Environment) is a system based on the System Approach to Training (SAT) used to track all activities associated with training, from job analysis and course design to course conduct, evaluation, and validation. It tracks all phases in the training process, and produces specifications, training plans, schedules, and records for any given course and/or student. This system was originally developed for astronaut training at the Canadian Space Agency. However, it can be customized to be used by organizations that follow System Approach to Training.

GRIS (Generic Robotics Instructional Simulator) is a real-time robotics simulator intended to teach generic robotics knowledge and skills to meet different training requirements. It is intended as a stand-alone, intelligent training system, which can be used to support robotics training for applications in hostile or critical environments. It was designed to facilitate a one-on-one interaction between the student and the simulation by providing automated features, step-by-step instructions, and performance feedback, among other features (For more information, please see GRIS in Current Projects section)

The Generic Robotics Instructional Simulator (GRIS) will be designed to teach generic robotics knowledge and skills to meet different training requirements. It is intended as a stand-alone, intelligent training system, which can be used to support robotics training for industrial applications, particularly in hostile environments. It will be designed to facilitate a one-on-one interaction between the student and the simulation by providing automated features, step-by-step instructions, and performance feedback, among other features.

Throughout the course of its development, GRIS will be designed for different users with different objectives. For each targeted market group, a specific version of GRIS will be developed to respond to the unique training and educational needs of that group. or example, GRIS may be used for proficiency training for astronauts and mission controllers for space robots, for robotics operators for industrial applications, and/or for employee orientation for all industry personnel involved in the performance of robotic tasks. In addition, GRIS may be used by high-school and university students in support of robotics courses, and may be targeted toward a mass audience through museums, arcades, and home entertainment.

The self-contained simulator will run on a single PC, and will provide a user-friendly environment to allow students to exploit the functionality of the simulator during their training. The GRIS will provide students with the capability to interactively control the execution of the real-time simulation, to load the desired simulation input, and to intervene/interrupt real-time parameter changes to the simulation whenever required. In addition, GRIS will allow the student to start-up, select or de-select desired functionality, and pause or end the session simulation whenever desired. It would also provide a Help function, step-by-step instructions, and evaluation feedback.

Further development of GRIS would result in an adaptable simulator, in which different robotic manipulators and operational environments can be loaded, configured and operated to meet the training requirements of different robotics industries (e.g. mining, medical, hazardous waste disposal). Enhancements to the simulator would include real-time simulation of robotic operation in automatic modes, lighting conditions, and voice activation of camera commands to provide a more realistic representation of the conditions under which the industrial robot may be operated.

The research activities in this project were performed according to the logical iterative procedure of the following experimental development protocol:

Ø      H- Hypothesis:   definition of a concept and a work hypothesis
Ø      D- Design:      design of the prototype
Ø      C- Construction:  construction of the prototype
Ø      A- Analysis:     analysis of the results attained thus far
Ø   Return to H.: Starting point of a new iteration

 All experimental development activities presented were performed in a systematic way.

PTS (Project Tracking System) is a system to manage organizations, contacts, projects, contracts, claims and technologies. It manages projects from the Initiation Stage to its completion. It fully supports the government Request for Proposal (RFP) process as well as the management of the resulting contracts. PTS comes with a complete document management module that supports configuration management, version control, document repository as well as interfaces to Microsoft Office Suite. In addition to its powerful financial management capabilities, PTS allows to interface with ERP systems such as SAP. PTS is currently used by the Canadian Space Agency for the management of contracts and space technology R&D projects.

Complete Configuration and Data Management System to manage project data. It supports the four main disciplines of configuration management which are : Identification, Change Management, Status Accounting and Audit. PowerCM comes with a complete document management module with document repository, version control, Security as well as interfaces to Microsoft Office Suite.

Symofros is a robotics-modeling software originally created by the Canadian Space Agency for use in testing the control systems of space robots for the International Space Station. Symofros is released under OSI-Certified Open License, with source code freely available to everyone.

Symofros' basic functions include Kinematics, Non-linear dynamics, Linear dynamics, Dynamics for constrained systems, and Systems with flexible links.