Australian company Innovation Science Pty Ltd has simplified the work of systems developers by creating a new software package that is capable of integrating numerous capabilities without complex programming, fast.

The technology, named the Horizon Warrior™ Framework, provides a base application architecture which clients can use to construct custom applications.

A user can integrate several capabilities into a single application by simply plugging them into the framework. The user needs no programming knowledge and the capabilities or plug-ins can come from a variety of sources, for example, some created by small to medium enterprises and others by primes.

Innovation Science Pty Ltd Chief Executive Officer Michael Haddy said the framework will manage each plug-in as a black box within the architecture.

This means that the framework, rather than needing to know the internal workings of each plug-in or capability, will focus on how they interact with the other plug-ins or capabilities connected to the framework.

Mr Haddy said that interaction between the plug-ins can be monitored and the integrity of the application enhanced through this black box approach.

‘It gives users tremendous flexibility to select capabilities for configuration and deployment in a single application,’ he said.

‘The framework manages the display surface, command and control data, shared state information, efficient communication between plug-ins, the loading and execution of plug-ins, and overall application stability.

‘It allows the user to quickly create robust modular command and control applications; independently integrate capability without access to source code; and protect intellectual property via plug in boundaries.

Mr Haddy said the company began developing the Horizon Framework after he saw a need for the technology when working as a software engineer in the 1990’s. ‘Companies were frequently reinventing the wheel in display programming,’ he said.

‘We wanted to create a common tool that the user could plug a variety of capabilities into and maximise reuse of the same application between experiments,’ he said.

Innovation Science began developing the technology in 2000 in a joint effort with Defence Science and Technology Organisation.

‘The framework has been continuously evolving since then, with the last few versions developed independently by Innovation Science,’ Mr Haddy said.

‘The latest version of Horizon Warrior Framework became available on the market in March 2007 and can be purchased under an annual subscription model,’ Mr Haddy said. For further information visit the Horizon Warrior brochure

A virtual environment: Defence puts Horizon Warrior to the test within Defence Science and Technology Organisation’s (DSTO) Virtual Submarine.