PyBaMM GSoC 2023 Project Ideas
Projects
Documentation
Our documentation is currently fragmented across several different locations:
- The readme on GitHub
- Our website, pybamm.org, contains generic information about the project
- API docs + a fledgling user guide on readthedocs
- Example notebooks on GitHub
- Some information here on GitHub Wiki
The goal of this project is to consolidate all of the information together under a single location.
- Create a new website using Hugo’s scientific python theme (see #2639). This should contain the same content as the current version of pybamm.org (the pybamm.org URL will be reassigned to this page)
- Link docs.pybamm.org to our readthedocs API docs and user guide (it might make sense to move the user guide out)
- Move information from this wiki page to the website
- Use nbconvert (or other) to run and display static versions of the jupyter notebooks on the website; also use nbstripout to clear the output of notebooks in version control
As a stretch goal, the student will be expected to survey other popular python packages for ideas on how to improve our documentation infrastructure. Some ideas are:
- Using sphinxcontrib-bibtex to print references from bibtex instead of hardcoding them in docstrings as we currently do
- Dependency trees
- In the API docs, link to examples where various functionality is used (scikit-learn)
Note that the focus of this project is not on writing documentation but on improving the infrastructure around it.
Expected outcomes
- All documentation in one place
- As much automation as possible to make maintaining and updating documentation easy
Desired skills
- Basic python and markdown knowledge
- Basic web development knowledge would be helpful but not required (html + css)
- Hosting documentation on Sphinx
- Git version control, CI, testing
Difficulty
- Medium. This project is suitable for a 350h project.
Potential mentors
Techno-economic analysis
While PyBaMM goes deep into advanced models of batteries, much can be done with simpler “back-of-the-envelope” calculations for the capacity, energy, mass, and cost of a battery. The goal of this project will be to create a library for techno-economic analysis that can be combined with existing PyBaMM functionality. This project will draw inspiration from existing libraries (https://github.com/mjlacey/cellmodels, https://github.com/ndrewwang/BotB). See those repositories for more detail on what the outcome might look like.
Expected outcomes
- A library for techno-economic analysis that can be combined with existing PyBaMM functionality
Desired skills
- Strong python skills, particularly ability to construct user-friendly APIs
- Knowledge of basic battery concepts (capacity, resistance, energy, electrodes, etc)
- Git version control, CI, testing
Difficulty
- Medium. This project is suitable for a 175h project.
Potential mentors
Dockerizing and simplifying PyBaMM’s installation
PyBaMM currently has multiple required and optional dependencies, but the installation process for some of them is not straightforward. PyBaMM depends on tox to unify the installation process at the moment, but Dockerizing the process (without removing the tox dependency) will make it uniform for every platform and developer. The goal of this project would be to make PyBaMM’s developer installation, with optional as well as default dependencies, a breeze. Ideally, in the end, developers will be able to install PyBaMM (with specific dependencies chosen by them) using a single command.
Expected outcomes
- A new installation process using Docker. Related issue - #1926.
- A better installation guide (for all installation processes, platforms, and popular package managers).
- CI for testing different installation processes of PyBaMM.
- DockerHub support and CI (synced with PyBaMM’s releases) for uploading container images to the same.
Other possible issues/PRs that can be tackled - #2457, #2346, #2537.
Stretch goals:
- Providing Docker support for running the example notebooks.
- Docker images to install PyBaMM with specific optional dependencies chosen by a developer.
- Uploading separate Docker images (each mapping to different optional dependencies) to DockerHub with CI support (synced with PyBaMM’s releases).
Desired skills
- Basic knowledge of DevOps tools and platforms - Docker, DockerHub, CI (GitHub Actions), Shell Scripting, etc.
- Some knowledge/experience in packaging and building Python libraries.
- Git version control.
Difficulty
- Medium. This project is suitable for a 350h project.
Potential mentors