Quick Introduction to the Alaska Simulator

Installation (for Windows Platform)

1.)  Download the simulator from http://alaskasimulator.org

2.)  Extract the ZIP-File and start Alaska.exe

Usage

In the following the main concepts of the Alaska simulator are described:

The simulator allows for the planning of journeys to different locations and to execute the plan. As travel plan a calendar widget is used by the Alaska simulator and a map with the different locations guides the planning activities.

Thereby the user can select from several available actions, which are available at different locations. Actions can either be activities, accommodations for staying overnight as well as routes (which bring the traveller from one location to the next).

For each available action its costs, duration and business value are displayed to the traveller. In addition, the simulator shows to the traveller how certain it is that the business value can be achieved and how well the actions are available.

During the journey the traveller is confronted with different uncertainty factors. First, weather conditions can be pretty unpredictable and influence the business value of actions. Second, resources are sometimes scares and need to be booked in advanced. Third, unforeseen events can lead to problems during the journey.

Finally, constraints like available budget, time and dependencies between actions need to be considered by the traveller.