OVERVIEW

• General Information
   
• Class Schedule

• Team Information

• Project Ideas

• Deliverables

GENERAL INFORMATION

General Catalog Course Description:
Prerequisite(s): CS 2340
Intensive team-based project experience in the specification, design, and implementation of software and/or hardware for subsequent use in research, industry, and teaching.

Course Objectives:
Students will develop and demonstrate their abilities to work in a team on a substantial software project.  There are three conceptual parts to the project efforts expected of each team:

     1. Define the problem
     2. Design and implement a solution
     3. Deliver the system to the customer

• Projects will be done by teams of four or five students.  You  may choose your own teammates.
• Each team will have a faculty advisor and (usually) a separate customer.
  • The job of the customer is to negotiate the project requirements with the team and to provide ongoing input about proposed solutions.
  • The faculty advisor will meet with the team on a regular basis to monitor progress, make sure the team is following a coherent process, and assist with team organizational problems.
• Each team will present a midterm report and a final demo and report to their advisor, their customer, and the rest of the class.

Given that your team number is N, you have the following resources available:

• project file space in /net/hc26/class/3911/Projects/TeamN
• web space in /net/www/classes/AY2001/cs3911_spring/Projects/TeamN
• unix file group cs3911tN (group owner of the above directories)
• mailing list cs3911tN

• A simulator for maintaining QoS (quality of service) under varying conditions in wireless networks.
  Contact: Santosh Pande   (santosh@cc.gatech.edu)

  In a mobile network, when user `roams' from one zone to another, the conditions of the network changes. This in turn could affect the quality of services offered since certain services could only be expected under certain types of conditions. The goal in this project is to be able to model the behaviours of different services under varying conditions. We will use a graph based approach for this focussing on connectivity of the network. We will first generate a support for modelling different service patterns that get affected due to connectivity. We will then develop strategies to infer connectivities under varying degrees of mobilities. We will finally develop an adaptable strategy that `re-routes' services anticipating connectivities. The complete simulator will be based on graph algorithms and efficiency issues such as quick deduction of service distribution will be investigated. The work involves developing a basic graph based implementation first and then devising interesting, fast (but not necessarily optimal) algorithms for rapid service adaptations described above.

• Create a Programming Environment for Kids in Squeak
  Contact: Amy Bruckman (asb@cc.gatech.edu)

  MOOSE Crossing is a text-based virtual world (or "MUD") for kids, which includes its own programming language and environment.  To connect, kids use the MacMOOSE or WinMOOSE client programs.  WinMOOSE was created as a successful senior design project in 1998.  But bit rot has set in: the Macintosh version won't work with OS X, and the Windows version won't run on Windows 2000.  Instead of updating these C++ programs individually, we would like to reimplement the programming environment in Squeak, which works cross-platform. In addition to helping kids learn on MOOSE Crossing, the client should also work as a general-purpose text MUD client.
   

• Biomedical Engineering Teaching Portfolio
  Contact: Paul J. Benkeser <paul.benkeser@bme.gatech.edu>  or .404.894.2912

In a nut shell what I am looking for is a software tool to make it easier for BME faculty to assemble and maintain a teaching portfolio.  This evaluation of this portfolio would be part of a faculty member's reappointment, tenure and promotion documentation.  My thinking is that if this was web based it would help facilitate the review process of the portfolio (especially for those reviewers outside of the GT community).
 
• Online RealNetworks Account Management Package (OnRAMP)
  Contact: Michael Estler  404.784.0081 or mike@gatech.edu

  The OnRAMP project is being developed by OIT for the faculty and staff of Georgia Tech that use the RealNetworks media server.  This project will provide a web interface to some of the services built in to Real Server 8.  Currently only the administrator has access to all functionality built into the server.  Obviously this access cannot be given out to every professor.  Tailoring each professorâs account by hand is not a reasonable solution either.  So we will build a back door of sorts that will allow professors to manage certain aspects of security and statistics gathering that only apply to their individual account.  Students will use PHP, javascript, Perl, and an SQL database to gather data for statistics on usage of media assets.  They will also provide methods for allowing professors to add security to their media assets.
   

• MyRadio
  Contact: Michael Estler  404.784.0081 or mike@gatech.edu

This project is a continuation will involve implementation of an online radio that provides a wide range of customization and personalization for the end user.  The majority of the challenges in this project will have to do with database manipulation.  There will be a requirement to use object oriented PHP, MySQL, and an assortment of multimedia types.  There will also be a requirement to use a text-to-speech program to create a dynamic DJ.
 
• CoC Advising System
  Contact:  Allison Elliott Tew (allison@cc.gatech.edu)

  This project is a continuation of a previous semester project that was building a system to allow students to get some of the basics of academic advising (such as Major GPA, degree requirements, and graduation projections) handled by an interactive system without having to see an advisor.
   

• Technical Pulications System
  Contact:  Bruce Brooks (bdbrooks@cc.gatech.edu) or Frank Dellaert (dellaert@cc.gatech.edu)

  With faculty and CNS guidance, develop automatedpublications pages for technical reports and papers for the College of Computing.
   

• Center for Human-Machine Systems Research (CHMSR) Web Project
  Contact:  Chris Mitchell ()

• Distributed Simulation Template Library (dsTL)
  Contact:  Thom McLean (thom@cc.gatech.edu)

  The goal of this project is to create a set of C++ templates to assist in the creation of simulations systems.  The dsTL would use standard interfaces for distributed simulation, and generalize the local simulation code to support various complex features and operations (e.g. save state, restore state, roll-back, transfer control).  The final product would be the library-code, header-files, (verysimple) documentation, and a simple example simulation.
   

• Web-based XML Database (XML-Drop)
  Contact:  Thom McLean (thom@cc.gatech.edu)

  XML is still gaining in popularity.  This project is aimed at producing a database that is so simple to use, even novice users will have no difficulty.  The concept is to simply use a http-post command to "drop" an
  XML file into a database server.  The server would return the URL of the data, where it can be accessed, updated and deleted.  This is a web-intensive (http server) project, suitable for people who have
  already done basic work with the http protocol, and are familiar with XML.
   

• Network Graph Design Application  (DaG-Nab-IT)
  Contact:  Thom McLean (thom@cc.gatech.edu)

  This project is all about user-interfaces.  One of the problems that application designers face is creating a cool front end to a boring process.  This project confronts that problem in the area of network
  design.  The primary product will be a Directed Graph Network Interface Toolkit (DaG-Nab-IT). The application will be an extensible design kit for drawing, manipulating and storing network topology.  There are two basic concepts to work with: nodes and links.  The application will allow users to create nodes on a canvas, link them together, and manipulate the drawing to make it pretty (or easier to understand).  The application should also allow for import and export of information (probably XML),
  and show allow for user-defined extensions to the basic node and link objects.
   

• Network Event-Horizon Calculation Application
  Contact:  Thom McLean (thom@cc.gatech.edu)

  This project is a theoretical intensive application for "real" computer scientists (programming majors need not apply).  The application area is distributed systems.  In a distributed computer system, a network is
  used to pass information (data) between processes (CPUs).  Synchronization of processes is a well-understood problem and many approaches have been developed.  In some distributed processing
  models there is notion of a logical network of logical processes (e.g. an on-line game).  In many cases, there is no relationship between the physical distance between CPUs and the logical distance between logical processes (e.g. Players may be close in the virtual world, but far apart in the real world).  The problem is this: how can we understand the limitations in the propagation of events in the logical world?  This project has two parts: 1) develop a descriptive technique of the logical and physical distances in a distributed processing environment, 2) develop a simple way to show the disparity between the two during the execution of a distributed computation.  Remember, the logical and physical topology of the system may change  during the computation.  The challenge will be in monitoring and depicting this dynamic computational system.
   

• Squeak projects
  Contact: Mark Guzdial  <guzdial@cc.gatech.edu>
  See http://www .cc.gatech.edu/~mark.guzdial/projects.html

DELIVERABLES

Requirements Document
Details:  TBA

Project Plan
Details:  TBA

Design Document
Details:  TBA

Midterm Presentation
These presentations are meant to provide a progress report and to make sure that the team, their advisor, and the course coordinator have a clear view of the current status and plans for the project.    Each presentation should include at least the following components:

1. A concise statement of the goal or vision for the project and a brief description of the requirements derived from the goal.
2. What has been accomplished so far.
3. What the schedule looks like for the rest of the term.
   • It is strongly suggested that your schedule should be for an iterative development approach, so this presentation should include you plans for development iterations.
   • Remember also that a good test plan should be executed on anything that is implemented, so your schedule should include a realistic amount of time for testing.
4. A discussion of any problems or risks the team is facing.

Final Presentation
Each presentation should include at least the following components:
 

1. A concise statement of the goal or vision for the project and a brief description of the requirements derived from the goal.
2. A description of what you accomplished during the semester and a demonstration, if feasible.
3. A discussion of how well the results matched your initial plan, including the reasons for any significant deviations from the plan.
4. A few words about what you learned from this experience.

Delivering the Project to your Customer
The final requirement for the semester includes scheduling a meeting of the whole project team with the customer.  Attendance by the faculty advisor at this meeting is strongly encouraged, but not required.  The agenda for this meeting should include:
 

1. A brief presentation of what you have accomplished relative to the requirements, probably taken from your final presentation to the class.  This presentation need not be a formal, stand-up one unless your customer is actually a group.
2. A demonstration of the operation of your software to the customer.
3. An opportunity for the customer to try out the software.
4. Discussion with the customer of the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for extension of the software.
5. Hand over of the source code and documentation of the software.  Remember that documentation can include such things as test results, in addition to a user manual that describes the features of your system.

Evaluations
Each team member will complete a set of self and peer evaluations for each team member.  You will be asked to evaluate the effort and performance of the individuals in your group to both the instructor and your faculty advisor.  This feedback will be a significant factor in determining an individual's grade.

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This page is maintained by: allison@cc.gatech.edu
Last Modified on Friday, 11 January, 2002.