CST Group Design Project

Briefing 2010

CST Group Design Project

Briefing 2010

Alan Blackwell

OverviewOverview

• Each member of a group undertakes 30-60 hours of work over six weeks.

• Projects apply a broad range of academic knowledge.

• Intention is to experience a realistic professional environment.

• One practical credit for combined group product.

• One credit for individual contribution.

Scheduled eventsScheduled events

• This briefing lecture, with project topics

• Students nominate preferences for topics

• Assigned topics and group members are advised on first day of Lent term.

• Progress reports, at three scheduled review meetings with project client

• Presentation skills lecture 8 Feb• Demonstrations and presentations 9

Mar

SyllabusSyllabus

• Appropriate data structures and algorithms are expected.

• Concurrency, architectures, hardware and compiling may be required.

• Software Design & Engineering essential:– professional design, quality and project

management– careful planning and testing– cooperation with an imposed group – deal with external requirements,

constraints and deadlines

Computing facilitiesComputing facilities

• Workstation room in Gates building• Development environment is PWF

Linux• Filespaces will be created for each

group:– ${CLTEACH}/grpproj/alpha, …/bravo,

…/charlie …

• There is a 1 Gbyte limit for working code, data, docs, backups etc

Software toolsSoftware tools

• Selection and use of suitable tools is an important component.

• Most will be implemented in Java.• May justify modules in a different

language• Some open source software may be

needed• Unix tools are as provided on PWF

Linux– http://www-uxsup.csx.cam.ac.uk/pwf-linux/

autodoc/

Review meetingsReview meetings

• Specifications are agreed, and progress reported, with an external client.

• Three one-hour meetings held fortnightly:– 1. Requirements specification– 2. Implementation and test results– 3. Demo and final report

• These are not supervisions, but an opportunity to work with professionals.

• Sign up with student admin for slots.

Project phasesProject phases

• Requirements definition• Functional specification and project

plan • Module implementation and testing• System integration and testing• Personal report• Presentation

Requirements definitionRequirements definition

• Start with the design brief provided.• Investigate problem and decide

necessary features of the system.• Specify the acceptance criteria for

completion.• Write a requirements specification

of 3000-5000 words.• Deliver to client, agreeing adequacy

and feasibility within time budget.

Functional specificationFunctional specification

• Plan major components of the system • This may include some standard

library modules, some public domain software.

• Identify components to be implemented and specify their interfaces.– Java abstract classes with comments

• Identify dependencies for planning the order in which work will be done.

PlanningPlanning

• Choose overall management strategy and group roles – Include management, testing, etc.– Every member should do some

programming.

• Allocate development of modules to team.

• Work to a budget of 60 hours per team member.

• Set realistic targets and achieve them.• No extra marks for doing too much!

Module implementation and testing Module implementation and testing • Write code for required modules

– Mostly as Java classes

• Test the modules in isolation – Construct test harnesses– Test and record results

• Deliver– Progress report by the team manager– Code of the implementations – Description of testing procedures and

results

System integration and testingSystem integration and testing

• Assemble the modules• Test the whole system• Final course assessment based on:

– Source code ready for collection on March 7

– Final report by project manager on overall successes and failures.

– Personal reports, giving details of individual contributions from each team member.

Presentation of resultsPresentation of results

• Public show on March 9.• Interactive demonstrations:

– 2 hour session in workstation area.

• Presentations in lecture theatre:– 5 minute talks by each group.

• Project clients and CL staff voteon the best projects– Sponsored prizes for technical and

professional achievement

Project topicsProject topics

• There are 17 potential design briefs.• You may express personal

preferences– Email preferences

to group-project@cl.cam.ac.uk by Wednesday 1 December.

– No guarantees! You will not necessarily be grouped with your friends.

• Groups, and assigned design briefs, are announced at the start of next term.

Design briefsDesign briefs

1. 3D View Preview1. 3D View Preview

• What will the view be like from my hotel?

• Crowd-source tourist models– Client @

LastMinute.com

2. African SMS Radio2. African SMS Radio

• Audience interaction for radio stations

• Work with African users

• Extend FrontlineSMS– Client @

FrontlineSMS

3. Crowd Control3. Crowd Control

• Model flow of people in alarm/panic

• Start with WGB openroommap • Then Olympics venue

specifications

4. Digit[Ov]al cricket commentary4. Digit[Ov]al cricket commentary

• Wearable MeLock player tags– accelerometers– received signal strength

• RSS, Twitter, animation– Client @ MeLock

5. Digital House Doctor5. Digital House Doctor

• Decision tool: – upgrade

building, or – use it more

efficiently?

• Client @ Cambridge Architectural Research

6. Energy Cloud6. Energy Cloud

• make people aware of energy use

• control demand to smooth peaks

• share information and hints

7. Global commerce7. Global commerce

• Purchase from Chinese websites

• Use online translation tools • Support continuous ‘order

journey’

8. Hand Wave, Hand Wave8. Hand Wave, Hand Wave

• Use digital gyroscopes for spatial input control

• Control animated 3D objects – Change view direction– Modify objects– Gesture menus for lighting etc

9. iZoopraxiscope - Handheld Projector9. iZoopraxiscope - Handheld Projector

• Animated animal game using an Android pico projector– Client @ Disney Research

10. Lounge Star10. Lounge Star

• App for business travellers – check-in, shopping, gate notification,

frequent flyer clubs– via tilt and gestures only

• Client @ Amadeus

11. Pimp my Fridge11. Pimp my Fridge

• Beyond the ‘Internet Fridge’• Client @ ARM

12. The Energy Forecast12. The Energy Forecast

• Estimate renewable energy and locations for new power plants.

• Client @ Bloomberg

13. Top Tips13. Top Tips

• Analyse large sample of stock market tips to define a quality metric.

• Test results against a corpus of over a million comments for use in online trading– (note confidentiality)

• Client @ YouDevise

14. True Mobile Coverage14. True Mobile Coverage

• Network operators do not guarantee accuracy of signal maps– Allow customers to crowd-source

surveys using Android phone with GPS– Client @ ARM

15. Twitter Dashboard15. Twitter Dashboard

• Track real-time public profile

• Customisable widgets for public view– traffic volume– trend dynamics– tag clouds– ideas …

16. Walk out of the Underground16. Walk out of the Underground

• Help provincial academics in London

• Smartphone app version of Vasco Pyjama's direction finding duck– Client @ CSR

17. Who is my Customer?17. Who is my Customer?

• Analyse customer data to infer the internal structure of companies– Client @ Credit Suisse

Next StepNext Step

• Choose preferred projects.• Email 1st/2nd/3rd preferences

to <group-project@cl.cam.ac.uk>by noon on Wednesday 1 December.– (Specify projects by list number)

• Wait for fun to start next term!