System Design Projects

These are student projects aimed solely at designing a larger software systems by small groups of students as part of the CM0240 module. I am essentially just acting as a client, setting the actual problem. Please note that this list is incomplete.

Student Engagement Monitoring (2010/11)

Due to visa requirements for international students and regulations of the local education authorities university is required to monitor the attendance of some students. This links with the more general need to monitor the engagement of students with the course they are taking; equally of interest to members of staff and students. For this methods to track student activity, not just attendance, are necessary. To minimise the administration needed for this an automated system should be designed. The design should include suitable hardware and the necessary software system to collect, analyse and access the data.

Online Environment for Open Science (2009/10)

Students: J. Birkin, W. Godsell, R. Haberfield, J. Hine, R. Rowlands, R. Thomas

Open Science, sometimes called Open Source Science, is an emerging notion in science to make all data about experiments with the researchers' original analysis and interpretation available to anyone to re-analyse, modify and re-purpose. In particular Open Source Science sometimes means in addition to openly discuss pre-prints and papers. The aim of this project is to devise an online environment for publishing scientific data as in an "open notebook", which enables reuse of the results as well as discussion and collaboration similar to open source software, but in a scientific context (a particular field such as physics or chemistry may be chosen). A specification of the environment is required and the individual components of the system should be designed where each component comes with a suitable set of functionalities and clear interfaces to the other components.

Software Tools for Open Notebook Science (2008/09)

Open Notebook Science, sometimes called Open Source Science, is an emerging notion in science to make all data about experiments with the researchers' original analysis and interpretation available to anyone to re-analyse, modify and re-purpose. In particular Open Source Science sometimes means in addition to openly discuss pre-prints and papers. The aim of this project is to devise an online environment for publishing scientific data as in an "open notebook", which enables reuse of the results as well as discussion and collaboration similar to open source software, but in a scientific context (a particular field such as physics or chemistry may be chosen). A specification of the environment is required and the individual components of the system should be designed where each component comes with a suitable set of functionalities and clear interfaces to the other components.

Virtual Graphics Learning Environment (2007/08)

The group is expected to design an online 3D environment suitable for teaching graphics. This includes a 3D rendering engine with networking capabilities to synchronise the environment and also allow communication between the users (similar to second life). In particular for teaching the application should support a presentation mode for virtual presentations, a lab mode where students can upload their own scripts to embed their own graphics program in the 3D environment, and a tutorial mode where individual help may be provided to students to get their program working. E.g. a student could be asked to develop a program to compute shadows and this would be used to actually compute their own shadow in the 3D environment (or a program to create their own objects, special rendering effects, etc.).

Open Source Games Console (2006/07)

Students: M. Green, I. Whittick, H. Watts, J. Hawes, P. Mellett.

Design an open source games console covering hardware, software and content creation. The console should rival both the games console and personal computer markets. It should be in the form of a black box where the user can plug in any input and output devices they need. It should be possible for an inexperienced user to construct and upgrade the console using parts readily available off the shelf without serious compatibility issues. A developer should also be able to create their own games using supplied open source tools.

Secure Geometry Server (2004/05)

Students: B. Stocks, B. Thompson, H. Treagus, A. Treharne, M. Turner, J. Wang, S. Wearne.

The task is to design a secure geometry server capable of storing models in a representation appropriate for the user.

• The Server should
  • provide models in a form suitable for the purpose;
  • have secure access for various user types; and
  • eatermark model suitable for purposes.
  • enable text/shape based browsing and searching
  • Obfuscation of a model to prevent re-engineering
  • robust and fragile watermarking
• Users should be able to
  • edit models, parts of models, etc.;
  • analyse models;
  • view models in various formats;

Electronic Publishing System (2003/04)

Design an electronic publishing system for free / open access scientific journals.

Document Management System (2002/03)

Students: H. M. Blackburn, D. W. Ford, L. K. Formela-Osborne, J. P. Gibson, C. J. Hedley, G. S. Lewis

Design a system to create, manage, classify, control and distribute electronic documents of any content using an online server, which seamlessly integrates with a standard Desktop environment.

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