Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Research - Senior Projects

Senior Projects

A continuation of CS425 Software Engineering, this capstone course emphasizes team collaboration and application of modern engineering approaches to software construction. The objective: the development by each team of an original, industry-strength software product.Projects must be designed and implemented in the context of realistic engineering constraints and must follow effective engineering standards and practices.

The teams will deliver and present project work at the following stages: topic proposal (concept), software specification (requirements), design (model), and implemented software (in-progress and final product). 

At the beginning of the semester the teams set-up project websites, which are updated regularly to reflect the progress of the projects. At the end of the semester there is a public Senior Projects Workshop with project presentations, video clips, demonstrations and posters.

Learn more about past Senior Projects:

Senior Projects Videos

Selected videos of student projects developed for the Spring 2005 Senior Projects course are available below. These projects represent the culmination of months of inventive design, implementation, and preparation by the group members — this was presented to both Computer Science & Engineering faculty, as well as interested local industry representatives.

Quicktime H.264 files require QuickTime 7 or greater. MPEG-4 files can be viewed with Quicktime 6 or greater.

V-FIRE

Designed and implemented by Grant Kelly, Michael Penick, and Juan Quiroz, V-FIRE is a 3-D fire simulation and visualization software tool that allows users to harness and observe fire evolution and fire-related processes in a controlled virtual environment.

Video clips:
Preview (MPEG, 7MB)
Medium-Quality (MPEG-4, 73.4MB)
High-Quality (H.264, 79MB)

Streamlined Hospitality Technologies

Wireless Hospitality Technology is a new, improved product in the field of technological hospitality. Envisioned by Mark Brady, John Spadora, and Kyle Jamieson, the concept focuses on the use of wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs) to aid customers. Using a simplified graphical user interface with easy-to-understand drop down menus, they have brought customers and end users an easier way to enjoy their time in the hotel room. The system simplifies ordering food and/or drinks from menus (even late at night), creating reservation times at local restaurants, establishing wake-up call times, and chartering other hotel accommodations. Implemented, the system would be made up of portable devices in each room that utilize wireless technologies and centralized servers to create a more efficient hotel environment.

Video clips:
Preview (MPEG, 15MB)
Medium-Quality (MPEG-4, 73.5MB)
High-Quality(H.264, 58.6MB)

High Risk Surveillance Vehicle

In this project, Michael Capps, Joseph Liu, and Edward Resnick design, implement, and test a remote-operated rover exploration vehicle (REV). This is a small vehicle that is controlled via a wirless network link, using commands sent from a base station (desktop computer). Unlike toy remote-controlled cars, the rover's communication link is full-duplex - that is, capable of receiving control commands as well as sending information back to the base station. Specifically, it sends data from a USB camera mounted on the rover and displays the picture on the base station. This allows the rover'l;s operation without being in direct sight of the operator. Unlike simliar products that use custom-built communications and control equipment, the rover uses an off-the-shelf laptop and Wi-Fi system interfaced to a stock pioneer robot. Without using custom circuitry, the cost is driven downward significantly.

Video clips
Preview (MPEG, 6.5MB)
Medium-Quality (MPEG-4, 56MB)
High-Quality (H.264, 63.5MB)

Thraxion

Thraxion is an application-in-progress that will allow the user to easily design, through the use of an interactive graphical user interface, a three-dimensional scene that can be acted out in real-time. A rudimentary physics engine - already built by Justin Gerthoffer and Jon Studebaker, will form the basis of the physical interactions between the graphics on the screen. In conjunction with David Colborne, the existing engine has been made more accurate and easier to use.

Video clips:
Preview (MPEG, 7.7MB)
Medium-Quality (MPEG-4, 71.3MB)
High-Quality (H.264, 87MB)

LARGE

The main objective of Project: LARGE is to create a game engine that will efficiently perform the necessary operations needed for a game to function on a small-scale embedded system. In addition, we aim to produce the requisite tools that are needed to translate the assets - backgrounds, sprites, and music - into a data format usable by the system, in the presence of available ROM constraints. This task was completed by David Leistiko, Robert Worrell, and RJ Landis within a few months of its inception.

Video clips:
Preview (MPEG, 7.5MB)
Medium-Quality (MPEG-4, 78.2MB)
High-Quality (H.264, 87MB)