Fun with Funges Pure simulation Project

Project Title: Fun with Funges
Category: Pure simulation

DESCRIPTION: A funge models its programs as metric spaces with coordinate systems (often, but not necessarily, Cartesian). This research will:
1) investigate funge programming as a concept and
2) investigate how this can be done by exploiting parallel processing
It is anticipated that the Bi-funge 98 specifications will be adhered to in this investigation and that the funge itself will be implemented on a parallel computer.
A separate research area will be the application of Genetic Programming methods to funges,

On the role of Affective Computing in future human centric system design

Project Title: On the role of Affective Computing in future human centric system design
Category: Graphics and Interaction

DESCRIPTION: This research topic will investigate the emerging area of Affective computing including relevant scientific, technological, human factors challenges and its potential impact on designing advanced human centric applications
Pre-requisites: Advanced Interfaces/Biologically inspired systems – analytical aptitude

Automatic individualisation of a learning design

Project Title: Automatic individualisation of a learning design

Category: Intelligent Systems (But if data gathering from real respondents Subject to anonymity of respondents guaranteed in report)

DESCRIPTION: Tutors are increasingly faced with the need to cater for learners with differing backgrounds. In the traditional face-to-face scenario, a learning design is drawn up based on the “average student” and the entire cohort is forced through the same set of activities at the same pace. To cater for differing learner needs, the tutor monitors learners’ progress through activities, spotting weaker and stronger learners and adapting the sequence of activities for them. The emergence of IMS-Learning Design as a specification for describing the structure of a learning experience provides the opportunity to develop tools to support tutors in identifying opportunities for tailoring the learning design to individuals. This project looks at how course material can be targeted at specific types of learner in an appropriate and adaptable way. This is done by formalising the description of the course and the learner through the use of IMS-LD. A fuzzy matching scheme is used to correlate the learner profile with the course. This correlation is used to generate a unqiue route through a particular course. The success or failure of the suggested route is ascertained and new routes through the courses are evolved using genetic principles. These are then fed back into the profile/course correlation mechanism previously described. In this way specific target routes through a set of course material can be continually evolved.

PRE-REQUISITES: Internet Technology; Learning technologies; excellent programming

 

IMS Learning Design interoperability

Project Title: IMS Learning Design interoperability

Category: Computer Science

DESCRIPTION: Learning design is the process of a tutor or teacher designing a set of activities for students to work through.

The IMS Learning Design specification (http://www.imsglobal.org/learningdesign/) was released early in 2004, and is an XML based specification designed to allow the capture and playback of a learning design using software tools. Hence, the potential exists for eLearning to not only provide content but also to guide students through activities, whether these are eLearning activities or traditional “face to face”.

Software in this area is in its infancy and consists of a small number of proof-of-concept tools, in particular a learning design editor (Reload) and a player (SLeD). These tools are becoming more robust, but for institutions to start using the tools they need to be able to fit them within an institutional framework. For example, how will learning designs be stored? How will they be managed? How will students be registered within a learning design system, will this be automatic from the institution’s student record system?

There is a drive to a flexible elearning framework http://www.elframework.org which could form the basis for such a system. The project would recommend a framework for institutional use of IMS LD based on a service oriented architecture.

PRE-REQUISITES: Internet Technology; Learning technologies; excellent programming

Real-time simulation of the human auditory system

Project Title: Real-time simulation of the human auditory system.

Category: Computer Science (If not tested on real subjects)

Description: This project will support research into spiking neural networks and specifically their application to speech and voice recognition. There is a need for a real-time hardware system (probably FPGA-based) that mimics the behaviour of the auditory system in order to pre-process audio signals for input to the neural network.

You will need to be highly self-motivated and willing to learn techniques such as digital audio filter design and FPGA programming.

 

IP Core authoring Project Synopsis

Project Title: IP Core authoring

Project Description:

System on a Chip technology relies on IP cores to achieve reusability. IP core authoring is an important part of the new fab-less industry.
The project investigate how to write good quality, reusable IP cores, and apply the findings to a real exercise of writing one of such cores. The example core can be processor, I/O, image processing, UART etc

Product Details:

Verilog models of cores, with potential FPGA implementation

Resources Required:

Altera Quartus II
Modelsim simulator
Altera-DEII board

FPGA based edge enhancement Project

Project Title: FPGA based edge enhancement

Project Description:

Many image processing algorithms, including edge detection/enhancement algorithms, have software implementation. But to be used in real time processing, hardware implementation becomes necessary.
This project will implement one of the edge enhancement algorithms using FPGA chip. A Verilog model has already been developed, but further improvement are needed to improve the performance further.

Product Details:

Verilog models of edge enhancement algorithm

Resources Required:

Altera Quartus II
Modelsim simulator

Smart Home systems review and design

Project Title: SmartHome systems – review and design

Project Description:

Smarthome systems allow house owners to control their home appliances remotely, e.g. through home computers, or mobile phones. It is a relatively new application area for electronic systems, but is gaining increasing attentions. There are several different techniques currently available, the project is to compare and analyse these techniques, and for a defined purpose, choose one technique to implement a small smarthome system.

Product Details:

Software to control the home smart system;
Depending on the chosen technique, hardware circuit might need to be built.

Resources Required:

C/C++ compiler
Altera Quartus II

Altera board based embedded system design

Project Title: Altera board based embedded system design

Project Description: FPGA based embedded system design are widely used in industry, especially during the prototyping stage. Several new state of art boards have been purchased by the department recently, and can be used for design various application, e.g. digital camera, digital photo frame etc

Product Details:

Altera board based embedded system

Resources Required:

Altera Quartus II
Modelsim simulator
Altera DE-2 board, embedded system development board
NIOS processor core

 

USB PIC interfacing and Web Service application Project

Project Title: USB PIC interfacing

Academic Research Areas: Microprocessor

Project Description:

Design a PIC based product with a USB interface

Product Details:

The PIC design should interface to something in the ‘real world’, agreed by discussion with the supervisor.

Project Title: Web Service application

Academic Research Areas: Software

Project Description:

Design and implement a Web Service application

Product Details:

Web services are applications that run across the web, rather than on a host or server PC.
Web services use:
• SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)
• UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration)
• WSDL (Web Services Description Language)

The project should involve a web service, agreed by discussion with the supervisor.

Resources Required:

Web server PC