Computer Engineering Commons^™

Integrating Games To Teach A First Programming Course, Soumia Ichoua

Soumia Ichoua

In the past few years, there has been an increased interest in game-based learning as a powerful tool to stimulate students’ interest and promote their engagement in the learning process. In this paper, we discuss our experience in integrating gaming to teach a first programming course. The course is restructured and redesigned to allow teaching the basics of programming through games. Students actively use fundamental programming concepts learned to modify and create two dimension games using C# and XNA with .Net framework. This is an on-going work. Surveys and worksheets are developed to be used in assessing the effectiveness of …

Driving In Traffic: Short-Range Sensing For Urban Collision Avoidance, Chuck Thorpe, David Duggins, Jay Gowdy, Rob Maclaughlin, Christoph Mertz, Mel Siegel, Arne Suppe, Bob Wang, Teruko Yata

Mel Siegel

Intelligent vehicles are beginning to appear on the market, but so far their sensing and warning functions only work on the open road. Functions such as runoff-road warning or adaptive cruise control are designed for the uncluttered environments of open highways. We are working on the much more difficult problem of sensing and driver interfaces for driving in urban areas. We need to sense cars and pedestrians and curbs and fire plugs and bicycles and lamp posts; we need to predict the paths of our own vehicle and of other moving objects; and we need to decide when to issue …

Sensor Fusion For Context Understanding, Huadong Wu, Mel Siegel, Sevim Ablay

Mel Siegel

To answer the challenge of context-understanding for HCI, we propose and test experimentally a top-down sensor fusion approach. We seek to systematize the sensing process in two steps: first, decompose relevant context information in such a way that it can be described in a model of discrete facts and quantitative measurements; second, we build a generalizable sensor fusion architecture to deal with highly distributed sensors in a dynamic configuration to collect, fuse and populate our context information model. This paper describes our information model, system architecture, and preliminary experimental results.

Benefits Estimation Of Sensor-Friendly Vehicle And Roadway Cooperative Safety Systems, James A. Misener, Chuck Thorpe, Robert Ferlis, Ron Hearne, Mel Siegel, Joe Perkowski

Mel Siegel

An analysis was performed to estimate the potential national costs and benefits of cooperative vehicle and roadway measures to enhance the effectiveness of driver assistance systems. These cooperative measures ?query-response communication system, light emitting diode brake light messaging, radar cross section paint striping modifications, fluorescent paint for lane and other marking applications, passive amplifiers on license plates, spatial tetrahedral arrays of reflectors, and in-vehicle corner cubes ?are briefly described, along with assumptions that were made regarding performance. For the example lane departure case, the incremental nationwide effectiveness over an autonomous collision avoidance system is estimated and monetized. This was generally …

Dependable Perception For Robots, Chuck Thorpe, Olivier Clatz, David Duggins, Jay Gowdy, Rob Maclachlan, J. Ryan Miller, Christoph Mertz, Mel Siegel, Chieh-Chih Wang, Teruko Yata

Mel Siegel

The weakest link in many mobile robots is perception. In order to build robots that are reliable and dependable and safe, we need to build robots that can see. Perception is becoming a solved problem for certain constrained environments. But for robots working outdoors, and at high speeds, and in close proximity to people, perception is still incomplete. Our robots need to see objects; to detect motion; and to detect which of those objects are people. In the current state of the art, this requires multiple sensors and multiple means of interpretation. This paper illustrates those principles in the context …

Tactile Sensing By The Sole Of The Foot Part Ii: Calibration And Real-Time Processing, Abhinav Kalamdani, Chris Messom, Mel Siegel

Mel Siegel

This paper introduces prototype experimental apparatus and the calibration and real-time signal processing required to investigate stability in standing, walking and running of humanoid robots using pressure sensing at the sole-of-the-foot contact. The system can provide very good spatial or temporal resolution and these can be traded off against each other dynamically to accommodate the instantaneous requirement, for example, sparsely sampling the whole sole during static balancing vs. densely sampling the impact region during walking or running. Dynamic variation in sampling policy during different phases of the gait is foreseen so as to optimise utilisation of the total sampling bandwidth …

The E-Readiness Assessment Pattern Designing With An Approach To Ecommerce (A Case Study Conducted In Sistan And Balouchestan Province Of Iran), Innovative Research Publications Irp India, Zahra Keikha, Mahmoud Oukati Sadeq

Innovative Research Publications IRP India

New commercial conditions have been created by E-commerce in many parts, including traditional ones. It is nowadays expected that profound changes to be created in the structure, management and the notion of commercial services by the internet during the next few years. Although ecommerce is in its infancy, its outcomes is now well-exposed in the way that some firms utilizes it to perform their main tasks such as identification of customers, presenting market products and services and even receiving and paying the payment. The readiness of the community to accept this new way is the condition to be entered the …

Various Leveled Prediction And Context Adaptive Coding For Lossless Color Image Compression, Innovative Research Publications Irp India, K.J. Ashokbabu, S. Miruna Joe Amali

Innovative Research Publications IRP India

Lossless image compression is a class of image compression algorithms that allows the original image to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed image. This undertaking shows another lossless color image compression algorithm based on pixel prediction and arithmetic coding. Lossless squeezing of a Red, Green and Blue (RGB) picture is carried out by first decorrelating utilizing Reversible Color Transform (RCT). The got Y part is then compacted by a conventional lossless grayscale picture clamping strategy. The chrominance image is encoded utilizing Arithmetic coding and pixel prediction system. By utilizing RCT the forecast lapse is characterized and arithmetic coding is connected …

A Distinct Approach For Human Face Emotion Detection Using Pca-Bfo Method, Innovative Research Publications Irp India, Banupriya. N, Pushpalatha. M

Innovative Research Publications IRP India

Research on emotion has increased significantly over the past two decades with many fields contributing includingpsychology,neuroscience,endocrinology,medicine, hi story, sociology, and even computer science. The numerous theories that attempt to explain the origin, neurobiology, experience, and function of emotions have only fostered more intense research on this topic. Current areas of research in the concept of emotion include the development of materials that stimulate and elicit emotion. Recent discoveries suggest that emotions are intricately linked to other functions such as attention, perception, memory, decision making, and learning. In the field of Human Computer Interaction, audio and visual information are considered to …

Analyzing Wi­Fi P2p In The Context Of A Hangman Game, William L. Honig

William L Honig

Wi­Fi P2P , which complies with the Wi­Fi Alliance's Wi­Fi Direct™ certification

2 3

program, is a relatively new addition to wireless communications systems. It is now

supported in Android operating system (since version 4.0). In theory, Wi­Fi Direct offers

advantages for ad hoc communications between mobile apps. A key goal of this project

was to evaluate the ability of Wi­Fi P2P for interconnecting mobile apps by using a

common game suitable to mobile screens and devices.

The application allows the user to interconnect two devices using Wi­Fi P2P and

play the classic hangman game. The players search for devices …

Novel Informatic Platform For The Standard Unification Of Donors, Offspring And Patients Records: Institutional Registry Requirements In The Reproductive Biomedicine Regulations Compliance., Salvo Reina, Mauro Costa, Mauro Giacomini

Salvo Reina

The Donor ART (DART), recently promulgated by italian institution, has posed several incumbent questions to the Artificial Reproductive Techniques (ART) world. Besides the critical social and ethical aspects, a crucial issue is the engagement of a centralised “Donors-offspring Registry” which introduces new stringent criteria up on the treatments of the sensitive data of donors, newborns and patients. Such registry will have to comply with applicable italian laws (Legge 40/04, Dlg.191/07 and Dlg.16/10, the so called “Patto per la Salute 2014-2016) and the european Tissue Directive (2006/17/CE, Ed. 2004). Moreover, recent Guide Lines were introduced by the italian Conferenza Stato Regioni …

Universality Of Wavelet-Based Non-Homogeneous Hidden Markov Chain Model Features For Hyperspectral Signatures, Siwei Feng, Marco Duarte, Mario Parente

Marco Duarte

Feature design is a crucial step in many hyperspectral signal processing applications like hyperspectral signature classification and unmixing, etc. In this paper, we describe a technique for automatically designing universal features of hyperspectral signatures. Universality is considered both in terms of the application to a multitude of classification problems and in terms of the use of specific vs. generic training datasets. The core component of our feature design is to use a non-homogeneous hidden Markov chain (NHMC) to characterize wavelet coefficients which capture the spectrum semantics (i.e., structural information) at multiple levels. Results of our simulation experiments show that the …

Contextual Anomaly Detection Framework For Big Sensor Data, Michael Hayes, Miriam A M Capretz

Miriam A M Capretz

The ability to detect and process anomalies for Big Data in real-time is a difficult task. The volume and velocity of the data within many systems makes it difficult for typical algorithms to scale and retain their real-time characteristics. The pervasiveness of data combined with the problem that many existing algorithms only consider the content of the data source; e.g. a sensor reading itself without concern for its context, leaves room for potential improvement. The proposed work defines a contextual anomaly detection framework. It is composed of two distinct steps: content detection and context detection. The content detector is used …

Enhanced Routing Protocol For Multihop Cognitive Radio Wireless Networks, Rana Asif Rehman, Chan-Min Park, Byung-Seo Kim

Rana Asif Rehman

Since multihop cognitive radio wireless networks are resource-constraint networks, there is a need of routing scheme that takes into account the parameters like channel information, node’s remaining energies, end-to-end latency etc., while performing routing process. In this paper, we have proposed a reliable and efficient routing scheme for multihop cognitive radio wireless networks. The proposed protocol is on-demand and reactive protocol that considers both delay and energy along the route. By using simulations, it shows that proposed scheme performs better as compared to other ones.

Intelligent Items Traceability System – Rfid Vs Qr, Masoud Shakiba, Mandeep Singh Jit Singh, Mardina Abdullah

Masoud Shakiba

Nowadays traceability systems are an inseparable part of international business and are essential in manufacturing and supply chain management systems. The advantages of the traceability system are more obvious for products that are exported and those imported from overseas. Traceability is highly important in food management and for products with short expiry. In recent years there have been several investigations and publications on traceability systems criteria especially in the food industry in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia.

Supporting Teacher Orchestration In Ubiquitous Learning Environments: A Study In Primary Education, Juan Muñoz Cristóbal, Ivan Jorrín Abellán, Juan Asensio Perez, Alejandra Martínez Monés, Luis Prieto, Yannis Dimitriadis

Ivan M. Jorrín Abellán

During the last decades, educational contexts have transformed into complex technological and social ecologies, with mobile devices expanding the scope of education beyond the traditional classroom, creating so-called Ubiquitous Learning Environments (ULEs). However, these new technological opportunities entail an additional burden for teachers, who need to manage and coordinate the resources involved in such complex educational scenarios in a process known as “orchestration”. This paper presents the evaluation of the orchestration support provided by GLUEPS-AR, a system aimed to help teachers in the coordination of across-spaces learning situations carried out in ULEs. The evaluation, following an interpretive research perspective, relied …

Coming Down To Earth: Helping Teachers Use 3d Virtual Worlds In Across-Spaces Learning Situations, Juan Muñoz Cristóbal, Luis Prieto, Juan Asensio Pérez, Alejandra Martínez Monés, Ivan Jorrín Abellán, Yannis Dimitriadis

Ivan M. Jorrín Abellán

Different approaches have explored how to provide seamless learning across multiple ICT-enabled physical and virtual spaces, including three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVW). However, these approaches present limitations that may reduce their acceptance in authentic educational practice: The difficulties of authoring and sharing teacher-created designs across different 3DVW platforms, or the lack of integration of 3DVWs with existing technologies in the classroom ecosystem (e.g., widespread web-based learning platforms such as Moodle, or mobile augmented reality applications). Focusing on a specific kind of 3DVW (virtual globes, such as Google Earth, used like 3DVWs), we propose a system that enables teachers to deploy across-spaces …

Wikis For Group Work: Encouraging Transparency, Benchmarking And Feedback, Amir Abdekhodaee, Dini Kourosh, Farnaz Modarres, Anne-Marie Chase, Bella Ross

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

Cloud Enabled Attack Vectors, Ryan Jasper

Ryan Jasper

The purpose of this directed project and related research was to demonstrate and catalog a new attack vector that utilizes cloud managed infrastructure. Cloud computing is a recent trend that is creating significant hype in the IT sector. Being that cloud computing is a new theme in the computing world, there are many security concerns that remain unknown and unexplored. The product of this directed project provides a

documented taxonomy of the new attack vector and how to mitigate risk from this kind of attack.

The new attack vector creates efficiencies throughout the lifecycle of an attack and greatly reduces …

Mobile Devices: The Case For Cyber Security Hardened Systems, Maurice Dawson, Jorja Wright, Marwan Omar

Maurice Dawson

Mobile devices are becoming a method to provide an efficient and convenient way to access, find and share information; however, the availability of this information has caused an increase in cyber attacks. Currently, cyber threats range from Trojans and viruses to botnets and toolkits. Presently, 96% of mobile devices do not have pre-installed security software while approximately 65% of the vulnerabilities are found within the application layer. This lack in security and policy driven systems is an opportunity for malicious cyber attackers to hack into the various popular devices. Traditional security software found in desktop computing platforms, such as firewalls, …

Advances In Technology Project Management: Review Of Open Source Software Integration, Maurice Dawson, Brian Leonard, Emad Rahim

Maurice Dawson

As organizations must continually drive down costs of software-driven projects, they need to evaluate the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and other software-based design methodologies. These methodologies include looking at software-based alternatives that could save a significant amount of money by reducing the amount of proprietary software. This chapter explores the use and integration of Open Source Software (OSS) in software-driven projects to include in enterprise organizations. Additionally, the legalities of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and Creative Commons are explored with the integration of these OSS solutions into organizations. …

A Brief Review Of New Threats And Countermeasures In Digital Crime And Cyber Terrorism, Maurice Dawson

Maurice Dawson

Cyber security is becoming the cornerstone of national security policies in many countries around the world as it is an interest to many stakeholders, including utilities, regulators, energy markets, government entities, and even those that wish to exploit the cyber infrastructure. Cyber warfare is quickly becoming the method of warfare and the tool of military strategists. Additionally, it is has become a tool for governments to aid or exploit for their own personal benefits. For cyber terrorists there has been an overwhelmingly abundance of new tools and technologies available that have allowed criminal acts to occur virtually anywhere in the …

Understanding The Methods Behind Cyber Terrorism, Maurice E. Dawson Jr., Marwan Omar, Jonathan Abramson

Maurice Dawson

Cyber security has become a matter of national, international, economic, and societal importance that affects multiple nations (Walker, 2012). Since the 1990s users have exploited vulnerabilities to gain access to networks for malicious purposes. In recent years the number of attacks on U.S. networks has continued to grow at an exponential rate. This includes malicious embedded code, exploitation of backdoors, and more. These attacks can be initiated from anywhere in the world from behind a computer with a masked Internet Protocol (IP) address. This type of warfare, cyber warfare, changes the landscape of war itself (Beidleman, 2009). This type of …

Advances In Technology Project Management: Review Of Open Source Software Integration, Maurice Dawson, Brian Leonard, Emad Rahim

Maurice Dawson

As organizations must continually drive down costs of software-driven projects, they need to evaluate the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and other software-based design methodologies. These methodologies include looking at software-based alternatives that could save a significant amount of money by reducing the amount of proprietary software. This chapter explores the use and integration of Open Source Software (OSS) in software-driven projects to include in enterprise organizations. Additionally, the legalities of the GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser General Public License (LGPL), Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and Creative Commons are explored with the integration of these OSS solutions into organizations. …

Hair-Oriented Data Model For Spatio-Temporal Data Mining, Abbas Madraky, Zulaiha Ali Othman, Razak Hamdan

Abbas Madraky

Spatio-temporal data are complex in terms of number of attributes for spatial and temporal values, and the data are changing towards time. Traditional method to mining the spatio-temporal data is the fact that the data is stored in data warehouse in un-normalization form as union of spatial and temporal data know as tabular data warehouse. A Hair-Oriented Data Model (HODM) has been proved as a suitable data model for spatio-temporal data. It has reduced the file size and decreased query execution time. The spatio-temporal data stored using the HODM known as Hair-Oriented Data warehouse. However, this paper aims to presents …