School of Electronic & Communications Engineering
DT081-4 Projects
Supervisor
Project Title
Students
Project
Ref:
Mr. J. Dalton
To be decided
Dr. M. Ammann
2/1
MA2011-1
2/1
MA2011-2
Dr. C. Downing
Global Positioning System Antenna
Design and Evaluation
Investigation of WiFi Electromagnetic
Compatability Issues
Microwave Reverberation Chamber
2/1
CD2011-1
Dr. C. Downing
Cross-Polarized MIMO Radio
2/1
CD2011-2
Mr. T. Freir
2/1
TF2011-1
Mr. J. Kellegher
Development of an High speed optical
power meter receiver
Security over a Wireless Network
1
JK2011-1
Mr. A. Kelly
Isolated Word Speech Recognition
2
AK2011-1
Dr. R. Lynch
Design a multithreaded QNX
application to run on multi-core
machines
Designing a real time musical
instrument using the QNX kernel
Simulating the operation of a conveyor
belt using QNX
Implementing audio processing
algorithms on graphics processors
Video Distribution
2/1
RL2011-1
2/1
RL2011-2
2/1
RL2011-3
2/1
RL2011-4
1
CO2011-1
1
CO2011-2
1
CO2011-3
Dr. M. Ammann
Dr. R. Lynch
Dr. R. Lynch
Dr. R. Lynch
Mr. C. O’Driscoll
Mr. C. O’Driscoll
Mr. C. O’Driscoll
Location Awareness in a Smart
Academic Environment
Mobile computing for a Smart Academic
Environment
Dr. B.A. O’Sullivan
Palm-Print Identifier
2/1
BO2011-1
Dr. B.A. O’Sullivan
Development of an Analogue Gaussian
White-Noise Source using PseudoRandom Digital Sequences
Constrained Optimized Filter Design
2/1
BO2011-2
2/1
BO2011-3
Development of an interactive training
programme for visual neglect patients
2/1
AS2011-1
Dr. B.A. O’Sullivan
Dr. A. Schwarzbacher
Project Reference: MA 2011-1
School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Supervisor Dr Max Ammann Office R 503
Project Title
Email max.ammann@dit.ie
Global Positioning System Antenna Design and Evaluation.
No. of students
1 or 2
Preferred Strand
DT081/4
Technical Area
Antenna design & measurements, Electromagnetic CAD
Task predominantly
Design, measurement, system test and evaluation
Specialized Equipment
Microwave network analyser. Electromagnetic simulation
software CST microwave studio. UBlox GPS evaluation kit.
Project Description
Simple Global Positioning System (GPS) antennas will be investigated and designed.
Printed circularly-polarised microstrip patch antennas will be compared to existing high
performance antennas and to rudimentary linearly-polarised antennas. These will be
designed using electromagnetic solvers such as CST microwave studio and then
fabricated. A series of tests and measurements will follow using a vector network
analyser. These comprise return loss, gain, axial ratio and bandwidth. The antennas
will then be evaluated using signals from the GPS satellite constellation and
comparisons will be made with the high performance elements.
Background Reading
Fujimoto, K., and James, J.R., 2001, Mobile Antenna Systems Handbook, Artech Hse., London.
Balanis, C., 1996 or 2001,, Antenna Theory, 2nd or 3rd edition, Wiley.
Project Reference: MA2011-2
School of Electronic and Communications Engineering
Supervisor Dr Max Ammann Office R 503
Project Title
Email max.ammann@dit.ie
Investigation on WiFi Electromagnetic Compatability Issues
No. of students
1 or 2
Preferred Strand
DT021/4 or 081/4 (Microwave option required, or
discuss with supervisor before hand).
Technical Area
Microwave design & measurements, Microwave CAD
Task predominantly
Design, measurement, system test and evaluation
Specialized Equipment
Microwave network analyser. Electromagnetic simulation
software CST microwave studio. Spectrum analyser
Project Description
This project involves a broad range of both practical and modelling activities related to
EMC. Initially, a WiFi antenna operating on 2.4 GHz will be modelled, fabricated and
tested. This antenna will be used as a source and receive antenna for narrow band
EMC tests on various screened enclosures. Propagation loss studies and screening
issues will be investigated.
DT 021/4 or DT 081/4 Final Year Project
Project Reference:
CD2011-1
Microwave Reverberation Chamber
Introduction.
There exists in room 418 a large screened room which was in the past used to make very
precise measurements in the presence of strong interfering signals. Such rooms are presently
referred to as Microwave Reverberation Chambers and are widely used for simulating mobile
radio propagation channels.
Object
The object of this project is to investigate the use of the reverberation chamber for the
hardware simulation of the mobile radio channel. Initial measurements will be made using the
microwave network analyser to characterise the microwave response of the chamber. Its
usefulness as a simulator will then be considered.
The students will gain experience in the techniques of mobile and indoor radio, use of
the microwave network analyser, antennas and Matlab. The project is an extension and
continuation of ongoing research in this area in the School of Electronic and Communications
Engineering.
The project may be undertaken by DT 021 or DT 081 students.
The project can be adapted to suit one or two students.
No prior knowledge of theory or techniques of reverberation chambers is required.
For further details please call to room 415.
Dr Conor Downing
DT 021/4 or DT 081/4 Final Year Project
Project Reference:
CD2011-2
Cross-Polarized MIMO Radio
Introduction.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio is emerging as an important method of
implementing high-speed radio systems and has application to the WiFi 802.11n standard
and to ultra–wideband radio.
In MIMO radio systems the data to be transmitted is distributed over a number of
antennas at the receiver and transmitter. The speed of data transfer tends to increase linearly
as the number of antennas is increased without requiring additional power or additional
bandwidth.
Object
The object of this project is to calculate the capacity of a MIMO radio system where
the transmit and receive antennas are cross-polarised, i.e. one is vertically polarized and the
other horizontally polarized. Initial radio measurements will be made using the microwave
network analyser and a variety of antennas. These results will then be processed in Matlab so
that the capacity of the system the number of bits per second that can be transmitted on
each Hz of radio bandwidth can be calculated for different antenna configurations.
The students will gain experience in the techniques of MIMO and indoor radio, use of
the microwave network analyser, antennas and Matlab. The project is an extension and
continuation of ongoing research in this area in the School of Electronic and Communications
Engineering.
The project may be undertaken by DT 021 or DT 081 students.
The project can be adapted to suit one or two students.
No prior knowledge of theory or techniques of MIMO radio is required.
For further details please call to room 415.
Dr Conor Downing
Project Reference:
TF2011-1
Supervisor :
Mr. Thomas Freir
Office :
402
School :
Electronic & Communications Engineering
E-Mail :
thomas.freir@dit.ie
Project Title :
Development of an High speed optical power meter receiver
No. of Students :
2 /1
Technical Area :
Telecommunications, electronic design (Optical
communications not a necessity)
Task Predominantly : Design, Evaluation, Development & Test
Involving :
PSPICE-Based Design, build and test in Photonic Research
Centre
Project Synopsis :
Optical receivers traditionally have one of two designs depending on
their application. In a telecommunications link they are designed to
detect optical signals with powers ranging from -30dBm to 0dBm and bit
rates in the order of Gbits per second. The receiver is not designed to
measure the absolute power but to make a decision on whether the
optical power received represents a binary “1” or “0”. Optical power
meters (used in many applications other than telecommunications) are
designed to measure the total optical power in a signal and are usually
capable
of
measuring
powers
ranging
from
-70dBm
to
+10dBm.Traditionally measurement speeds of 2 – 10 measurements per
second are standard with high speed measurement of 1000
measurements per second for advanced applications. New advanced
applications being researched in the Photonic Research Centre require a
receiver with a combination of the characteristics of the two traditional
receiver designs. These include measurement of very weak absolute
optical powers at very high speed.
The first part of this project involves the design and simulation of a high
speed optical power meter receiver. PSPICE will be used as the
simulation environment. The receiver should have:
a) A dynamic range of -70dBm to 0 dBm
b) Bandwidth of at least 1MHz
The second part of the project will involve the building and testing of the
receiver design.
Project Ref: JK2011-1
DT081.4 Project 2010/11
Project Title:
Security over a Wireless Network
Supervisor:
Joseph Kellegher
E-mail: joseph.kellegher@dit.ie
Number of Students:
1
Technical Area:
Networking & Computer Programming (language: Java)
Project Synopsis:
The project includes developing a secure environment that permits remote login to an
encrypted database over a wireless network. Security is to be provided by the AES
algorithm, with the networking client developed using Java, and applying appropriate
software engineering principles.
Programming requirements for the project include a good knowledge of Java and an
understanding of client-server networking. The primary tasks include developing and
implementing a secure connection to a remote database, and implementing this
connection over a wireless network.
Recommended Background Reading:
Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice (5th ed. 2011), William
Stallings, Prentice Hall International.
Data and Computer Communications (9th ed. 2011), William Stallings, Prentice Hall
International.
Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, (5th ed. 2010), Kurose & Ross, AddisonWesley.
Introduction to Java Programming (6th ed. 2007), Y. Daniel Liang, Prentice Hall
International.
See the site http://www.eclipse.org/ for an open-development IDE.
Project Ref:
AK2011-1
Supervisor :
Mr. A. Kelly
Office :
5th Floor
School :
Electronic & Communications Engineering
E-Mail :
anthony.kelly@dit.ie
Project Title :
Isolated Word Speech Recognition
No. of Students :
2
Technical Area :
Digital Signal Processing/Voice Communications
Task Predominantly : Design, Evaluation & Development
Involving :
Database Construction, Pre-Processing and Neural Network
Design
Preferred Background: Computing/Communications
Project Synopsis :
The objective of the project is to implement in the Matlab environment a speech
recogniser of isolated words using a DSP front end such as a filter bank or an FFT
analyser followed by an artificial neural network (ANN) recogniser.
Speech
Pre-Processor
ANN
Recognition
The system should include, packaging of the input speech file by padding,
downsampling and linear time-warping in order to normalise the file sizes and reduce
their physical lengths, application of a speech database to an MLP neural network,
training and evaluation of the networks performance in terms of recognition rate for
various architectures and learning algorithms.
The performance of the system should be examined for data that it has not been
trained on. If time is available, the sophistication of the pre-processing can be
developed by considering alternative strategies such as the use of linear predictive
coefficients or filter-banks, or a combination of both. To ease the overhead, any
functions available within the Matlab environment should be exploited. A speech
database is provided, although it would be more appropriate to produce a custom
database for analysis. As this project involves, database construction, pre-processing
and neural network design it would be more suitable to a 2-person project.
Background Reading:
Owens, F, 1993, Signal Processing of Speech, Macmillan, London.
Picton Phil, 2000, Introduction to Neural Networks, Palgrave.
Project Ref: RL2011-1
PROJECT BRIEF
Title:
Design a multithreaded QNX application to run on multi-core machines.
Objective:
Write QNX neutrino multithreaded application software and run it on
the QNX Neutrino single core and the different multi-core versions.
Compare the speed of execution of each version.
Description:
Already, multi-core processors are introducing a new level of performance to
desktops, laptops, and enterprise servers. Nevertheless, the benefits for
embedded systems are, if anything, greater. Many of these systems must
also satisfy rigorous requirements for low weight, low power consumption,
and low heat dissipation. Multi-core processors directly address these
requirements, by providing much greater processing capacity per ounce, per
watt, and per square inch than conventional uniprocessors.
In a conventional uniprocessor system, the OS automatically serializes the
operation of applications. Multiple tasks may appear to run simultaneously,
but in fact only one task runs at any point in time. In a multi-core system,
multiple tasks really do run in parallel, and this can expose any incorrect
assumptions an application makes about access to shared system resources.
As a result, an application that runs perfectly in a uniprocessor system may
suddenly behave incorrectly when deployed in a multi-core environment.
Multi-core processors are, in effect, multiprocessing systems on a chip.
Consequently, embedded developers must graduate from a serial execution
model, where software tasks take turns running on a single processor, to a
parallel execution model, where multiple software tasks can run
simultaneously. The more parallelism developers can achieve, the better their
multi-core systems will perform.
This project involves writing a QNX multithreaded application with standard
inter-process communication primitives such as message queues and shared
memory. Its performance will then be tested in a uniprocessor environment,
ported to a multi-core version of QNX and tested again. The student will learn
how to build different versions of the QNX operating system along with skills
to measure program performance quantitatively using built in QNX tools.
Prerequisites: The project is suitable for one or two student. The student(s) should have
a reasonable grasp of C programming and the QNX Neutrino operating
system.
Dr. Ray Lynch.
Project Ref: RL2011-2
PROJECT BRIEF
Title:
Designing a real time musical instrument using the QNX kernel.
Objective:
Design application software to interface a musical keyboard to
the commercial QNX real time operating system.
Description:
This project is concerned with building a series of multi-timbral instruments on QNX
where each instrument is a separate process. For instance we might have a drum kit,
bass guitar and keyboard, each as a separate process. The subtleties of each
instrument might in turn be implemented as threads within a process. The obvious
method of representing the sound of each instrument is as a combination of digital
samples of a corresponding real instrument. Control of the instrument will be via a
MIDI keyboard. Microsoft Windows has many commercial applications to support
this scenario but suffers from poor MIDI hardware response. This project aims to
harness the power of QNX as an alternative platform.
In order for an application to produce sound, the system must have:

hardware in the form of a sound card or sound chip

a device driver for the hardware

a well-defined way for the application to talk to the driver, in the form
of an Application Programming Interface (API).
This whole system is referred to as the QNX Sound Architecture (QSA). The
QSA has a series of very useful APIs that can be used to support the building
of an audio application. A requirement of the project is that the design should
be expandable making it easy for the system to be expanded with the
addition of more instruments, keyboards etc. The project is a follow-on from
work done in the last academic year.
Prerequisites: The project is suitable for one or two students. The student(s) should have
a reasonable grasp of C programming.
Dr. Ray Lynch.
Project Ref: RL2011-3
PROJECT BRIEF
Title:
Simulating the operation of a conveyor belt using QNX.
Objective:
Design application software to operate a mini conveyor belt running on
the QNX real time operating system.
Description:
This project is concerned with writing application software and building a hardware
platform which simulates the operation of a factory conveyor belt. The conveyor belt
will be driven by a motor and will be monitored with sensors. One or more actuators
will also be required to interact with objects on the conveyor belt. Application
software will be written to control the motor and actuators based on input from the
sensors. The software will run on top of QNX. An experiment will be designed to
measure the response of the real-time system to events that occur on the conveyor
belt.
In order for an application to function correctly, the system must have:

IO ports to interface with the external hardware. This could be a
printer port, serial port or USB port.

An Application Programming Interface (API) to access the ports.
QNX has a series of useful APIs that can be used to support access to the
ports. As QNX is a priority based operating system it should prove
reasonably easy to design a thread-based system that runs a set of periodic,
aperiodic and sporadic tasks that monitor and control the system. A
requirement of the project is that the design should be expandable making it
easy to add extra hardware to the system.
Prerequisites: The project is suitable for one or two students. The student(s) should have
a reasonable grasp of C or C++ programming and real-time operating
systems.
Dr. Ray Lynch.
Project Ref: RL2011-4
PROJECT BRIEF
Title:
Implementing audio processing algorithms on graphics processors.
Objective:
Design application software to implement well known audio processing
software such as echo, reverb and flanging on a graphics card.
Description:
Audio signal processing is used by everyone from bedroom musicians to the
largest studios for generating and shaping recorded sounds, both offline and
in real-time. Typically several high quality effects are applied to each
available channel of audio. Modern effects do more than simple echo and
delay – they model vintage instruments and amplifiers using convolution with
impulse responses, offer time shifting independent of pitch, and create new
sounds using modern synthesis techniques. Applying these effects can be
taxing on a processor, especially in real-time where latency must be kept
under 5ms.
This project will write implementations of these effects that can be executed
on the processors on a graphics card. The applications software will be
written as a parallel program, in which multiple threads of execution
cooperate to achieve the functionality faster than can be achieved on the
main CPU(s). The project will be developed using the CUDA APIs developed
by NVidia. CUDA is a simple, small extension to C and is an instance of
widely used Single Program Multiple Data (SPMD) parallel programming
models. The aim of the project is to see how efficiently audio algorithms can
be run on many-core processors
Prerequisites: The project is suitable for one or two student. The student(s) should have
a reasonable grasp of C or C++ programming.
Dr. Ray Lynch.
Project Ref: CO2011-1
Project:
Video Distribution
Supervisor:
Ciarán O’Driscoll
Students:
One
Pre-requisites:
Software Engineering
___________________________________________________________________
Objective:
To develop a mechanism for distributing video and lecture material and to support remote
student interaction for a lecture taking place in a smart classroom.
Brief Outline:
The aim is to develop a server application that can be used for remote access by an individual
to view the activities in a lecture room. A video of the lecture or laboratory is to be available to
the remote user along with a display of material generated in the lab. Remote users should
have a mechanism for interacting with the class such as via a chat facility and all remote
users need to be identifiable to the attendees in the lecture room.
Technical Outline:
This project will develop a server application that will distribute video and information in a
networked and distributed manner. Remote users will have a client that will allow them to view
the video and also to interact with the lecture room. The software can be designed in Java or
C++ to run on Linux \ Windows environments.
Benefits of the Project:
To suitable students this project will give a strong foundation in software design and
development. Valuable experience of software development will be acquired. A strong object
orientated approach will be encouraged and skills in object orientated programming will be
developed throughout the project.
Project Ref: CO2011-2
Project Title:
Location awareness in a Smart Academic Environment
Supervisor:
Ciaran O'Driscoll
Number of Students:
One
Pre-requisites: Software Engineering
Objective: To develop a client application, along with the necessary server applications to
support the implementation of location awareness in a smart classroom environment that also
incorporates interactive technology such as an interactive white board.
Brief Outline
The aim is to develop a client application that can support the identification and location of
individuals in the smart space. Individuals in the space will then be able to interact with the
environment automatically, using mobile devices, and physically using the interactive white
board. Location awareness and automatic response will be supported by Bluetooth and RFID.
The interactive white board will provide opportunity for physical interaction. A suitable learning
experience based around a common game such as Monopoly or similar will be developed.
User attendance shall be monitored and any changes shall be flagged and handled
accordingly. Depending on location, time and date, the relevant game scenario will be
presented to the user. User interaction will be monitored and assessed to determine if
appropriate skills are being developed.
Technical Outline
This project will develop a client application to run on the desktop and a similar version for the
mobile device. To manage the transfer of the program a signal using Bluetooth will be used.
RFID shall be used to determine exact location of users at a certain time. A client server
architecture will be used in the project.
The software shall be designed in Java to run on Linux and a suitable mobile device. A
software development environment is available to support the development using Bluetooth.
Benefits of the Project
To suitable students this project will give a strong foundation in software design and
development. Valuable experience of software development in both desktop and mobile
environments will be acquired.
A strong object oriented approach will be encouraged and skills in object oriented
programming will be developed throughout the project.
Project Ref: CO2011-3
Project Title:
Mobile computing for a Smart Academic Environment
Supervisor:
Ciaran O'Driscoll
Number of Students:
One
Pre-requisites: Software Engineering
Objective: To develop a mobile and desktop client application, along with the necessary
server applications to integrate data fusion and location awareness wirelessly through a smart
academic environment.
Brief Outline
The aim is to develop a client application that can run on both a Laptop PC and a mobile
device to permit lecturers to ask questions and get responses from students.. Wireless
technologies, such as Bluetooth or wifi provide the technical infrastructure to support such a
solution.
A user with a suitably enabled device shall enter the smart environment and at certain
intervals, a scan shall run to invite users to the group. User attendance shall be monitored
and any changes shall be flagged and handled accordingly. In addition, a simple client
application such as poll or quiz shall be sent to each participating member, with their answer
stored and displayed. A server application will be required to manage attendance, questions
and answers from users.
Technical Outline
This project will develop a relatively simple client application to run on the desktop and a
similar version for the mobile device. To manage the transfer of the program a signal using
Bluetooth will be used. The software shall be designed in Java to run on Linux and a suitable
mobile device. A software development environment is available to support the development
using Bluetooth.
Benefits of the Project
To suitable students this project will give a strong foundation in software design and
development. Valuable experience of software development in both desktop and mobile
environments will be acquired.
A strong object oriented approach will be encouraged and skills in object oriented
programming will be developed throughout the project.
Project Ref:
BOS2011-1
Supervisor :
Dr. B.A. O’Sullivan
Office :
415a
School :
Electronic & Communications Engineering
E-Mail :
brendan.osullivan@dit.ie
Project Title :
Palm-Print Identifier
No. of Students :
1/2
Technical Area :
Pattern Recognition
Task Predominantly : Design, Evaluation & Development
Involving :
Matlab
Project Synopsis :
The ability to automatically identify unique human physical
characteristics such as fingerprints, retinal patterns, facial structure or
palm prints has enabled the implementation of a growing number of
sophisticated, biographic, security systems ranging from computer
access to key-less operation and entry and passport validation.
This project initially involves an investigation of possible approaches to
the problem of palm-print identification. Various forms of image preprocessing, such as image re-orientation and normalization, colour to
grey-scale image conversion, and edge-detection, may be combined with
techniques such as 2-D image transformation to allow images to be
adequately defined in order to achieve personal recognition. Suitable test
images may be obtained from a camera source or even from a document
scanner.
While the system may be developed in any suitable software
environment, the use of Matlab is preferable.
Project Reference:
BOS2011-2
Supervisor :
Dr. B.A. O’Sullivan
Office :
415a
School :
Electronic & Communications Engineering
E-Mail :
brendan.osullivan@dit.ie
Project Title :
Development of an Analogue Gaussian White-Noise Source
using Pseudo-Random Digital Sequences
No. of Students :
2/1 (Modified Project)
Technical Area :
Hybrid System Design
Task Predominantly : Design, Evaluation & Development
Involving :
System Simulation & PSPICE-Based Design
Project Synopsis :
Analogue noise sources are widely used to test circuits. Their design has
historically been based upon the random behaviour of devices under
breakdown, but the use of digital techniques of noise generation is now
widespread. Pseudo-random binary sequences, with exceptionally long
repetition periods, may be constructed with relatively simple digital
circuitry. Multiple binary generators may be used to produce pseudorandom 8, 12 or 16-bit numbers which, when presented to a DAC, result
in white analogue noise.
The first part of this project involves the design and simulation of an
analogue white noise source. The source itself should have:
c)
d)
e)
f)
 2 V voltage range
48 dB (8-bit) dynamic range
50 kHz bandwidth
50  output impedance
The system is to be developed using PSPICE and MATLAB or another
appropriate simulation/modeling environment.
It is normally desirable that such noise sources have a Gaussian
amplitude distribution. In the second part of the project, consideration
should be given to the design of an associated voltage distribution (cdf or
pdf) analyser with the following specification:
a)
b)
c)
d)
Input voltage range of  2 V.
Resolution  50 mV.
Voltage range sweep signal and pdf outputs.
100 k input impedance and 50  output
impedance.
Consideration should be given to the effects of voltage sweep rate on
analyzer performance.
Project Ref:
BOS2011-3
Supervisor :
Dr. B.A. O’Sullivan
Office :
415a
School :
Electronic & Communications Engineering
E-Mail :
brendan.osullivan@dit.ie
Project Title :
Constrained Optimized Filter Design
No. of Students :
2/1 (Modified Project)
Technical Area :
Filter Design and Optimization
Task Predominantly : Design, Evaluation & Development
Involving :
Algorithm design and implementation
Project Synopsis :
Filter design is conventionally based upon the use of standardized forms
such as Bessel, Butterworth, Chebyshev and Elliptic. Specification
typically includes values for cut-off frequency (or frequencies), pass-band
(or stop-band) variation, out-of-band attenuation performance and,
possibly, phase linearity (group delay variability). Perhaps the most
obvious trade-off is between out-of-band attenuation performance and
phase linearity; both the order and type of filter utilized affect both
parameters. Implementation is often achieved with the use of biquadratic (active) structures. Such structures implement a given transfer
function in the form of cascaded second-order sections; the transfer
function of each section is of the form:
H ( s) 
k 2 s 2  k1 s  k 0
 
s 2   0  s  20
Q
A knowledge of the s-plane pole/zero locations allows both gain and
phase characteristics to be determined.
The objective of this project is to investigate the use of an LMS or other
suitable optimization technique to determine optimum values for the
pole/zero locations or coefficients of a second-order section in order to
meet a required performance specification. Some consideration may be
given to the optimization of cascaded stages to produce higher-order
filters. The performance of one or more examples may be compared with
that achieved by a traditional design approach. Ideally, the circuit should
be implemented and/or simulated and tested.
Any suitable software/simulation environment may be used.
Project Ref: AS2011-1
Project Brief
Supervisor: Dr. Andreas Schwarzbacher
Contact: aschwarzbacher@electronics.dit.ie
Project Title:
Development of an interactive training programme for visual neglect patients
This project is suitable for 1 or 2 students.
Project Brief:
Strokes have nowadays become a common occurrences in western societies. Modern
treatment has significantly increased survival rates. Therefore, over the past 20 years, there
has been a focus on rehabilitation of the paralysation of muscles to allow the patients to
regain their motor and speech skills. However, up until the past 10 years very little effort has
been placed on the treatment of non-motor skill related stroke effects, such as neglect.
Studies have shown that about 70% of stroke survivors do suffer from neglect and even so
about half of them do recover without treatment still over 30% of patients are left with some
from of neglect. Traditional treatments did emerge in the 1980s and these are still in use
today. This project will focus on transferring traditional rehabilitation techniques into an easy
to use computer programme, which patients can use in a rehabilitation facility or at home. For
this the student will be required to implement exploration games using java.
Project Schedule:
Familiarisation with the medical condition and graphical java programming.
(4 weeks)
Investigation of the different treatment methods. Development of easy to use programmes to
emulate these rehabilitation methods.
(3 weeks)
Implementation, verification and testing of the different treatment methods.
(8 weeks)
Writing of the report.
(2 weeks)
Tools:
Java, Netbeans and touchscreen enabled Windows PC.
Background Reading:
Background reading should be made in the area of graphical java programming and
visual neglect.