ACDEANINST 1531.79

 

October 22, 2001

 

Midshipman Research Project Course: PROJECT PROPOSAL

 

Midshipmen involved:

    

Name

Alpha

Major

Company

Midn 1/C M. Simpson

026114

Computer Science

8th Company

Midn 1/C B. Whitten

027209

Computer Science

15th Company

 

 

1. Title of the Proposed Project:

 

Embedded Systems Using Java and QNX

 

 

2. Faculty Mentor(s):

 

     Associate Professor Donald M. Needham

 

 

3. Summary of the Proposed Research:

 

 

a. Problem to be Addressed:

 

The objective of this research project is to work in conjunction with midshipmen in the Systems Engineering, Naval Architecture, Ocean Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering Departments in order to design, build and enter into competition an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV).  In previous years, interdisciplinary teams of midshipmen have entered the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s annual AUV competition.  Each year the AUV is physically constructed in the spring semester, and the team spends the balance of the semester analyzing and constructing circuits for the sonar system, navigation systems, and measuring power requirements.  The availability of a multi-threaded software system to control the AUV would be beneficial to test hardware components during system construction and to control the AUV during the competition.   The specific problem addressed by this proposed research is to design, develop and implement a reusable, embedded, multi-threaded control system for USNA’s 2002 AUV competition entry.

 

b. Background Information:

 

The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) jointly hold an annual “International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition”.  The goal of this competition is to advance the state-of-the-art of AUVs by challenging a new generation of engineers and computer scientists to accomplish realistic missions in the underwater environment.  Many applications for AUVs require measuring or mapping the bathymetry of the seafloor, and identifying the shallowest item in an array of man-made objects.  Additionally, numerous operational missions require finding and recovering objects on the seabed. The AUVSI-ONR organizers expect these fundamental capabilities to be the foundation for future Competition scenarios, with the degree of difficulty increasing each year proportionate to the degree of entrant proficiency.  More complete details on the AUVSI-ONR competitions can be found at: http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/water.cfm

 

 

c. Describe any preparatory work undertaken by the

midshipman research student:

 

Both research students have had preparatory work in programming Java-based multi-threaded environments during their SI411 Operating Systems course in Spring AY01.  Both students have designed, developed, and tested event-driven graphical user interfaces and multi-threaded control system structures during their SI434 Software Engineering course in Fall AY02. 

 

 

d. Abstract and Details of the Research Proposal:

 

Abstract: The research undertaken in this proposal focuses on the Java programming language and QNX operating system issues surrounding the development and delivery of an embedded software system for the USNA 2002 AUV competition.  The specific objectives of this research are to:

 

a.

Explore concepts in embedded software architectures.  

 

b.

Develop specifications and designs for embedded systems.

 

c.

Understand design and implementation issues for embedded systems programming using the Java programming language and the QNX operating system.

 

d.

Test and evaluate the embedded system implementation.                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Details of Research Proposal: The detailed milestones of this research project course are as follows:

 

a.

Install Java VM under the AUV’s QNX Operating System.

09 Jan 2002

b.

Analyze QNX operating system primitives (thread services, mutex, condition variables, semaphores and signals, message passing, and scheduling) that provide support for embedded programming and multithreading with Java.                 

16 Jan 2002

c.

Determine GUI and control system requirements for the 2002 AUV competition. Begin Object Oriented Analysis (OOA) of AUV software system.

23 Jan 2002

d.

Present Rapid Prototype for AUV software system.  Deliver completed OOA.

06 Feb 2002

e.

Develop interface for operating system/software system communication with analog and digital devices using RS232 connections. Begin Object-Oriented Design (OOD) of AUV software system.

20 Feb 2002

f.

Deliver completed OOD. Begin implementation of AUV software system.  Use incremental software development model regarding integration of AUV software system with AUV hardware components.

27 Feb 2002

g.

Deliver interim draft of research paper (work to date, one paper per research student). 

06 Mar 2002

i.

Complete implementation of AUV software system

20 Mar 2002

j.

Testing, evaluation and deployment of embedded AUV system.

27 Mar 2002

k.

Deliver initial draft of complete research paper (one paper per research student).

10 Apr 2002

l.

Deliver final draft of complete research paper (one paper per research student).

24 Apr 2002

m.

Deliver research project course presentation (joint presentation).

TBD

 

4. Research Facilities:

 

a. Primary facilities and equipment (type and location) to

be used:

 

USNA’s AUV competition hardware systems and QNX Operating System.

 

a. Available at USNA? ___X___ If so, where? RI060

b. Available nearby? __N/A____ If so, where?

c. Can be borrowed? ___N/A___ If so, where?

 

5. Published Materials:

 

a. Identify the principal published paper documents you

expect to use and indicate their availability. If not

available through Nimitz Library, how will they be obtained?

 

1.      Classical and Object-Oriented Software Engineering With UML and Java, 5th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2001.

2.      Java, How to Program, 3rd ed, Deitel & Deitel, Prentice Hall, 1999.

Both students are in possession of these materials as they are required texts in the SI434 course that the students are currently taking.

 

 

b. Identify the principal electronic publications you

expect to use and indicate their availability. If any are not freely accessible over the Internet, explain how you expect to acquire access.

 

1.      Java VM for QNX 6.0   This Java Virtual Machine is freely available for use in academic research via the Internet at http://www.qnxstart.com/

 

2.      Building Embedded Systems, an online textbook for developers building embedded systems that will run under the QNX realtime operating system. Freely available via the Internet at http://qdn.qnx.com/support/docs/embedding_sdk_en/building/about.html

 

 

6. Requirement for Access to Classified Material:

Required: _____________ Not required: _____X________

 

7. Access to Special USNA facilities: If access to

special USNA facilities (e.g., the Hydromechanics Laboratory, the Technical Support Division (TSD), CADIG, etc.) is required, a letter from the operational manager of the facility must be included with this Project Proposal. This memo should indicate that the involved parties have discussed the use of the facility and that the use and support requirements of the project can be met without causing unnecessary hardship on the facility operators or equipment.

 

Please see attached memorandum from Asst. Prof. Dan Stilwell of the Systems Engineering Department.

 

8. Estimate of Costs: Provide this information by Fiscal

Year, which starts 1 October and ends 30 September. Any

required startup funds needed prior to 30 September must be

requested in the budget of the earlier fiscal year. When

completing this section of the project proposal, be sure to

review the “NOTES” section provided below.

 

FY-Fall semester      FY-Spring semester

a. Midshipman travel:         N/A                  0

b. Midshipman per diem:      N/A                  0

c. Consumable Supplies:      N/A                  0

d. Equipment (over $200):      N/A                  0

e. Equipment (under $200):      N/A                  0

f. Other contractual services:     N/A                  0

TOTALS:                        N/A                  0

                    GRAND TOTAL: ___________0______________

 

 

NOTES:

t Travel: Possible destination: N/A

 

Probable dates: N/A

 

Purpose: N/A

 

t Equipment over $200: Describe the equipment and

provide a letter of justification from the project

mentor for any request for equipment over $200.00.

 

t Expenditure of funds from department or division

accounts: The budget proposal must be routed via the

Department or Division Financial Officer, as

appropriate.

 

t Expenditure of reimbursable funds: The budget proposal

must be routed via the Naval Academy Research Office.

 

t Total expenditures: A letter of justification from the

adviser must be included with this Project Proposal if

the total estimated cost for the project exceeds

$500.00.