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--- projects [2012/08/23 03:32] – jonathan
+++ projects [2012/09/05 19:28] – jonathan
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-====== Currently offered Projects, Fall 2012 (updated August 22, 2012)  ======
+====== Currently offered Projects, Fall 2012 (updated September 5, 2012)  ======
 (Listed in order received.)
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 **Required Background**: Eiffel software development method
 **Description** Game playing frameworks in Eiffel such as Eiffelmedia usually wrap C frameworks in Eiffel. The goal of this project is to develop (initially, a simple) framework using pure Eiffel/EiffelVision so that the framework can be used on any platform (Windows, Linux, Mac) without external dependencies. Games provide a rich source for exploring object oriented software construction and design patterns, so that the framework would be useful in software design courses.
+====== Numerical Methods ======
+**Supervisor**: Mike McNamee
+**Required Background**: Good grade in a Numerical Methods course and good knowledge
+of Fortran, C or similar language.
+**Description**: Write, debug and run several Fortran programs related to solving
+polynomial equations, with a view to comparing different known methods.
+====== Enabling SaaS access to an experimental AI planner ======
+**Supervisor**: Sotirios Liaskos (liaskos at yorku dot ca)
+**Required Background**: Good knowledge of Unix tools / Python, Perl or Awk. Comfort with algorithms and programming. Essential: 2031 -- Software Tools. Desired:
+-- Functional & Logic Programming,
+-- Design and Analysis of Algorithms,
+-- Compilers and Interpreters.
+**Description**: This project involves enriching and integrating a set of fairly complex scripts, which are components of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) planner, and exporting them to the public in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) fashion.
+The components are various Unix executables and LISP programs that need to interact in complex ways. The components may be residing in different servers in different universities. Currently integration is performed manually, at the expense of usability. Thus, we aim at constructing a module that: (a) integrates involved components to deliver output in one call, (b) exports a unique web interface (preferably following WSDL/SOAP) to be easily accessed by custom front-end tools by anyone, anywhere, (c ) offers a simple front-end for human users.
+Learning objectives:
+  * Understand the technologies and process involved in turning native code into a web-service ("servicizing").
+  * Study a state-of-the-art AI planner and understand its workings.
+  * Exercise scripting skills.
+====== Predicting Angular Error in Rigid Registration ======
+**Supervisor**: Burton Ma
+**Description**: Registration is a fundamental step in image-based surgical
+navigation. Several (seemingly) different approaches for predicting
+distance errors in registration are known, but for some surgical
+procedures, the angular error in registration is more important.
+This project will validate an approach for predicting angular
+error in registration; the student will use a combination of
+simulated and actual registration data for testing purposes.
+====== Calibration of a Tracked Pointer ======
+**Supervisor**: Burton Ma
+**Description**: Tracked pointers are the most common tools used in surgical
+navigation systems. A typical pointer has a tracked target on one
+end and a sharp or ball tip on the other end. Finding the location
+of the tip relative to the target is a calibration problem. One
+solution to the calibration problem involves pivoting the pointer
+about the tip while tracking the target; if the tip is kept
+stationary, then the target moves on the surface of a sphere.
+Fitting the tracking data to the surface of a sphere yields the
+location of the tip as the sphere center. Unfortunately, the
+calibrated tip position obtained using such a spherical calibration
+has high variance. This project will investigate how much variance
+there is in the calibrated tip position, and methods for reducing
+the variance of the calibrated tip position.