Business Issues

      The use and programming of a Traffic Controller in a student lab situation is one of the fundamental leaps from the theory of traffic engineering taught in the classroom to the actual implementation of the theory in real-world situations by practicing engineers. It is considered critical to the teaching of traffic engineering at NAU and is implemented there by attaching the controller to an intersection-simulation board that allows the student to test his/her timing plans under the actual conditions encountered in typical field installations. NAU is currently developing a Masters of Engineering (MEng) program as part of a tri-university consortium: NAU, ASU, and U of A.  The MEng degree will be completely web-delivered. Web access is an important aspect of the project because all data must be shared and have a uniform structure if this plan is to succeed. Since programming of a timing plan into the traffic controller and the testing of the plan using an intersection-simulation board is considered critical to the success of teaching traffic engineering courses for all 3 universities, standards have to be met that all 3 universities agree upon. 
 

Value of a technology solution

      This project brings many benefits to the client.  One benefit is increasing the number of workstations so that students have more accessibility to the training device.  Limited numbers of hardware only allows a certain number of students to have access to the lab at one time. With this product there will be unlimited access, available through the web and as a standalone application.  Costs associated with lab materials and faculty will also be decreased because the product can be distributed electronically and also available on the web.  Once the software is developed and tested it will be presented to the remaining 2 universities and integrated into the Masters of Engineering degree program tying the 3 universities closer together and creating higher standards for traffic engineers.
Competitive products/research      There is preexisting software that can be applied to solve this problem, but this software only has a minimal use.  (maybe mention name) It consists of a small .bat file where the user enters some numbers and the software produces an answer.  Our product will not only have the same functionality of these .bat files, it will also have a more comprehensive list of functions and abilities that the user can use.  Incorporated within the program will be a data sheet entry form that makes using and programming our product easier.  The client requested this data entry form along with a GUI interface that would allow the users to see the results of their inputted data.