Project

Problem Statement

The team has to develop a system, consisting of two software applications and a communication command center that is capable of performing the three functions below.

1-Connects the users to the wireless network.

2- Collects user GPS information and detects and displays the users locations on a computerized map.

3- Allows users to communicate with one another by using local Wi-Fi links or wireless network switches.

depiction

Benefits & Application

Motivation

Every member of this team has a strong appreciation for coding. Seeing as this was the most coding intensive project, we decided to participate in its completion. The team wishes to compline of programing skills to create an application, rather than designing a new hardware system.

Benefits

Easy to use

Monitoring and tracking

Wireless communication

Applications

Subject to the user. Such users include:

Military

Company use

Family supervision

Specifications & Requirements

Mechanical

Given our limited budget and time constraints, our goal for this project will be to develop a phone application for use in tracking personnel with a corresponding desktop application command center. As a result, our mechanical requirements will match those of common cell phones today. In doing this, our project design will consist of a stationary desktop or mobile laptop acting as the command center with convenient, easy to carry mobile tracking devices being the cell phones of the users on the local network. Any protection for the devices used in our project will come from the cases used by the users on their devices.

Mobile devices will weigh less than two pounds

Dimensions of mobile devices must fit within the hand or on one's person

Standard mobile phone casing w/ optional case (provided by user)

Electrical

As stated in the mechanical requirements, our design will make use of user's cell phones and will therefore use the components that the individual smart phone manufacturers have chosen. There is however control of power usage on our part in the form of smart and efficient program design. Optimizing the software applications within our project will ensure lower power which in turn extends battery life and device lifetime. Ideally, we would like our power usage to be as low as feasibly possible.

Power usage must not result in raising the average beyond the 5.25 Wh average

Environment

The effects of the surrounding environment should not be of serious concern to our devices as much of this consideration was taken by the device manufacturers. There is however constraints present that apply to all electrical components. These include resistance to water, resistance to shock caused by dropping the devices, and performance in cold which may be of slight concern due to the snow present in Flagstaff for brief periods of the semester. Resistance to shock and vibration will also depend on the protection of the device mentioned in the mechanical requirements.

Documentation

Documentation for this project will be provided in the form of a basic User's Guide that will guide the user(s) through key menus and features of our desktop and mobile applications. The User's Guide will show screenshots of our finished applications along with their functions. Mapping of important tiles and buttons within our application will also be provided. Should address all or most issues a user may encounter

Software/GUI

Our desktop applications will be designed using an object-oriented programming language such as C++, Objective-C, or Java that must be compatible with all the devices that we plan to use with our project. While Java is the preferred language of choice, Java applications will only run on android devices and will not work on Apple's iOS operating systems. This is inconvenient due to the fact that Apple's iPhone appears to be the most used smart phone on campus among other students. In this case, it appears as though we will be forced to develop our applications in Apple's Objective-C language. In terms of the visual design for our app, we desire a GUI application on both the mobile and desktop versions of our application.

Object-oriented programming language

Objective-C

General

We would appreciate that our design remains reliable throughout the design process as this makes troubleshooting the device during the design process much easier. Having a working, reliable finished product will also make operating and troubleshooting much easier on the user's end. The reliability of our finished design will also depend on the reliability of the local Wi-Fi network being used as any drop in connection will result in total failure of our project operation.

The client only desires mobile and command devices that are capable of both GPS and Wi-Fi connection. Again, given our limited budget, we would prefer implementing an application that can run on the devices that users will already possess such as mobile phones and computers or laptops. This suits the requirements of our project as all modern mobile phones are capable of both GPS and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Suffer less than 2 crashes under normal use

Capable of GPS connection

Capable of Wi-Fi connection