Project Overview

• Project Overview:
  The objective of the course project is to apply NN and machine learning techniques studied in the course to the design and implementation of an applied software system. The projects will span all stages of the software process and will be worked on by teams of 2 students or individually. The project grade will be based on both the practical results (realized software and achieved goals) and the research results.

• Choice of the tool.

This is your decision, you may apply any tool and programming language and environment you wish and you can get

• Project topic

I would advise you to try to connect your project topic to your research topic (suggested topic list could be found here). In addition, I would suggest the following development areas:

a)      computer security

b)      robotics

c)      NN, machine learning and control

• Suggested working plan and contents

Computer security:

Part 1: Data acquisition

• Project Proposal (Specification) :
  A project proposal (1-2 pages) must be submitted by each team by 10/02. The proposal should clearly outline the scope of the project, the project goals and results, and should list the members of the team, assignment of team members to different project parts and/or responsibilities.
• Time Log:
  Each team member is required to maintain a log of time spent on project work. The log should be broken up into categories; e.g. time spent reading the textbook or articles, time spent in meetings, time spent devising specifications, etc. A summary of individual time logs must be submitted with each project report

• Team meetings:

Each team has to have at least 1 meeting per week. Each meeting should be documented with minutes taken and submitted as a part of their report.

The group should invite each member of a review team to attend at least one group meeting. Reviewer is not a decision maker, although he/she is able to participate in discussions and make suggestions. 

• Review:

Each project will be reviewed by the instructor and by three other groups: process review group, report review group, and presentation review group.

Process review group should be in touch with the project group during the whole project span. Each member of the review group should attend at least one meeting of the development group.

Process Review team should submit their report (2 pages) documenting:

-         their involvement with the development group (meetings attended, time spent with the development group, advise sought and given, etc.)

-         their evaluation of the development process (what was good, what was wrong, what exactly can be improved, what could be done differently, etc.)

-         their grade of the development group work (out of 5) and explanation (reasons why it is so high or low).

Report review group will be given a draft report by the development group. They should read and discuss this report and produce their report documenting:

-         what should be changed (added, removed) in the draft,

-         good and bad features of the report,

-         their grade of the report (out of 5) and explanation (reasons why it is so high or low).

Presentation review group will review presentation (including the web page) and will submit their grade with explanation (out of 5).

• Project Web Page:
  Each team should maintain a web page that contains a description of the project, the development schedule and responsibilities, and process description. The web page file (HTML, Java, etc.) should be submitted with the project report

• Project Report

The Project Report provides a complete account of your efforts towards completing the assigned project. The contents of the bulk of the report should be organized in a manner, which allows the casual reader to quickly identify what you were aiming to achieve and how much has been achieved. At the same time, the serious reader of the report must be able to easily determine how your achievements have been realized.

You should remember that I am not interested in a report that simply describes what you did for the project. That is an important component of a successful report, but not the only one. You must also reflect on the important aspects of your project development and your project results. Which AI techniques and methodologies did you apply? Do your results show a need for improving a particular technique? What are the AI implications of your suggested improvements? How does your project embody AI principles, etc.?

Although project reports will not be directly graded on writing style, organizing your thoughts and writing clearly will enable me to get more out of your reports. It is important that each report have only one editor even though it will contain contributions from all the team members. The responsibility of the editor include turning in the final document, setting deadlines for individual submissions, and incorporating individual submissions into a single coherent and complete document.

One suggested organization for your report is given below; obviously the detailed format and contents is a matter of choice depending upon the nature of the project.

Cover page: names, class, date, role and function description of the group members (who was doing what, who wrote which part of the report)
Table of contents
Executive summary
Concise description of problem addressed and results
 Requirements
Your brief understanding of what the instructor requires in this project - informally stated.
Specification
Precise definition of what you are to do.

Plan
Software Project Management Plan (marked-up original draft and final).
Feasibility study

Possible solutions, AI methodologies, models and methods

Comparison of solutions (you have to compare at least two)

Conclusion – choose one and explain why

Implementation

Structure, contents, user interface, limitations, software and hardware requirements, etc. Any code developed should be included into an appendix
Product testing
Actual executed test cases must be described briefly, results included into appendix.
Evaluations
Evaluation of the product: features, characteristics, etc.
Reality vs. Predictions
Discuss any discrepancies between estimates and actual results
Lessons learned
What would you like to have done differently? What tools/methods would you like to use next time?
Appendices
Details of the product developed

Code and its description

Meeting minutes

Logbooks – summary of individual ones
Process review group report
Report review group report
Disk pack
Floppy (CD) disk(s) containing all of the above, labeled with your name, date, project, class

The project report should contain up to 20 pages (not including appendices).

• Project Presentations:
  Time allocation may be changed: 30 min + process review team 3 min + report review team 3 min + discuss 5 min + reserve/preparation 5 min

May include product demonstration

• Project Submissions Schedule

Project specification                              

Project report to the review team due:  

Report review team report:                   

Final report due:                                  

Presentations:                                       as scheduled

Process review team report:                 

• Project Assessment:
  The project will account for 20% of you final grade with the following components:

 Review teams: