CSCI 1060 - Scientific Programming
Project Proposal

Topic: Project Proposal

As a final assignment at the end of the semester, I would like you (and a partner) to design and implement a project on a topic of your choice (ideally, something related to your primary academic studies or to personal interest of your own). We have seen a variety of topics in this class beyond the core programming content: physical simulation, games of chance, stock market analysis, DNA transcription, simple encryption, and other. In the next three weeks we will look at audio and image processing, and maze traversal as well.

Your project may emphasize programming, simulation, and problem solving, but it could also focus on using MATLAB's built in graphing, visualization, audio, etc. capabilities.

The project is a substantial part of your semester grade and the size and scope of your proposal should reflect that.

1. Plan on between one and two homework assigments' worth of effort and time to be spent on the project.
2. Good projects must have a definite element of programming (should not just execute a fixed set of statements in a script).
3. Projects do not need to be original or novel. Implementing your own solution to a previously solved problem, or implementing your own version of a previously described algorithm, is perfectly fine.

Your group must submit a formal project proposal. I will review the proposals and either approve the suggested project or work with you in revising the proposal. Your proposal should provide the following information:

• Your name and the name of a partner
• A project title
• A summary of the problem to be solved

You and your partner should submit a single proposal together. If you need assistance in finding a suitable partner, please speak with me as soon as possible.

Many students have wanted to do projects that involve keyboard presses or mouse clicks to control the behavior of MATLAB. This kind of programming is somewhat different than what we've done so far in the class, but it's also very achievable. I have provided the following files as a demonstration of capturing key presses, mouse clicks, and mouse click-and-drag. Test these files and look through their code in the order they're presented, as they each introduce different concepts and build upon each other. You are welcome to copy-paste this code verbatim as a starting point for your project, and I'm happy to help answer questions about this code.

• key_handler_printer.m
• key_handler_up_down.m
• key_handler_grid.m
• click_handler.m
• drag_handler.m

Some examples of successful projects in the past:

• Traffic intersection simulation
• Real-time replay of rocket telemetry
• Comparing/contrasting WW2 fighter planes
• Cataloging the decline of honey bee populations in each state
• A text adventure game
• Role-playing game character optimizer
• Randomized music composer