TCOM 590 X01

Wireless Networks and Robotics

 

Pre-Requisites:           Graduate Standing

Term                           Spring 2008

Time:                         Please check the current GMU Catalog - See: George Mason University - Summer 2008

Location:                    IN 316 and later JC 10G C

Professor:                   Roy D. Follendore III (rfollend@gmu.edu)

 

The TCOM 590 Wireless Networking course is a fast paced course which takes place through a challenging field/laboratory opportunities that allows students to gain hands on understanding of the process of planning, surveying, analyzing, designing and managing conventional 802.11 wireless telecommunications systems research priorities within a directed team oriented process.

Students develop, document and present evolving 802.11 wireless projects, schedule critical efforts and demonstrate their understanding of how to securely implement a research project with both static and dynamically defined agendas. To accomplish this students learn how to handle competing technical goals that conflict and develop a team strategies that differentiate theory from the physical reality by planning and testing wireless solutions. Students become familiar with different networked typologies by direct comparison with respect to both the organizational as well as the requirements for mission critical structures. During the design students consider and utilize appropriate security processes so that they can understand the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Through a series of both spontaneous and goal oriented and  and hands on exercises, students discuss and carry out individual or group projects in parallel with the study of the fundamentals of wireless planning. Projects are designed around and build upon  (1.) the unique composition of the capabilities of students within each given course, (2.) research, development and testing previously performed by previous classes.  Each course centers around topical issues facing the telecommunication field and includes an emphasis on conventional, meshed and proprietary telecommunications support of future mission oriented robotics.

The practical final exam for the course involves the planning and execution of technical mission to be determined by the instructor and the class. The first course for instance, involved a comparative study of off the shelf laboratory robots and a state of the art tactical military field grade robot (PackBot) from iRobot. The second course extended, tested and developed those procedures to include the use of video telemetry while the third course dramatically extended the theory of fractal command and control through telecommunications. 

This course is a natural extension to the basic knowledge provided with in the core course TCOM 500 and TCOM 509 and extends the theoretical practices expressed in TCOM 548 and TCOM 556. The physical ability to robots to move within an environment based upon their telecommunications mission demonstrates the implications of technical security within a real coordinated physical application.

The aim of TCOM 590 is to enable students to creatively visualize the future requirements of telecommunications systems with regard to optimum dynamic end user solutions, establishing the technological planning criteria. This course provide students with the engineering management experiences necessary to enable them to organize and execute a range of major telecommunications projects that requires the acquisition of empirical knowledge such as those found in autonomous surveillance and off world planet exploration through robotics and to do so from an operational as well as a theoretical perspective. 

The textbook that you need as reference for this class is:

" 802.11 Wireless Networks- The Definitive Guide" by Matthew S Gast, published by O'Reilly;

ISBN-10: 0-596-10052-3 or ISBN-13: 978-0-596-10052-0

You should be able to pick this book up either at Amazon or the GMU Bookstore.

"Please download and read  the PDF files located at http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=294 to learn about the iRobot Create robot.

 

Course Schedule

Lectures/Labs 1 & 2 
Introduction and Teaming, with Lectures and Discussions on the Necessity of Telecommunications Empirical Research within Wireless Networking with Robotics.

Wireless Standards Configuration Lab

Lectures/Labs 3 & 4

Coordinated Lectures and Team Discussions on Conventional to Meshed Typologies of Wireless Networks for Robotics: Project Planning

Configuration Lab 

Lectures/Labs 5 & 6 
Lectures and Team Discussions on the Empirical Importance of Applied Wireless Surveys with regard to Robotic Telecommunications:

Wireless Survey Project

Lectures/Labs 7 & 8 
Plan and Advanced Wireless Robotics Project:

Mesh Networking Project

 
Lectures/Labs 9 & 10 
Plan and execute Presentations:

Final Project Planning

Lectures/Labs  11 & 12 
Plan and execute Wireless Project:

Telecommunications for Robotics Telemetry

Note: Due to the hands on empirical nature of this course, adjustments to the schedule of activity may be required in accordance with group activities as directed by the Professor.

MORE INFO:

Scheduled Class/Lab Dates:
           
Week 1 – Tuesday May 20^th and Thursday May 22^nd
Week 2 – Tuesday May 27^th and Thursday May 29^th
Week 3 – Tuesday June 3^rd and Thursday June 5^th
Week 4 – Tuesday June 10^th and Thursday June 12^th
Week 5 – Tuesday June 17^th and Thursday June 19^th
Week 6 – Tuesday June 24^th and Thursday June 26^th
Week 7 – Tuesday July 1^st and Thursday July 3^rd university closed
Week 8 – Tuesday 8^th  and Thursday July 10^th Final exam    

From: http://telecom.gmu.edu/course-info/MS-TCOM-Summer-2008-Ver3.doc

Please ignore the statement: "Starts Tuesday June 9^th and runs for 8 weeks as follows:"

(It is always good confirm the dates and times provided with the latest officially published GMU catalogue.)

For the Summer 2008 GMU Catalogue follow this link: George Mason University - Summer 2008

Where you should see:

"TCOM 590 Wireless Networks and robotics

Section X01 meets 5/20-7/10. See http://summer.gmu.edu/sessionX.html for add/drop dates.

X01 5/20 40504 TR 4:30 p.m.-7:10 p.m. IN 316"