Communications Group

From The Collaboratory

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Projects
Flight Tracking & Messaging Systems (FTMS - formerly AAS) Wireless Enabled Remote Co-presence (WERC) for the Cognitively & Behaviorally Challenged Growing the Communications Group (GCG)
Members
Nicole Steiner (student group leader / FTMS / GCG) Steve Heindel (FTMS) Adelani Osunsakin (WERC) Jason Shortall (WERC / GCG) Evan Liem (Group Orientation / GCG)
Advisors
Harold Underwood (Group Advisor / WERC co-advisor, tech side) Nancy Patrick (WERC co-advisor, humanities side) David Gray (WERC co-advisor, tech side)

Summary

This Group encompasses engineering work in wireless and wired communications technology for service, education and non-profit competition, such as contests.

Mission

1) become licensed Amateur Radio Operators at the Technician, General and Advanced Levels, 2) meet the needs of clients (e.g., DRASTIC, PACTEC, MAF, MSI and UIM) with low cost, high quality, effective solutions appropriate to the context of the application (i.e., geographical, social, economic, legal, etc.), 3) research, experiment and compete with new communications modes and explore how communications technology is and should be used in today's world.

Vision

Develop student knowledge, skills and experience with modern communications technology, such as through Amateur (Ham) Radio and by learning to design and implement engineering aspects of radio systems, to meet the specific need of a client, and explore or develop new communications modes through research, experimentation and/or contest participation.

News

Projects

Current projects

The Communications Group (formerly known as ACTS for Antennas, Communication, and Telemetry Services) enables students to use their knowledge and skills in the areas of communications and signaling. The scope of ACTS includes many aspects of communication and telemetry, including satellite communication, HF, VHF, UHF, digital, and voice.

1. Flight Tracking & Messaging Systems (FTMS) for small aircraft in remote locations

FTMS is currently submitted to the Collaboratory for approval as an official project. FTMS is a continuation of a series of three Engineering Senior Projects, known as Alternative Aviation Solutions (AAS). Currently, students are exploring an upgraded version of JAARS AFFS capable of communicating flight data and messages via satellite link. See details of previous project work below, in the Past Projects section.

2. Wireless Enabled Remote Co-presence (WERC) for the cognitively & behaviorally challenged

Students are developing and testing the prototype developed from research during summer 2008, conducted in collaboration with the staff of SymBionyx, a local company that hopes to market WERC. The initial working prototype will be improved, based on the latest emerging technology alternatives. See below for details about SymBionyx, and the vision for WERC.

SymBionyx develops innovative solutions to assist late adolescents and young adults who have high functioning Autism or Asperger’s Disorder. SymBionyx employs coaching services, for diagnostic, job and life skills, together with tools of communication technology designed to unlock the potential of its clients as they transition into the workforce and independent living. Currently, as many as 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with some form of autism, with degrees of impairment ranging across what is called the Autism Spectrum. Although autistic individuals at the lower functioning end of the spectrum may never become capable of competitive employment or independent living, those diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder or Asperger’s Disorder have a higher functioning form of autism. While those with Asperger’s Disorder commonly experience deficits in social functioning, such a challenge need not preclude either their employability or independent living. SymBionyx offers them the remedial training and life skills coaching oriented to Asperger’s-specific deficits that can enhance potential employability and full capacities for independent living . SymBionyx exists to uniquely serve this employable-but-for-remediation subset of the Autism Spectrum population. SymBionyx addresses this gap in service capacity by developing a comprehensive solution known as SocialWERC. SocialWERC combines one-on-one job coaching with a skills training process supported by proprietary wireless communications technology. The technology aspect of the SymBionyx’s SocialWERC solution relies on a proprietary concept called Wireless Enabled Remote Co-presence (WERC). WERC reconfigures existing wireless communications hardware into a multi-component device involving associated technologies and services (hereafter referred to as WERCware). WERCware enables new forms of training and support for behaviorally, socially and/or cognitively challenged children and adults. With one important qualification, the multi-component WERCware device acts as a training-specific adaptation of current generation multifunction cell phones including separate wireless Bluetooth™ headsets, and several additional discrete wirelessly-connected components. These additional components include a voice headset and a cell phone-type micro-video camera that can be unobtrusively attached to or within a trainee’s eyeglasses, nametag, or placed almost anywhere else. Most significantly, WERC permits a remote coach or trainer, located virtually anywhere else, to share his/her trainees’ point of view—that is, to see and hear exactly what they are seeing and hearing, in real time or, retroactively by “instant replay.” The coach can then discuss and advise them about what is happening, without the context-distorting effects of being physically present in their situation, the only way in-situ training can currently be done. Other WERC features permit further significant enhancements over existing onsite job-training capabilities. To cite only one: Long after formal job coaching is completed, clients or their employers may elect to continue subscribing to a WERCware-based support service— as a sort of job crisis Onstar™ for Asperger’s Disorder or Anger Management—where a WERCware client who senses an impending crisis, can request active monitoring, and get counsel from a remote coach, to avert a crisis. Or, if a situation developed too quickly to actually avert the crisis, a WERCware remote coach could at least support a client soon enough after a crisis to permit damage control, and possibly facilitate recovery, after reviewing “instant replay” audio and video of the event, from the client’s point of view. SymBionyx is currently developing a pilot program to provide job coaching and training services, along with a device prototype. A team of Messiah College students supervised by faculty and SymBionyx staff will design, develop and test the prototype.

3. Growing the Communications Group (GCG)

Mounting the Diamond Vertical Antenna: Current work needed includes design and construction (welding) of a base to mount a Diamond vertical antenna atop Frey Hall roof, with lightning protection completed by an outside electrical contractor, to enable operation of the Yaesu transceiver in the Comm Group office, on UHF bands.

Submit FTMS to Collaboratory for Approval: The ongoing project involving Flight Tracking and Messaging needs to be assessed and submitted to the Collaboratory for official approval.

Locate, Prepare, and Develop an Antenna Farm: A plot of land on campus, near Frey Hall, suitable to serve as an "antenna farm" needs to be identified, and submitted for approval to Messiah College authorities. Once approved, this plot of land needs to be fenced off for security, and prepared for mounting experimental antennas, making the Yaesu transceiver usable on a range of HF bands eligible for licensed Amateur Radio operators.

RF Bounce for Gamma Ray detection: A student is needed to research & develop an antenna (such as an inverted V) and associated detector to receive signals from a strong radio station not otherwise sensed by direct line of sight, as an aid to detecting and verifying Gamma Ray incidents. The goal of this potential project is to serve and assist Dr. Kryemadhi, involved in active Gamma Ray Detection research.

Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) for internet connectivity (for demo, testing & training): A student is needed to research, conduct a site survey, select, construct and aim a satellite dish antenna (VSAT) at a geosynchronous satellite capable of providing internet connectivity. If the beacon signal is detected, and further funding for equipment secured, then cable, modem, PC and internet service may be acquired to set up a fully operational VSAT facility for demonstration, testing and training of how this could be achieved to establish internet connectivity in remote locations.

Communicating with Ethiopian students at Mekelle Institute of Technology (MIT): Students from the Communications Group are invited to exchange emails (and/or IMs), etc with interested students studying related topics at Mekelle Institute of Technology, in Tigrai, Ethiopia. These students are contacts made by Dr. Underwood during his visit as a Guest Lecturer in June 2008.

Amateur Radio Contests: Students may plan local contests to involve and recruit new students to the Communications Group.

Past projects

AAS 2008 was a third-year continuing project exploring opportunities to better serve mission aviation through low-cost alternative communications and flight tracking systems. An Engineering Department senior design project of Messiah College, the AAS 2008 team consisted of three senior engineering students and a faculty adviser. The project intended to serve pilots and personnel of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) through the shared coordination and expertise of JAARS. The project team also received guidance from Cary Cupka, formerly Research and Development Coordinator for Mission Safety International (MSI), to coordinate efforts between organizations by suggesting standards that benefit a broader clientèle and maintain safety. Marten Beels, a graduate of Messiah College and member of the AAS 2006 project team, also aided the team as a consultant.

AAS 2008 sought to develop a combined flight tracking and text-based communications package using Codan high frequency (HF) New Generation Transceivers (NGTs), a standard for the fleet of aircraft owned by MAF. As recommended by MSI, AAS 2008 pursued a solution that built upon existing technology owned by JAARS, known as the Automatic Flight Following System (AFFS). Thus, in cooperation with JAARS, AAS 2008 sought to upgrade components necessary to ensure the future manufacturing of the AFFS Control Unit (CU), while also removing its pair of Pactor-II modems for interoperability with the digital Computer Interface Command Set (CICS) native to this line of Codan HF transceivers. Specifically, this entailed the anticipated selection of a new single-board computer within the AFFS CU and a modification of its firmware. The AFFS CU’s current single-board computer, the BL1500 (019-0030 rev C), is no longer produced, preventing future manufacturing of the AFFS CU, in its present form. AAS 2008, in accordance with JAARS’ interests, intended to replace this single-board computer with an appropriate alternative. However, it was unable to do so, due to the reduced number of I/O pins provided in updated versions of the BL1500, making this line of microprocessors unable to drive the diplay unit of the AFFS, in its present form, and thus the BL1500 was retained, and the upgrade left for future work. AFFS firmware operated much the same as before, with modifications to its transmission protocol to accommodate CICS. Also within the AFFS Control Unit, the Pactor-II modem was removed as CICS is a digital command set that takes advantage of the Codan’s internal modem capabilities. For the same reason, this modem was also removed on the dispatch end so that AFFSWIN software could communicate via CICS commands over the Codan HF transceiver.

AAS 2008 was hopeful that future generations of this project will work to develop JAARS’ AFFS, or a similar system, into a hybrid solution that takes advantage of up-and-coming communications technologies, such as satellite. Other improvements that could be made in future generations might be the ability to pre-configure the system’s text messaging capabilities, giving the pilot the ability to set messages unique to the flight. AAS 2008 and MSI hoped that future AAS teams would accomplish these goals while continuing to build upon the work of previous AAS teams to offer a more enhanced and reliable service to the mission aviation community.

MSI strives to meet the safety needs of mission aviation departments across the globe, including past AAS clients MAF and United Indian Mission (UIM). While commercial aircraft are typically equipped with multiple safety systems including voice/data communications, equipment logging, and real time flight tracking, smaller mission aviation departments are often ill-equipped and struggle to afford even the most modest of systems. Mission aviation flights are also more often rugged, with short take-offs and landings common in most scenarios, and a concern for maximum space and weight efficiency in each flight. The need to create simplified, less costly, space-efficient communications and flight tracking systems becomes a necessity. The purpose of the multi-generational AAS project has been to assist MSI in their vision to provide a multi-faceted alternative to the ever-growing cost and demand of commercial flight tracking and communications systems. AAS 2008 aimed to extend this purpose through a cooperative partnership with JAARS, by enhancing their AFFS and benefiting from their extensive knowledge-base. AAS 2008 intended to tailor the modified version of AFFS to the needs of MAF to make it interoperable with the Codan NGT. Increased partnerships and coordination amongst aviation departments will greatly serve the individual pilot who may be depending on the work of this and future FTMS project teams.

The AAS 2007 senior project group, working in consultation with Mission Safety International (MSI) focused on a satellite link solution to the messaging needs of UIM International pilots in Mexico.

The 2006 AAS senior project group focused on the HF radio link and digital messaging used to keep track of missionary pilots in remote locations. The system allows a ground station to automatically track small aircraft by GPS coordinates, displaying status messages and locations of a missionary airplane on a computer map.