Jouni Ikonen

Accuracy and time to first fix using consumer-grade GPS receivers

The primary objectives in this study were to measure time to first fix values and analyze the accuracy of the first fix coordinates of consumer-grade GPS receivers. Three different test surroundings were selected: the open sky, semi-urban and urban environments, which were tested with three GPS receivers. In addition, assisted GPS performance and the effect of A-GPS on the TTFF was tested with two different receivers. The accuracy of the first fix and time to first fix was determined by the results of these measurements. Based on the results, the impact of the surroundings and devices on position accuracy and start-up times was determined. In start-up times without assisting no remarkable differences were observed between GPS receivers. However, the observed accuracy of the first fix between the most and least accurate receiver was significant.

Cloud-based bibliometric analysis service for systematic mapping studies

There is an increasing number of scientific articles being published, which makes tracking the state of the art more time-consuming. There are software tools available to help with systematic mapping studies in a field of science, but most of these tools are closed source and involve several manual time-consuming steps that could be automated further. We present an open solution as a cloud-based design for bibliographic analysis that makes the research method available for a wider audience.

Increasing collaborative communications in a programming course with gamification: a case study

In this case study we present an approach for using gamification elements to increase online student collaboration. In the study a gamified online discussion system was added to an introduction to programming course, with the aim of motivating the students to help each other. The actions in the discussion systems were analyzed and compared with user profiles and a student survey. The system had a positive impact on the course, increasing student collaboration, reduced response times and made course communications 88% more efficient by reducing email traffic.

Creating software engineering student interaction profiles for discovering gamification approaches to improve collaboration

Benefits of collaborative learning are established and gamification methods have been used to motivate students towards achieving course goals in educational settings. However, different users prefer different game elements and rewarding approaches. We present an evidence-based method and a case study where interaction analysis and k-means clustering is used to create gamification preference profiles. These profiles can be used with an agent-based simulation to evaluate how computer supported collaboration system users react to the gamification elements and how the collaboration dynamics change.

Mobile fieldwork solution for the construction industry

In order to stay within schedule and budget limits, large construction projects require fluent communication and information exchange between the collaborating enterprises. Unnecessary project delays and rework is mostly caused by missing or outdated information. Easily available, accurate and up-to-date information on the project status can improve work efficiency and quality. Such information can be efficiently shared between project partners in electronic form, and extending the information flow to on-site workers requires mobile devices and wireless communication. This paper describes the development of a mobile solution for construction industry fieldwork. The mobile application enables the collection and access to relevant information at the point of activity, i.e., the construction site. The collected information is shared with all concerned project partners in real time. The solution was tested in a construction environment, and the results are presented and discussed. Aside from a few technical problems, the results were promising.

Communication patterns in collaborative software engineering courses: a case for computer-supported collaboration

Collaboration has become an important teaching method in software engineering and there are several computer supported collaboration tools to aid the development and learning process. However, most studies have concentrated on intra-group studies. We believe that computer supported collaborative learning tools can also aid software engineering students to have beneficial inter-group collaboration. In this research the communication patterns in three collaborative software engineering courses were analyzed with the method of social network analysis. It was found out that students do collaborate, but mostly along pre-established social connections. The main reason for this was the difficulty in matchmaking and discovering others who were struggling with the same problems. Our proposal is to study how students in similar learning scenarios benefit from computer supported collaborative tools that increase networking opportunities. The findings presented in this paper provide a baseline for comparison when performing social network analysis in future studies.

Automating construction project quality assurance with RFID- and mobile technologies

The most critical part of a construction project is normally the construction elements that form the structure of the building. Concrete construction elements are often used as support structures and on the facade of the building, but they are vulnerable to manufacturing defects as well as being damaged on-site. Such defects can create a lot of additional costs to all parties involved in the project. Discovering and communicating about errors can be problematic as normally quality assurance is done manually and data is stored in paper format. Our research concentrated on automating the quality assurance of concrete elements. The task was approached by embedding RFID-tags in the elements enabling them to be identified wirelessly and associated with information in a data system. In field conditions users identify the construction elements with a mobile phone and interact electronically with the quality assurance system. As the information is created in digital form, the system can analyze it to detect errors and react automatically, notifying people responsible of faults. This paper presents the implementation of the system and discusses challenges and benefits.

Barcodes and mobile phones as part of logistic chain in construction industry

Management of goods is an essential part of many businesses. Goods can be identified by different means, but often labor intensive methods are avoided. For this reason barcode and radio identification methods have become popular. In this paper we study the usability of cellular phone camera for tracking goods and present a test application, which can be used for tracking goods. In our test application all the data about the goods is located in a central server which the cellular phone connects via data connection. Readability of barcode in different environments is also evaluated.

Applying a modified Chandy-Misra algorithm to the distributed simulation of a cellular network

The performance of the Chandy-Misra algorithm in distributed simulation has been studied in the context of a particular simulation application: a cellular network. The logical process structure under the algorithm is modified in such a way that the excessive synchronisation caused by the algorithm can be avoided. The synchronisation is minimised by reducing the number of connections between logical processes (LP). The concept of a neighbourhood of an LP is defined in such way that an LP is connected via logical channels only to those LPs that belong to its neighbourhood. A broadcast messages method is proposed to solve the communication between non connected logical processes, i.e. those outside the neighbourhood. Simulation experiments are carried out in a previously implemented distributed simulation environment, Diworse. A GSM network is used as a simulation application where target of the simulation is to obtain estimates for the channel utilisation. Carrier per interference (C/I) values for GSM channels are used for determining the need for handovers. Execution time of the simulation and deviations in the C/I values are measured for completely connected and broadcast message methods in order to find out the effect of connection reduction. The results indicate that the broadcast messages method enables significantly faster simulation. With the GSM application, the proposed method has only a negligible distorting effect on the simulation.

Teaching programming with flipped classroom method: a study from two programming courses

Flipped classroom teaching method, where theory is studied at home and exercises are done in the classroom, is gaining foothold in teaching. The method has been used with different approaches and guidelines, yet a single unified process has not been described. In this work we compare existing literature to our experiences in teaching. As our main result we outline a simple process description and guidelines for building a course structure with flipped classroom. Flipping the classroom has been found to be more efficient than traditional lecture-exercises model and the our findings support this. Therefore we recommend teachers to explore the possibility of utilizing the method.