Wednesday 3 December 2014

Supervisor meeting - Results

Hey all,

Thanks again Matias for setting up the meeting with Dr.Claus. Just to briefly update the other people who couldn't make it please see below.


  • Dr. Claus we really happy with our work thus far guys! :) All feedback was good. So well done to all of you!


We need to keep this momentum going, if we manage that we should be all good come 7 weeks.


  • We took Dr. Claus through the prototypes and showed him the basic mechanic for the Infrared game mechanic. 
  • Matias will give Dr.Claus a link to our new group blog (this bog).


  • We also explained how we would ideally like to give him the ability to modify the system in terms of number of minigames available. Also in terms of changing textures that get applied to assets without having to use the game engine. Keeping the system flexible and modifiable, as Akshayan mentioned. I did let him know that this was something we would 'like' to add to the system not something we definitely will be adding. But I'll try and come up with some kind of Admin panel in the next couple of weeks :) In theory it shouldn't be crazy difficult and would be awesome!


  • We asked a number of animation questions as well, which Begoña made notes of. For example how the probe would detach itself from the orbiter.
  • Begoña also asked about potential issues that would occur with the orbiter which was smart since this could potentially open up loads of mini game scenarios. We also discussed the trade off between probe payload and the weight of the probe.


  • Dr. Clause mentioned, what I think is a neat idea for a mini game, that I will post in a separate post.


  • I also told Dr.Claus that we will have a working prototype with at least one mini game done within the next two weeks. If anything seeing as how we have 7 weeks left we should really be able to meet this deliverable if not surpass. I intent to build a web player build or PC build for him. I'll post more details on my personal blog when that time comes.

Any of you other guys who were present please do reply if you think I've missed anything! :)

Cheers,
Rob

3 comments:

  1. Dr. Claus mencioned the Beagle 2, a Mars lander which was launched with the Mars Express orbiter towards Mars on 19 December 2003, as something we could use as a reference for our project. I've been looking into it and actually found lots of useful information that can give us ideas for mini games as well as the different parts of the lander, how they work and their purpose. Have a look here:
    - ABOUT BEAGLE 2: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraftDisplay.do?id=2003-022C
    - DATA COLLECTION FROM BEAGLE 2: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/datasetSearch.do?spacecraft=Beagle%202
    - EXPERIMENTS ON BEAGLE 2: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentSearch.do?spacecraft=Beagle%202
    - YOUTUBE 3D ANIMATION VIDEO http://youtu.be/YjNyweyGwHQ

    As for how the probe would detach itself from the orbiter Dr. Claus said it would happen with a spring mechanism, so with this information I looked in the web and found this article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031222072234.htm
    This web page has lots of information so have a look and see if you find something else of your interest :)

    Another question I raised was how the orbiter was powered, as I thought running out of fuel or batteries could be another option for a mini game. I've done some research and the truth is most of the spacecrafts are powered with solar panels, but missions to deep space would need enormous panels, so for these missions nuclear energy is the only option. More info here http://www.wired.com/2013/09/nuclear-space-missions/#slideid-586674

    Also, I just found this blog with the lastest update about the MISSION TO NEPTUNE!! You can also find out more about the nuclear fission reactor that is used for the propulsion of the probe in this blog: http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=303

    Enjoy :)
    Begoña

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    Replies
    1. Thanks againt Begoña for all the work into this, it's much appreciated :) I'll check out these topics asap!

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