Learning Objectives

My learning objectives for the ICEX program include learning more about algorithms and programming approaches that will help improve the look and speed of the current visualizations pipeline. As a member of last year’s team, I obtained a basic understanding of graphics and scientific visualizations. This year, I would like to focus on exploring the vast field of computer graphics from a more experienced position. Specifically, I would like to continue my summer’s work on hole filling of sonar data and statistical analysis of the filled walls. My more general goal is to gain more knowledge in the computer graphics field and use my new knowledge to obtain a computer graphics programming internship in the future. Another objective is to share my knowledge and experience from last year with other team members. Last year, I learned about Malta’s culture and I look forward to adding to that knowledge base. This year we will also be working in Sicily, and I am excited to learn and explore a culture I have limited knowledge of.

Winter Progress

As a participant of last year’s ICEX team, I had the opportunity to continue working on our solutions over the summer. Towards the end of the summer, I was working on creating a function to determine confidence values for walls generated by the Hole Filling algorithm. Unfortunately, school started and I no longer had time to work on the solution. Over break, I completed the remaining parts of the algorithm and added confidence values to the input data. I then used these calculated confidence values to add more information to the visualization of the cisterns. Additionally, I tied up loose ends in the existing software to create a more stable and complete graphics pipeline. The existing Hole Filling software was not robust, as it would only run if certain sampling rules were followed. I found and fixed many bugs related to this problem, and the algorithm now runs as expected.

To the left is an image of a cistern mapped by last year’s team with the hole filled (there is no indication of a hole being filled). To the right is an image of the same cistern using transparency to illustrate the calculated confidence value of the filled hole (the confidence values used are a sample).

Hi Everyone

I am really excited to be a part of this year’s ICEX team and cannot wait to meet all of you. My name is Jeffrey Forrester and I am a junior studying computer science at Cal Poly. I am interested in computer graphics and enjoy learning and solving difficult problems. For this year’s ICEX project I will be improving the surface extraction of sonar data created by last year’s team. When I’m not working on schoolwork I enjoy relaxing with friends, exercising, and being outdoors. I look forward to working with all of you.