Development of a desktop application client software for running ILABS experiments

Abstract

This report is about the development of a desktop application client software for running ilabs experiments. In the past years, internet labs were accessed through web browsers which consume a lot of ram hence some students couldn’t run it on some of their computer and they also needed older server technology which was incompatible with current browser version hence it bought up a need to design a new system which would eliminate many of the shortcomings of the old system. A desktop application was designed using windows forms and some of the controls were made fixed like the frequency and amplitude knobs since each lab would require them while others were made dynamic by generating them according to the specifications of the lab. A data socket was used to get the wave graphs from the server and then bind them to the graph. A student was also given a chance to take screen shots and generate a lab report. With the development of this application, it bought up a need to design new server software which it would interact with. With this new system, a student can access the lab with any computer at any time as long as the time they scheduled for has reached. The work for the student researcher was also reduced since they don’t have to design a new interface for each lab since the software has a dynamic interface. This report consists of four chapters as described below; Chapter one: Introduction; This chapter includes the background of the research project, problem statement, general and specific objectives, justification and scope. Chapter Two: Literature Review; This chapter contains a study and analysis of previous work done in line with the topic of the research project. It further includes descriptions of the different tools and equipment that were used in the design and implementation of the research project. Chapter Three: Methodology; This chapter includes all the steps taken to implement the specific objectives of the research project. Chapter Four: Challenges, Recommendations and Conclusion; This chapter includes the challenges encountered in the course of this project. It also has the recommendations that should be fulfilled for the project to attain a large impact together with the conclusion.