This is a joint effort between two universities for rapid prototyping of mobile computers. The projects involve teams of students who over the course of a semester design the hardware, software, and packaging of mobile computer systems, and fabricate prototypes by combining standard electronic parts with custom fabricated cases and interconnect harnesses. This project focusses primarily on mobile computing for the diagnosis of telecommunications networks. Mobile computer systems that include stationary and mobile computers, interface devices, and software, are being designed and fabricated for these applications. The project goal is to systematize the prototyping process in several ways: by providing an integrated design tool that can simultaneously represent electronic, thermal, and mechanical constraints; by providing modular template architectures for mobile computers; and by reporting on experience in the co-design of software, mobile hardware, and stationary hardware in a mobile computing system.
