UL Student: Jacob Beck
Course: LM121 BSc Computer Games Development
Mentor: Dr Patrick Healy
My name is Jacob and I’m a 2nd year student in Computer Games Development at the University of Limerick. Last Summer I had the opportunity to take part in the UPSTaRT programme under the mentorship of Dr Patrick Healy. My mentor had an idea for a piece of software that would take a picture of several Euro coins on a table and return the total value of money in the picture. We dubbed this project the Coin Counter Programme. Using the C++ programming language I made a working desktop version, and then using Java and Android Studio I could port it to phones. The progression from the start to where we are now was tough but rewarding. I started out trying to get the desktop version running in Java, but with my mentor’s guidance, I found it much easier to learn C++ programming and use it. This was due to the external library used for the project, OpenCV, being originally designed for C++, and thus had much better documentation for that language.
Although further development has been halted due to the completion of the app, the next logical step for the CCP would be to implement other currencies such as dollars or Japanese yen. Another upgrade would be to forego the picture aspect, and just be able to hover your phone over the coins and have the value picked up by the programme returned to you.
I believe that it is a great idea for students to get involved in research like this early in their third-level education, for three main reasons. 1 – You build good relationships with the lecturers in your department of study, as I did with Dr Healy. 2 – The experience and knowledge you gain from the project will stand to you in the future, for example, my course had a C++ module two semesters after I undertook the project, and the experience in the language really helped me. 3 – Things like this are extremely attractive to employers on a CV and could potentially help you get much better opportunities for a co-operative education placement.
I would recommend anyone at the beginning of their third-level education to consider a research programme such as UPSTaRT and would like to thank the Faculty of Science and Engineering for this opportunity.