Kim Tokuuke was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. She is graduating from the University of Hawaii at Hilo in May 2012 with a degree in Computer Science. Her goal is to be a computer programmer because she enjoys the challenge of coding. In her spare time, she enjoys baking cupcakes and other sweet treats.
Institution when accepted: University of Hawaii at Hilo
Akamai Project: Investigating Web Technologies for Complex, Real-Time Instrument Displays
Project Site: Subaru Telescope National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Mentors: David Cook & Stephen Colley
Project Abstract:
Advances in mobile technology, widespread availability of Internet access, and numer-ous devices containing modern Web browsers led us to explore complex, high per-formance, instrument GUIs using the latest Web technologies. Traditional GUIs often require a multitude of programs to be installed, making them platform-dependent. A Web-based solution would allow users to monitor data from anywhere with Internet ac-cess, without the hassle of downloading or installing additional programs. To explore this idea, we used the real-time monitor of the Subaru Adaptive Optics system as a benchmark. This display is very dynamic, graphics-intensive, and updates at least 15 times per second (15 Hz). We utilized SVG and HTML5 Canvas to render three orbs, each composed of 188 polygons. We relied on JavaScript to retrieve information from the server, process the data, draw the polygons in Canvas, and assign the data gray-scale colors. We programmed mouse-over events to display the element number and data for each polygon, Canvas sliders to highlight polygons outside of a specific range, and a Canvas strip chart illustrating light data changing over time. In conclusion, when comparing the functionality of our strip chart, orbs, and sliders to the Subaru monitor that contains similar components, we found that Web-based monitoring applications for real-time systems are very possible.