Jv
J. van Ingen
info
Please Note
<p>This page displays the records of the person named above and is not linked to a unique person identifier. This record may need to be merged to a profile.</p>
1 records found
1
Networks are widely used in modern communication, social, and technological systems, but their structure and dynamic processes can be difficult to understand through static visualizations alone. This thesis presents the design and implementation of a set of handheld wireless controllers that function as physical nodes in a network. By moving the controllers, users can create and modify network topologies interactively, making abstract network concepts more tangible for educational use.The system consists of ESP32-based microcontroller nodes that communicate using the ESP-NOW protocol. Each node determines its connections to other nodes using received signal strength indicator measurements, which are smoothed and interpreted through a double-boundary method to improve connection stability. A coordinator node communicates with a host computer, where a Python-based user interface visualizes the network topology and node states in real time. In addition to forming networks, the controllers can be used to run a dynamic process on the network: the Non-Consensus Opinion model. In this model, each node holds one of two opinions and updates its state based on the majority opinion in its local neighbourhood. The implementation was tested on several network structures, including line, circle, and island configurations. The experimental results show that the physical controller network can reproduce the expected behaviour of the opinion model while providing both local LED feedback and on-screen visualization. The project demonstrates that handheld wireless controllers can provide an interactive and intuitive platform for teaching network topology and dynamic processes on networks. Future improvements may further increase communication efficiency, positioning accuracy, and scalability.
...
Networks are widely used in modern communication, social, and technological systems, but their structure and dynamic processes can be difficult to understand through static visualizations alone. This thesis presents the design and implementation of a set of handheld wireless controllers that function as physical nodes in a network. By moving the controllers, users can create and modify network topologies interactively, making abstract network concepts more tangible for educational use.The system consists of ESP32-based microcontroller nodes that communicate using the ESP-NOW protocol. Each node determines its connections to other nodes using received signal strength indicator measurements, which are smoothed and interpreted through a double-boundary method to improve connection stability. A coordinator node communicates with a host computer, where a Python-based user interface visualizes the network topology and node states in real time. In addition to forming networks, the controllers can be used to run a dynamic process on the network: the Non-Consensus Opinion model. In this model, each node holds one of two opinions and updates its state based on the majority opinion in its local neighbourhood. The implementation was tested on several network structures, including line, circle, and island configurations. The experimental results show that the physical controller network can reproduce the expected behaviour of the opinion model while providing both local LED feedback and on-screen visualization. The project demonstrates that handheld wireless controllers can provide an interactive and intuitive platform for teaching network topology and dynamic processes on networks. Future improvements may further increase communication efficiency, positioning accuracy, and scalability.