Week 12

During the beginning of the week, I continued to learn more about the Android programming environment. I have been using a mixture of the Google online resources and a number of youtube tutorials. At this point, I feel that I have a good understanding of the basic building blocks of an Android application and that anything else I might need while creating an app, I will be able to learn when necessary.

On Thursday, Vishal and I met with Amir to discuss the sources of mobile randomness we wish to investigate. We came up with the following six sources:

- Available Bluetooth Device Statistics

- Available Wifi Network Statistics

- Antenna Signal Strength

- Battery Power/Voltage

- Battery Charge/Discharge Rate

- Running Process Statistics

Vishal and I split the list and each of us will work on three sources. For now, we will each create an app, with the eventual goal being to combine them into a single app that can collect from all six sources. We also hope to set up some sort of networking so that we can send the aquired information to a central location rather than having it stored locally.

I took the first three sources and have begun working on recording available wifi networks and their statistics. Android has a built-in WifiManager class that facilitates any wifi interaction. I have written a test application, but am getting errors when running it on the emulator. I don't know if the errors are due to my program or the fact that it is running on an emulator. In the next week, I will debug the wifi app, and work on the other two sources.