UH Hilo CS students (L–R): Jayden Matsunaka, Daniel Malone, and Richard Sevao.
Technology changes fast and it’s a been a few years since our Helelani planetary rover had any updates to her software systems. Thankfully, a group of students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s computer science department have risen to the occasion to streamline Helelani’s on-board programming.
Jayden Matsunaka, Daniel Malone, Richard Sevao, and AJ Garcia (not pictured) are enrolled in Dr. H. Keith Edward’s introductory software engineering course and will spend the next two semesters documenting and improving the efficiency of the rover’s system software. A crucial part of their job will be reviewing and updating the existing operating system code to improve stability and offer greater flexibility for upgrades. The team will also create written documentation for the Helelani’s host and client software so future students will have a user guide and reference point to start from.
The students are the first cohort to intern with PISCES in several years. We are excited to have them on board and look forward to seeing their progress and innovation unfold!