FACETS and EDGE is a two-part system that offers an open-source real-time collaborative environment intended to allow engineers to seamlessly share and develop projects using a shared interface. EDGE is a document repository, while FACETS is designed to provide tools for collaborative development. Our project is to continue the work started by previous senior project and graduate teams by making small additions to EDGE and adding tools to the Needs Assessment area of FACETS. We are also responsible for improving and maintaining the FACETS project so that future teams can continue it.
FACETS is developed using PHP, Smarty Templates, and MySQL. It is hosted on an Apache server. Our additions will be completed using the same platforms and technologies as the existing FACETS tools. The current FACETS program is configured to run on a LAMP machine - Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. One of our lower priorities will be to experiment with and implement a FACETS server on a WAMP machine – Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP.
Our main addition to FACETS will be a tool based on an Engineering concept, the House of Quality. In a broad sense, this works to ensure that the firm meets customer desires throughout the project. We will also be adding in a Function Tree Tool.
Our team will be working with input from the RIT Mechanical Engineering Department. A current version of the EDGE is in use for the department’s senior design project program, available at http://edge.rit.edu.