Four University of Hawaii at Hilo computer science and engineering students closed out 2023 by working to improve the computing code for the Helelani planetary rover.
UH-Hilo seniors Jayden Matsunaka, Richard Sevao, Daniel Malone and A.J. Garcia together are documenting and updating the rover’s code, which essentially is the series of instructions that tells Helelani what to do.
“For our software engineering class, we pitched our idea of how we would do the code review and update the code base for a project,” Malone said. “When we were giving these proposals, we didn’t expect this to be the project we’d end up with, and it’s been really interesting.”
The four students are enrolled in a yearlong software engineering course, CS460, taught by H. Keith Edward, where they are required to do a long-term project that gets them experience in the real world.
This is the first cohort of interns in several years to work with the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems, or PISCES, which is a research center at UH-Hilo.
“In class, you are building simple programs, but through PISCES, we can also build our soft skills while looking at a much different, larger code base,” Sevao said. “This class and internship has been a great opportunity for us to apply the skills we’ve learned to a much larger scale, as well as network.”
First obtained from the Canada Space Agency in the early 2000s, the 700-pound Helelani rover has given students and interns with the PISCES program an opportunity to design cameras for navigation, computer control systems and other improvements.
“Some aspects of the (internship) project have been difficult since there is so much scope. That is a big hurdle. There is a lot to look at, and a lot we haven’t seen before,” Malone said. “It’s not always stuff we may need in the future, but we’ve learned a lot about different, open source code that others have written.”
Because it’s been a few years since Helelani’s systems were updated, the work the students accomplish will help future students who use the rover.
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned so far is time management and working with a team,” Matsunaka said. “This is one of the biggest projects I’ve done with a group, and so we have to actively make sure we each get our work done in a timely manner. That is experience is important when joining the workforce.”
After reviewing, updating and documenting the code, the four interns plan on adding a 360-degree camera to the rover during the second half of the internship during the upcoming semester.
While the students plan to find jobs in software engineering or information technology after graduating, the internship has given them a glimpse into how they might be able to apply their education in the future.
“Going to UH-Hilo points you in more science-related directions with opportunities to work with PISCES, the telescopes or through Akamai (Workforce Initiative,)” Malone said. “I’m planning on going into software engineering after school, but I’m keeping my eyes open to all opportunities.”
Matsunaka and Sevao agreed with this, and they plan to look for jobs in every area of software engineering or information technology after graduating in May.
Garcia also will be graduating in May but is located in Seattle, where he works remotely with Matsunaka, Sevao and Malone to update the rover’s software.
“To those interested in computer science, I suggest really looking around to see what you want to do,” Matsunaka said. “Computer science is a vague topic, and there are so many different fields out there and components that overlap. There are many things people can choose from.”
For more information about PISCES and its internships, visit pacificspacecenter.com/education/internships.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.