These pages are supposed to be a central repository for useful information ("corporate knowledge") that gets generated in the lab by its members. You must be an authorized user to view and edit content. Examples of the types of information that will hopefully be stored here include descriptions of the various procedures used in the lab (e.g., how to write and submit your COUHES applications, how to pay your subjects, or how to get re-imbursed for that highly successful conference trip) as well as information about the various hardware and software used by members of the lab (e.g., pointers on how to install, set-up, and use it). The main idea is to have the information in a central location so future generations of MVL'ers will not have to re-invent the wheel or reverse engineer a simulation.

MVL lab members are encouraged to add content to these pages. You need to be a registered user to add content (the generic MVL user cannot edit), so contact Andy Liu to obtain a user ID and initial password and get a quick demo how to add content.

There are three main areas of content:

Lab Procedures: This section has all the useful information you are looking for to get various administrative things done in the lab. The Experiments section describes the basic process for completing your human subjects training, writing and submitting a COUHES application, and reporting incidents to COUHES, as well as the procedure for paying those hard-working subjects. There are sections on purchasing and travel that give you information on planning as well as reimbursement. There is a section on lab safety and finally a small section with some useful lab documents, like the latest lab directory.

Hardware: This section has various pages with information about the hardware systems that are used in the lab. These include the commercial systems (like a 6DOF tracker from Intersense) to the drawings and information about lab-developed hardware (such as the RMSS translational hand controller). Manuals and images showing equipment in use can also be uploaded by registered users. Hopefully, there is enough information for future students to use, repair, or even re-create the system with minimal fuss and muss.

Software: This section will eventually have pages for all the software packages that are used in the lab (and perhaps even information about software packages used in the past and revived!). Again, the goal is to have enough information for any new lab member to install, set-up, use, modify the software as needed. Any other trip and tricks for platform compatibility, fr example, should be found here as well. As the software goes though the inevitable upgrade process, there will be information on upgrade gotcha's and other info to make the transition easier.

Hopefully the content will continuously grow and be a source of MVL corporate knowledge in the future. There are also capabilities within Drupal to allow for blogs, forums and polls that the members of the lab will be able to utilize in the future.