Accessing Equipment/Software/Services for your Project

Please do NOT pay for equipment, software or services for your Project!.
We have a budget to buy things for you, and can lend you equipment - but it’s very hard to claim money back if you spend it yourself. Note that this budget is finite so we won’t be able to buy so you will need to carefully justify expensive equipment services (>£150).

Options are below:

Use tools and equipment, including 3D printing and laser cutting

The Hackspace and the General Engineering Lab in the Queen’s Building have 3D printers, laser cutters and other equipment you can use free of charge. You can find all the details, including the online inductions you need to take before you use the equipment on the Engineering Technical Services Blackboard (you must be logged into Blackboard).

There can be queues for the 3D printers as they get very busy, especially around deadlines. Don’t assume that you will be able to walk in and use them whenever you want - try to set up your jobs first thing in the morning or at the end of the days, and don’t care about the colours you’ll use.

If your supervisor is an HCI academic, you might also be able to use equipment in the BIG Lab - talk to them about what is possible.

Borrow equipment

If you want to borrow equipment for your project (including mobile phones, Arduinos, VR or AR equipment etc), email the Engineering Technical Services Tech Hub or drop into the Teach Hub (as you walk into MVB from the main entrance, turn left immediately after you go through the main door). In your email, make sure you include which unit you’re on, and the sorts of things you need.

Buy equipment you can’t borrow

If you want to use that you can’t borrow as we don’t have it in stock, or that would be too difficult to return after the end of your project (for example, you are building something that needs circuit boards, wires, connections etc etc), talk to your supervisor, and when they’ve agreed you need it, email Mike and Sarah with what you need, why you need it, and include a link to what you need.

Access online services/APIs

If you need online services (for example, a Google Development Account, an Amazon Web Services cloud account, or a dynamic IP website address), access to APIs (for example, OpenAI) we can usually pay for that for you. We would not set up your own Open AI account, but we can add students to one of our teams. Talk to your supervisor and then email Mike and Sarah with what you need, why you need it, and include a link to what you need.

For example, if you want us to buy you a website address, tell us why you can’t use a free website address (eg you need a dynamic IP for scam-baiting), and the address you want, with a link/screenshot to show us where we can buy it from, and the price.

Please note: We will monitor your useage, so if you look like you will be spending more than we can afford, we will warn you, and you might have the service capped or stopped if you are spending too much.

Access Blue Crystal

If you need to use the High Performance Computer, when submittng jobs for Blue Crystal, ACRC requires you to use a project code. Please use the Final Year Projects project code: COMS031144, not any other codes you may have been given for previous units.

You can get access to Blue Crystal 4 by following the instructions below:

Click on: https://www.acrc.bris.ac.uk/login-area/apply.cgi
Enter your personal details
Choose: “Join an existing project”
Enter project code: COMS031144
Keep Preferred log-in shell as bash
In the comments box please enter the following: “I am on the Computer Science Individual Project Unit, unit director Michael Wray, and will need access to BC4 for my final year project”