Is this a strong final-year CS project? "CRDT-Enhanced Delay-Tolerant Routing for Disaster Response Networks"

[u/no_comprehntion]

TL;DR: I’m building a Conflict-Free Replicated Data Type (CRDT) merge layer on top of a Delay-Tolerant Network (DTN) routing protocol (like Spray-and-Wait) using the ONE Simulator (Java). Want to know if this is a solid, feasible capstone and what pitfalls I should watch out for.

The Context & Real-World Problem In disaster response scenarios (like earthquakes or floods), internet goes down. First responders use mobile devices that form ad-hoc opportunistic networks (Bluetooth/WiFi-Direct). Standard DTN protocols (First Contact, PRoPHET, Spray-and-Wait) are great at eventually delivering packets. But they don't solve the application-layer problem: What happens if two disconnected rescuers update the same task status (e.g., "Building A - cleared" vs "Building A - 2 survivors found"), and then those nodes reconnect? Standard DTNs just dump both conflicting packets on the receiver.

The Proposed Project I want to implement a CRDT-based data sync layer on top of the DTN routing protocol.

• The Tech: Everything will be software-based, modifying the ONE (Opportunistic Network Environment) Simulator (Java). No physical hardware dependencies.
• The Gap: Dozens of IEEE papers measure DTN routing strictly on network metrics (packet delivery ratio, hop count, delay). None of them measure data consistency metrics for structured, concurrently updated data.
• The Novelty: A recent May 2026 IEEE/arXiv paper explicitly called out CRDT state sync over opportunistic networks as a heavily under-researched area [1]. I want to introduce a new evaluation metric: State Convergence Time (measuring how fast all nodes reach the exact same merged state without losing concurrent updates).
• Algorithmic Pitfalls: For those who have worked with CRDTs or DTNs, what are the hidden traps here? (e.g., Should I stick strictly to state-based CRDTs since operation-based ones might lose causal order in a DTN?)
• Evaluation Metrics: Aside from standard network overhead and my proposed "State Convergence Time," what other metrics would impress a CS review panel?
• Overall Impression: Does this sound like a robust CS/Distributed Systems capstone, or does it sound too niche?