Project Based Engineering Instrumentation High Level Coding and Microcontrollers

Week 1: Title Page and Introduction - Students are given an explanation of the project scope, rubric and are asked to split into teams to create a title page, team name, a simple hand sketch and an introduction of what they intend to build for the semester. In this course, the project is to design, build and test a data acquisition system with at least 3 electrical components not counting the CPU, flash memory, or power supply. This also includes both mechanical, electrical and software ubsystems so that students practice both hardware and software integration with mechanical components. The teams are typically 1-3 students each depending on class size.

Week 2: Conceptual Design and System Functional Review (SFR) - Students are given an explanation of the major project requirements and asked to create a simple mission goal for their project as well as include a list of specific requirements which is based on the project scope given by the instructor as well as any additional requirements the students feel are necessary. Course specific requirements are explained in Section 3.2. This design phase also includes a list of subsystems and components that will be needed to complete the project which requires the students to create a Block Definition Diagram (BDD) as well as an Internal Block Diagram (IBD) detailed BDDs and IBDs for the mechanical, electrical and software subsystems. The instructor of the course must then review the requirements list and provide feedback to the students. This consitutes and satisfies the System Functional Review (SFR) so that the students do not begin designing a project that is innappropriate, out of scope or too difficult for a 16 week semester.

Week 3:Preliminary Design - For the preliminary design phase the task more detailed diagrams for every subsystem. This means the mechanical lead must create a general top down layout of the system with dimensions, the electrical lead must figure out what components they plan on using and what they will connect to. The software lead must create a psuedo code flow chart to determine the flow of their main software routine.

Weeks 4-6:Detailed Design - The detailed design phase is broken into 3 separate weeks. For this course the students need to design the mechanical, electrical and software subsystems creating schematics, wiring diagrams and a list with links of all software needed to run their system. The students also need to create a detailed bill of materials with prices, weights and links. At this point the system is ready to be built.

Week 7:Critical Design Review (CDR) - The critical design review is a presentation to the instructor and peers where the students present their design and receive feedback. This is an important step in the design process as it allows the students to get feedback on their design before they start building. This can help them avoid costly mistakes and ensure that they are on the right track. The students are expected to present their BDDs, IBDs, detailed diagrams, bill of materials and any other relevant information about their design. The students should also be prepared to answer questions from the instructor and peers about their design.

Week 8:Build Plan, Purchase materials + Break - In the Fall semester, Fall break typically lands on Week 8 and in the spring Week 8 is typically spring break. As such Students are asked to create a build plan which is not something to be turned in but just something helpful to keep students on track as well as purchase all parts necessary while they are on holiday. If parts are purchased the Friday before break that typically gives the retail stores over 5 business days or 9 calendar days to ship the parts to the students before they return to class. This way students can immediately start building and testing during Week 9 when they return. Of course, in practice I have found many procrastinating students who don’t order parts until well after they return and end up rushing to get their parts delivered and operational in time. However, it is not the job of the instructor to micromanage or police students. This is where time management skills are important.

Weeks 9-11:Build and Subsystem Testing - The build process includes building everything component by component and testing each subsystem as it is built. This is important to ensure that each subsystem works properly independently before integrating everything together. For Instrumentation and Experimental Methods the students will test each electrical component one by one and test the software for that specific component. The mechanical system is something to be built piece by piece and integrated in Week 12. Again, time management is key.

Weeks 12-13:System Integration and Test Readiness Review (TRR) - The integration process includes integrating all subsystems together and testing the entire system as a whole. For Instrumentation and Experimental Methods, the students will integrate all electrical and software subsystems (all 3 components) and perform a test without the mechanical subsystem in the way initially. The mechanical subsystem must also be fully completed at this time.

Weeks 14-16:Final Testing and Validation - The final testing and validation phase includes performing the final test of the entire system. For Instrumentation and Experimental Methods the students will fully integrate the mechanical subsystem and perform a final test of the entire system. Note that 3 weeks are alloted for this phase to account for weather delays, part delays and any other unforeseen issues that may arise. Many times the system fails sometimes catastrophically as in a crash or an overheated component and the students need time to rebuild and retest before the final presentation.

Week 17:Final Report and Systems Verification Review (SVR) - Although a semester is exactly 16 weeks, the final report and presentation is typically due the first week of finals which ends up being Week 17. The final report includes a summary of the entire project including all diagrams, analyses, test results and conclusions. The final presentation is a 10-15 minute presentation to the class and any invited guests which summarizes the entire project. Note that the final report and presentation is typically worth 30-40% of the overall grade so it is important that students take this seriously and put in their best effort. Furthermore, there are no exams or quizzes in these project based courses so the final report and presentation is the only way to demonstrate what the students have learned throughout the semester. This gives the students ownership of the project and motivates them to do their best work.