Final project timeline
The final project must be complete in teams of two, the only exception being a single team of three to account for a potentially odd number of students in the class. Since the final project presentations will be scheduled during the lab, it would be wise to choose a team member from your lab section. Team members must have grade averages within 15% of each other. The instructor reserves the right to rearrange teams, the reasons will be communicated to the team members. The following are significant deliverables in the completion of the final project.
Final Project Proposal: The proposal should have a title page, a level 0 diagram and function table, and a level 1 diagram. For each component in the level 1 diagram you should include an associated function table. Your proposal should also include a list of the parts that you will need to complete the project. For each component, please indicate if we have it and if not, will you be purchasing it, or will the university need to purchase it. If you need an item purchased, please provide the exact part number, cost, and URL where it can be ordered.
Milestone I: A milestone is a technical accomplishments representing a level of technical accomplishment and functionality required for the system. By the date of your first milestone you should have a test which verifies that each of the components in your level 1 diagram operate as expected. Make sure to document these tests with pictures or measurements, so that they can be included in the final project write-up. If your project include software then you should have a function table for each major function which will compose the system.
Milestone II: The second milestone will represent a more advanced level of system functionality. At this point you should be examining the interactions between combinations of level 1 components. You should use stubs whenever convenient to replace unfinished modules. The basic stimulus response of your final project should be operational for this milestone.
Project Presentations: A 15-20 minute presentation covering the items in your proposal (task, high level architecture and low level implementation) as well as a demo of the final product. The final presentation needs to be done in Power Point. Students from other class may be invited to attend so try to make them engaging and interesting. You should come dressed nicely (business attire).
Project write-up: A written document outlining your design. Details of its content will be posted on the class web page during the term. In addition, you should burn a CD containing four directories. SOURCE should contain all the source files (include all intermediate files generated by the compiler), PRESENTATION should contain your final power point presentation, DEMO should contain a mpeg, mov, avi, etc. of your project in action along with any documented tests, and REPORT should contain your written report. This CD should be taped into the back cover of your report.
Final oral report format
The most common problem is design presentations is to jump too quickly into the technical details of your project without first establishing the overall scope of your project. One very good organization for technical presentations is to traverse the "test-vee" during the course of your presentation. Start with your level 0 diagram, perhaps even showing a brief video snippet of your complete system. After your audience knows what you are trying to build, work your way down to the level 1 decomposition. Have a slide for each level 1 component. Show the level 1 function table and show the test results used to verify its operation. Next show how the level 1 components were integrated together and the tests that you performed to check that these subsystems worked correctly. Regardless of you organization, you must establish early (first 3 slides) in your presentation what you were trying to accomplish.
Final Written Report Format
The following are the main sections that are expected to be present in your final report.
Cover Page: The cover page of the report should look like the following
Chapter 1: Design Goals
Introduce your design by generating a level 0 description. This is a high level description of your design given in two different formats.
· Graphical - Show your system as a box with the top level user inputs and outputs.
· Function Table - Describe the input, output and behavior of the system using this table format.
Module / The module nameInputs / Users inputs and sensors which are inputs to the modules
Outputs / All forms of outputs from the modules
Behavior / Describe the behavior of this module. Make sure to talk about all the modes that the module can be in.
Test / Enumerate a set of test procedures that will verify that the module functions correctly. Each mode of the module should have its own test. Each test procedure should assume that the module is in its power-up state and return the device back to its reset state.
Calculations - given any pertinent calculations that needed to be performed in order to get your project to work. Calculations are should have units attached to all units factoring calculations. All variables should be defined along with any special numbering formats (fixed point).
Chapter 2: Detailed Design
Start this chapter by generating a level 1 description. This is a mid-level description of your design which breaks the level 0 description into sub-modules. Each of the sub-modules should represent a physical chip or sensor used in your design. The sub-modules are connected together with lines with arrows indicating the direction of the flow of information, slashes with corresponding numbers signifying the number of wires composing the signal, and signal names. Each sub-module should have a complete function table identical in structure to that for the level 0 description. Following each level 1 description you should include the results of the tests described in your level 1 description. Include pictures from oscilloscopes, data from measurements, or word descriptions of the observed phenomena. Whenever possible include numerical quantification of your test results.
Following the listing of the level 1 components you should provide a description of the software system. This will contains three components. The first is a list of the main functions and a short description of their purpose. The second is a list of the main data structures. The third is pseudo-code showing how the data structures and the functions interact.
Chapter 3: Future Work
Constructively criticize your design. Within the scope of what you accomplished what could have been designed using fewer gates, less logic, simpler design faster, etc... Substantiate your points with a quantitative analysis. Then go on to talk about ways to enhance your project in future work.
References:
Include any books, technical documents, magazine articles, or web sites that you used to help complete your project. Use a proper reference format (ASL) found in your technical writing textbook. If you include a reference then it must be referenced somewhere within the body of your document.
Appendix A: Running the Project
Describe the procedure for a faculty member or student to duplicate your demo. I would like to have your project as a resource for students in later semesters so its important describe for them all the details necessary to make your project work. Include any special assembler or compliers that you used.
Final Written Report Guidelines
The following are guideline that you are expected to follow in your final written report.
· Your final project needs to have a cover page which should look like
· Include page numbers in the bottom center of each page.
· Brief code snippets are OK, but do not hardcopy your entire source file.
· Double-sided copies are recommended for the final bound report.
· Correct spelling mistekes.
· Make sure that you do have not grammar mistakes.
· Consider the logical flow of the material, try to paint a complete picture in a logical manner.
· Spiral (GBC) binding and a clear cover.
· Font should be Times Roman 12 point (except software printouts as indicated above, which will be 10 point Courier).
· Use 1” margins for the left, right, top, and bottom the page.
· Each chapter of the report must begin on a new page. The heading for each chapter should be bolded 14 point font and the sections should be numbered consecutively.
· Figures in the text should be numbered consecutively, and properly labeled with the figure number and caption underneath the Figure. The figure numbers should be used to refer to figures in the body of text. An example Figure caption would be: Figure 1. Proposed conceptual design. If you have a figure in your text then it must be referenced somewhere within the body of your text.
· Tables in the text should be numbered consecutively, and properly labeled with the table number and caption underneath the table. The table numbers should be used to refer to tables in the body of the text. An example table caption would be: Table 1. Design specifications.
· All equations should be numbered consecutively, with the equation centered and the number right justified and inside parentheses. For example an equation would be shown as
(1)
You then use the equation number inside parenthesis to refer to it in the body of the text.
· Example for references
In body of report: “Analog LVDT signal conditioners that operate by demodulating s(t) utilizing op amps and transistors can be designed, but they require stable sine wave generators and phase compensation networks to operate properly [1].”
Thene refer to it in the reference section as follows:
[1] G. Novacek, “Accurate Linear Measurement Using LVDTs,” Circuit Cellar Ink, Issue #106, pp. 20 – 27, May 1999.