ECE 4334: Capstone Design Fall 2009

1. ECE 4334: Capstone Design Fall 2009 Welcome ! Facilitator: Dr. Len Trombetta

2. The Idea… • Students work on team projects sponsored by UH, industry, and government. • The atmosphere is as much like a real-world working environment as possible. • Communications skills (both written and oral) are important to the success of any project, and will be emphasized here.

3. The Bottom Line… • You and your team are responsible for your project and its success. You are expected to act professionally, which means… • You take your work seriously and do what is necessary to get the job done: no excuses. • You show up on time for class, writing center activities, and meetings with your faculty and industry consultants. • You “pull your weight” on the team.

4. Organization • Teams: Three or four students. • Cohorts: Three to four teams with similar technical issues. • Your project will be assigned one or more of the following. • Engineer: A technical contact who is familiar with your project. • Faculty Consultant: A UH faculty member who is familiar with the project. • Facilitator: A course instructor who will provide overall guidance and handle administrative issues.

5. Course Web Sites • www.egr.uh.edu/courses/ece/ece4334: Posting of all documents: assignments, instructions, syllabus, schedule… • Blackboard: Used for e-mail and grade posting • Be sure your account is set up properly for forwarding • Drop Box on /…/ece4334 • Submission of reports and presentations. • DO NOT send files to instructors by e-mail, unless instructed to do so.

6. Projects and Proposals • Teams that have not had projects approved by the facilitators will compete for projects by submitting a brief proposal. • Proposal Contents: • Who is on your team? • Why is your team the best choice? • How are you going to approach the project? • Provide 1-2 paragraphs for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choices. • Bring to class on Wed morning, Aug 26th.

7. Assignments Major Presentations (see schedule): • Individual • Progress Reports • 1 written; 1 oral • Evaluation of oral presentation by students • Team • Project Prototype Demo (early November) • Technical Report (final report on project results) • Poster and Oral Presentations • Final Project Demo (finals week)

8. Assignments Other Oral/Written Assignments • Team Planning Reports • Brief presentation during Cohort meetings • Progress, time, and budget information • Other reports • Terms of Reference • Statement of Work (with mid-semester Prototype) • Other duties as assigned

9. Writing Instruction • UH Writing Center: You will schedule a one-time individual writing instruction session with a consultant just prior to submitting your written report. • Dr. Chad Wilson will be presenting class instruction on report writing, poster presentation, and oral presentation.

10. Writing Center Consultation • Consultation: Schedule this one week prior to the due date of your written assignment. • Requirement: bring completed draft to your consultation. • Electronic copy to DropBox before your consultation (see schedule). • Evaluation by facilitators to determine that a complete draft was prepared.

11. Meetings • Facilitator meetings (by Cohort) • Two cohorts per MW Section (9 – 10:30; 10:30 – noon) • Group technical discussion • Lecture material, guest lectures • Administrative issues • Presentations • All cohorts attend all presentations • Progress Reports by individual students • Technical Report by teams (end-of-semester)

12. The First Week • Monday Aug 24th • Review Projects • Begin forming teams • Wednesday Aug 26th • Q & A • Submit Proposal requesting project • Friday Aug 28th • Project assignments posted on web site • Cohort, student letter assigned

13. First Facilitator Meeting • Due midnight Fri Sep 4thto Drop Box : • Terms of Reference • Business and technical content of your project. • Time and budget estimates. • Project Template • Scheduling • Budgeting

14. Project Management • Proper project management … • …greatly improves the probability of success. • …is very “real world”- you will be expected to do it for your employer. • Scheduling • Budgeting: personnel as well as equipment costs • Terminology…

15. Terminology • Goal: A succinct statement of what it is you are trying to accomplish; the bottom line. • Customer: Who you are doing this for. • Phase: A period of time during which certain major tasks are expected to get done or milestones reached. • Milestone: An intermediate accomplishment. It is specific, concrete, verifiable, and important to the project. Your project should have 3 – 5 of them. • A milestone is a specific date, not a range of dates. • Deliverable: What the customer wants. • Tasks: The daily things you do to get the job done.

16. Example • Goal: Build an autonomous robot that traverses a maze until it locates a STOP sign. • Customer: Faculty consultant (Dr. Glover) • Milestones (some examples): • Demonstrate a working vision system that recognizes a stop sign. • Microprocessor algorithm guides robot through turn at an intersection. • Robot stops at STOP sign.

17. Example • Deliverables: • Designs for mechanical and electronic subsystems. • A working prototype of the robot. • A flowchart of the algorithm for traversing the maze systematically. • A report to your customer outlining your progress and any problems you may be having. • Tasks (NOT milestones): • Ordering parts. • Researching microprocessor possibilities. • Assembling the robot.