Electronics Capstone Project: Final Report Guidelines
ORAL REPORT
(Last day of classes: 10.10am – 12.10pm, Thursday, April 09, 2015)
Each team will present and oral report, approximately 15 min in length, followed by about 10
min for questions. The presentation should cover in succinct format the same 4 main pillars
described below for the written report. It should also include a live demo. The order/schedule
is TBD.
WRITTEN REPORT
(Due end of Finals Week: 5pm, Friday, April 17, 2015)
Each project group will submit a single written report. All reports should be submitted
electronically with a filename containing the last names of project group members. See also
What to Submit: Checklist below. You are invited (read: strongly encouraged) to submit a rough
draft for review and feedback on or before Apr 14, 2015.
The final report should be written in “pop science” DIY magazine format, targeted for an
audience competent with Electronics --i.e., your classmates! This means the format is flexible in
terms of how you wish to best communicate the following main points.
INTRODUCTION
What are building and why? What is your system designed to do? What are the real world
applications?
DESIGN AND COMPONENT SELECTION
What is the theory of operation of your system? Technical details (a and b below) should be
provided on two levels (just as it was in the original capstone proposal…funny how that works
)
(a) System Overview: This is the “block diagram” level, the overarching big picture
how multiple components and/or modules (such as filter, amplifier,
switching/routing) are connected and work together to achieve the aims specified in
the intro. How does the user interact with/control the system? Refer to specific
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modules and/or circuit components. For instance, you might write something like
“Frequencies of notes played is tuned with the pots R1v, R2v)” etc.
(b) Technical details--Circuit Design and Component Selection: Diagram actual
circuitry and design rationale for what’s inside each block/module. Component
selection should be based on electronics principles and quantitatively justified. For
instance, you might say something like “The active high pass filter serves to block
any dc offset coming from the microphone. It is an inverting amplifier configuration
with single supply op-amp. Output signals are referenced to virtual ground to allow
both positive and negative swings. The resistors Rf = 10k and Ri = 1k were chosen to
give a max gain (=-Rf/Ri) of 10. The capacitor is Ci = 1.6 uF chosen to set a cutoff
frequency of 100 Hz (fo = 1/(2piRiCi)).” Similarly, for digital circuitry you might
have a statement such as “The 4017 sequencer chip output is used to drive the
max333 analog switches, selecting which note is played on each beat. The frequency
of the note is set by choosing the resistor Ro and Co connected to the LM555 (see
Figure X). The manufacturer datasheet specifies a frequency of….{give equation with
Ro and Co}.”
a. Include complete circuit schematic. One common practice is to highlight
modules/sections in different colored boxes and annotated as such. For
instance, put a red rectangle around the microphone input section and label it
“Microphone input”; and put a blue box around active filters and label
accordingly.
b. Include photo of finished (and/or breadboard prototype) with arrows
annotating various pieces is also very helpful.
c. Bill of Materials. Make a detailed list of all parts used. Column heading
should include: Description | Part Number | Quantity. For instance: Quad
Single-supply, rail to rail op-amp | MCP33204 | 2. If possible, estimate total
cost.
(c) Signal processing and communication protocols: Describe the essential ideas and
features of any signal processing methods as well as a brief overview of how it was
implemented1. Provide relevant Arduino code (electronically submitted),
accompanied by an overview of how the code works (in the main body of written
report).
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Spike burst detection to identify the echo, for the sonar folk; SPI communication for the Synthesampler and
wireless gut activity detection groups. Freekeys is happily Arduino and signal processing free (check out their
monster switchyard instead).
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PERFORMANCE TESTS AND RESULTS
This is basically a proof-of-concept of the complete system. Show proof of concept data where
applicable. For instance, for active sonar, you could present figures demonstrating sound
output and echo with time delay, including distance calculation. For a synthesizer system, you
might report VCO control voltages output from your voltage dividers, measure actual
frequencies output by a 555 or counter/divider in relation to what you had tuned them to be.
You do NOT need to show transfer functions for individual filtering and amplifying stages (by
now, we are all comfortable with them from experience in 207 and 208 thus far!).
Please include a video demo for posterity, i.e., to impress and inspire future generations of
Electronics students.
DISCUSSION
How well did your final product meet the design objectives outlined in the Introduction? Were
there any particular nice design features (toot your own horn)? Were there any features which
could be improved (this is almost always the case)? Make specific suggestions of future work
and improvement.
WHAT TO SUBMIT: CHECKLIST
Please be sure to check all of these boxes for your final submission in electronic format. You
may create a single .zip file for convenience, if you wish. Please make sure all file names
contain last names of project group members.
 Oral presentation visuals (typically powerpoint slides)
 Final written report in .docx or .pdf format
 Live demo/walk-through video (for large files, might need to upload this to youtube or
drop in the shared L: drive)
 Microcontroller (e.g., Arduino) code either .ino “native” sketch format or code copied
and pasted as plain text into a word document.
 Lab station thoroughly cleaned up, all parts put back in proper location. If you have
extra parts that have no permanent home in the lab, please return them in plastic project
box labeled with names of project members. Please, please, please, do your part.
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GRADING SCHEME and CRITERIA
The final report (oral + written) counts for 60% of your total grade in the course (per course
syllabus). The grading scheme will be as follows: The final report will be assigned an overall
grade, max being 100 pts. The total number of points to be distributed amongst your group
members is equal to Final Report Points x Number of Group Members = 200 points, max. Each
group must submit a joint statement of each group member’s contributions and apportion the
points as deemed fit. For example, let’s say you write an awesome report which receives a score
of 100. If you all agree you did an equal amount of work, everyone gets a 100, hooray! Another
example: Let’s say one group member was really outstanding and went out of his/her way to
make the project really happen. You might decide to award them a bonus 10 points, sacrificing
10 points from other team member, so the scores would be 110 and 90, respectively. If the final
report of this group had received a score of, say, 90, then the final points awarded to each
student would be 90 and 90 or 100 and 90, respectively, for the examples above.
Grading will be based on the following criteria:

Is design based on proper electronics principles?

Is design properly executed?

Is design properly documented and described? That is, has full justification for design
been provided demonstrating full mastery of electronics knowledge?
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