Project ProposalECE 445Lecture 2Jan 27, 2015

The Project Proposal

The purpose is to articulate:• Benefit to end user• Product features• Design overview• Anticipated performance specs• Project plan and timeline

Begin working on your proposal once your project is approved!

Document Outline1. Introduction

a. Title Pageb. Objectives

2. Designa. Block designb. Block description

3. Requirements and Verificationa. Requirementsb. Verificationc. Tolerance

4. Cost and Schedule**See commented example on course website!

Commented Example of Project Proposal

1. Introduction

• Title page– Project title, group members, TA, date, course #

• Statement of Purpose (Motivation)– Why did you select this project?

• Objectives– Goals: What problem is being solved?– Functions: What is the product supposed to do?– Benefits: How is it good for the consumer?– Features: What aspects make it marketable?

Example: Swim Pace AidObjectivesGoals

• Improve athletic training and coaching for swimmers

Functions• Light a sequence of LEDs at a set pace to guide swimmers

Benefits• Provide real-time visual indication of pace to swimmer

Features• LED panels submergible in up to 2.5 meters of water• Lap pace ranges between 8 and 45 seconds, 0.5 second

increments

2. Design

• Block Diagram– Modular– Interconnections– Consider high-level and detailed-level diagrams (example on

website)• Block Description

– Matches block diagram 1-1– Describe function of each block

• Contribution to overall system• Interconnection• Functionality• Use quantitative, specific language

– Summary of system followed by specific descriptions

Example: Swim Pace Aid

Example: Swim Pace Aid

Power SupplyThe power supply will provide power for all of the components in the system.

The power supply will consist of 3 AA batteries wired in series to provide a 4.5

V voltage source. The power supply will have reverse voltage protection in the

form of a MOSFET reverse voltage protection circuit. The MOSFET circuit is a

much more efficient alternative to a diode reverse polarity protection circuit

and will increase the lifetime of the batteries in the voltage source. A low

dropout regulator (LDO) or linear regulator will be used to step down the

voltage source voltage to 3 V in order to provide power for the microcontroller

and communications modules. The voltage at the output of the reverse

polarity protection circuit (~4 V) will be sent to the LED module.

Not quantitative

Requirements and Verification

• Requirements– At least one per block– Concise and specific – don’t need full sentences– Define functioning behavior– Project should work if all requirements satisfied

• Verification– Test procedure for each requirement– Quantitatively define “passed” test– Describe how results will be presented (i.e. tables,

graphs)

Example: Power Supply

Requirements VerificationPower Supply must provide 12 V ± 0.2 V at output.

1. Connect output of the power supply to multimeter.

2. Check that output voltage falls within spec.

3. The measured value will be presented on a number line with specified voltage range indicated.

Quantitative values on this side

Tolerance Analysis• Critical part of the design process• Pick 1 significant component of your design– Why is this component significant?– What is an acceptable tolerance and why?

• Relate back to requirements on that module– What is the test procedure?– How do you check the component is operating within

that tolerance?– Use quantitative language

At any point in the semester:Test this component at the extremes and include results in lab notebook and final report.

4. Cost and Schedule

Cost• Labor = (Ideal salary) * 2.5 * (hours to complete)

– Sum labor costs for each partner in the project, to compute the total labor cost

• Parts = Sum of cost of all parts– Include part #

• GRAND TOTAL = LABOR + PARTS

Example: Swim Pace Aid

Person B

Person C

Person A

Example: Swim Pace Aid

Keep careful track of all costs and schedule changes along the way—you’ll need them for the

final report!

Schedule

• Weekly time-table outlining project completion– Only one person responsible for each task– At least one task per week per person– Responsibility ≠ workload

• Define tasks in terms of deliverables– Research and ordering parts not considered weekly tasks

(by themselves)– No "To be determined" weeks– Be SPECIFIC

• Use the modularity of your design to allocate responsibility

Example: Swim Pace Aid

Person B

Person B

Person C

Person C

Person A

Person A

Additional Info• Proposal due Wed 2/17 at 4pm • 25/515 points

– Grading Scheme and Evaluation sheets located here

• Detailed description located here• Web resources in “The Written Report” section here

– IEEE Citation Guidelines– LaTeX template

• Label figures, schematics, etc.• Approx. 5 pages (of writing)• Upload PDF to PACE