Abstract:
The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department wished to revamp the project of its
junior-level design. The goal of this design project is to create and set up a course project (CP)
that draws upon skills from the three sophomore-level core courses (analog circuits, signal
processing, and digital logic) and organize the CP so that it has appropriate difficulty for junior students.
Secondary goals are for the CP to have a heavy teamwork component as well as an impressive demo.
The chosen CP topic is a robotic maze-mapping scenario, where a robot is let loose in a maze
and wanders around to create a cohesive map of the entire area. In this design project, the CP
will be embellished and fleshed out to have a complete prototype to serve as a demo and example
for the class in the spring. The CP will also be organized in such a way so that the CP has
appropriate difficulty and interest level to the students. Design choices and responses of the students
taking the course in the spring will be used to create an overall picture of the results of this design project.
At the end of this design project, the junior-level design course will have an interesting CP
with an appropriate level of challenge and teamwork. Having a more interesting and breadth-oriented
CP will create better managers, project organizers, and team members of the students who take the course.
Full report (pdf)
