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Capstone Projects
Guidelines – Weekly Reports – PDR – CDR – Expo
Project Guidelines

During the semester, design teams are expected to consider engineering standards and realistic constraints similar to real-world considerations engineers would have when developing a new product. These considerations include:

  • Economic aspects, including cost of parts and manufacturing, as well as potential marketability of the system
  • Environmental impact of manufacturing and using the system
  • Sustainability:
    • Are system parts available from more than one vendor?
    • What maintenance and support will the product require?
  • Manufacturability
    • What is the effect of component tolerances on system performance?
    • Worst-case analysis, expected production yield
    • Testability
    • Compliance to regulations (FCC, etc.)
  • Safety
    • Safety in the workspace
    • System safety issues: no user access to voltages >50V, compliance to regulations (UL)
  • Impact on society

It is expected that teams will address these considerations in their PDR, CDR, and the final project report.
Weekly Reports

Every Monday beginning the fifth week of class (see schedule), a half-page progress report from each student will be sent to the instructor and TA's via email by 5:00 p.m. Send the report as text in the body of an email. Do NOT send it as an attachment! Also, please include your team name in the subject line.

These weekly progress reports should continue until the end of the semester. The purpose of the weekly reports is to keep track of the progress and to facilitate better communication among the team members and the instructors. Active participation in the weekly reports will contribute to the "individual effort" portion of the final grade.

The report's format is up to you, but the content should address the following:

  1. Summarize what you did this week, with a few sentences or bullets. This should include:
    • Any unresolved problems
    • Summary of communication and joint work performed with other members of the team
    • Plan of work for the next week
  2. Include a simple "time card" stating the date and approximately the number of hours you spent individually on lab-related work. Also indicate the date and number of hours you spent on lab-related work with other members of the team.
  3. Summarize your progress towards the next milestone in your schedule. This should include reasons for any discrepancies between actual progress and plan.
  4. You may also wish to ask for help, or to state any concerns or questions you have for the instructors.

The answers should be short but concrete (overly terse answers such as "the construction went on as scheduled, and no delays are expected " are not acceptable).
Preliminary Design Review (PDR)
  • Requirements:
    • Prepare your PDR presentation in PowerPoint form and provide a copy of the presentation and any supporting data/information on a Readable only CD (CD-R). This should be provided to the instructor at the time of your presentation. Should you not have access to CD-R's or facilities, please see the course instructor.
    • Bring hard copies of the Presentation and a preliminary version of the User's Manual to the meeting.  Make copies for the instructor, as well as both TA's.
    • All members of the team are expected to take an active role in the presentation.
    • The presentation should not take more than 30 minutes and is expected to be professional, and rehearsed.
  • PDR presentation and preliminary version of the user manual:
    • The main objectives of the PDR are to:
      • Propose and present the project
      • Convince the audience of its feasibility within the constraints of time, effort, and materials
      • Demonstrate that the project has appropriate complexity.
    • Therefore, the PDR Presentation should address at least the following:
      • Project objectives and purpose of the system: describe the goals and function of the project in clear, precise terms. Be as specific as possible. It is a good idea to present a set of baseline objectives plus possible extensions. Eschew garrulous, ostentatious and superlative language.
      • Outline of the approach: block diagrams with explanation of functionality and input/output interface between various (hardware and software) sub-systems. You should have some preliminary ideas of how to realize the circuitry of each block.
      • Implementation of the various sub-systems: discuss how various parts are going to be realized, giving possible alternatives. Again, be as specific as possible.
      • Division of labor and responsibilities: who is going to do what?
      • Schedule: give a detailed plan of how the project will be completed through the end of the semester. The plan and associated tasks should be related directly to project milestones, i.e. PDR, CDR, Milestone I, Milestone II, EXPO,etc..
      • Risks and contingency plan: identify areas of risk (e.g., schedule uncertainty, availability of components, unfamiliar technology, questionable feasibility) and plans to recover from such adverse events.
    • The preliminary version of the User's Manual should answer the following questions:
      • What does the system do?
      • What does it look like?
      • How is it used?
  • Grading:
    • The PDR accounts for 10% of the final grade.
  • Examples of PDR presentations.
Critical Design Review (CDR)
  • Requirements:
    • Prepare your CDR presentation in PowerPoint form and provide a copy of the presentation and any supporting data/information on a Readable only CD (CD-R). This should be provided to the instructor at the time of your presentation. Should you not have access to CD-Rs or facilities, please see the course instructor.
    • Bring hard copies of the Presentation to the meeting. Make copies for the instructor, as well as both TA's.
    • All members of the team are expected to take an active role in the presentation.
    • The presentation should not take more than 30 minutes and is expected to be professional, and rehearsed.
  • CDR presentation:
    • The main objective of the CDR is to present the complete design of the system and to describe how the system is going to be implemented. Therefore, the CDR Presentation will include:
      • A system block diagram with a functional description of parts and interfaces
      • Complete specifications and detailed design of each subassembly, including circuit and logic diagrams, labeled parts, interfaces and pinouts, timing diagrams and waveforms
      • Description of software processes with their inputs and outputs
      • Test results and demo of completed parts of the system (if any)
      • Parts list
      • Updated detailed schedule with planned deliverables for Milestone 1, Milestone 2, and the final Open-Lab Expo.
      • Updated division of labor and responsibilities: who is going to do what?
  • Grading:
    • CDR accounts for 10% of the final grade.
  • Examples of CDR presentations
Capstone End-of-Semester Expo
  • Deliverables:
    The following items must be handed to Tom or the TAs on Thursday, by the end of Expo (noon). It is your responsibility to make sure that we get them on time. We will not go around and collect them.
    • Technical Reference Manual:
      This manual should be bound in such a way that it will lay flat when opened (spiral or comb bound are fine). The front cover must contain, at minimum, (1) your group name, (2) the names of all group members, and (3) the semester/year (e.g. Fall 2005). Pictures on the cover are a nice addition but are not necessary.

      This report should include a title page, abstract, purpose of the project, detailed description of the system and its components, together with block and detailed schematic diagrams, software listings (code), measurement results and conclusions. If you use any 'exotic' parts, please include datasheets for them. Long datasheets do not need to be printed in full -- the first few pages are enough -- but include a full copy on your CD (see below). Please try to save paper -- print double-sided if appropriate.

      Think of it this way: if you hand someone this manual, they should be able to build an exact copy of your project.

    • User's Manual:
      Binding and front cover requirements are the same as for the Technical Manual. The User's Manual should explain how to use your project, including how to set it up. If you give someone your completed project and a copy of this manual, they should be able to operate your project correctly.

    • Critiques:
      Each person is required to submit a critique of the performance of each of the members of their team, INCLUDING themselves. They should also assign a grade to each member (A,A-,B+,B,B-,etc.), INCLUDING themselves.

      Critiques must be in hardcopy. Email is not acceptable. No critique, No Grade.

      To ensure confidentiality critiques may be stapled, taped, put in a sealed envelope, etc. Critiques will be seen by the instructor(s) only. These critiques constitute 10% of each student's grade, and as such, should be honest and objective.

    • CD-R:
      We need a CD-R (no CD-RWs please) from each group containing all code, schematics, drawings, manuals, documentation, etc. This helps a lot when people need to get a copy of project information a few months from now. Please mark the CD with group name and Semester/Year.

  • Other Requirements/Suggestions:
    • Checkout Appointment:
      Each team must make an appointment with class TAs in order to return any equipment, parts, etc. that may have been checked out or borrowed. A sign-up sheet will be posted. This must get done before the end of Expo.

    • E-Stores Account:
      Don't forget to pay this off! Failure to do this can result in a grade of INCOMPLETE for all members of the team.

    • Display Board:
      Each group must have some sort of display for their project. The tri-fold kind (science fair style) seem to work well. Try to use the display to help people understand the project. Lots of text is usually bad because nobody will stand there and read it all, but diagrams and pictures can be helpful.

    • Demo/Explanation:
      You will have to explain your project dozens of times. It is in your best interest to come up with a clear, concise (30-second) verbal introduction to your project. An interesting demo of your project is also a good thing to think about: a simple project with a good demo will impress people more than a complex project with a bad demo.

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