ECE 4: Course details & plan

We have more details about the course. These details are not meant to frighten you but to give you a better idea of what is expected!

After the introductory exposure to design and what we would like to do to monitor the state of the lagoon, we would begin to do the design in earnest. You would begin to iteratively refine your ideas and design your systems using both open and structured processes.  One would like to keep intact your innate creativity as individuals and groups, but temper them to realize working systems. You would be mentored to pick up whatever skills you need to do the job and get over the mental block that often occurs when converting a paper design to a real system. You would also learn to begin to get comfortable with things such as: the initial incomplete specification of a problem; keeping a journal of what you invent, design and test; designing experiments to check out an idea; individual creativity with responsible teamwork in which each of you contribute to the class's knowledge base by feeding its wiki; finishing a project on schedule; documenting, presenting and convincing others that your idea is good ... We will keep your imagination and aptitudes challenged.

We shall use the lecture slots for lectures and for discussing our designs, and the laboratory slots for picking up experimental skills and prototyping our systems.

A tentative list of possible parameters we could monitor is given below:

* Temperature
* Dissolved oxygen
* pH
* Conductivity
* Inflow of water

We think freshmen could build a system for monitoring these parameters  with the resources and mentoring the instructional team will provide and the parameters are useful monitors for a water body. Sensors for these parameters would be interfaced to a computer or a palmtop from which researchers could retrieve the data.

We are open to ideas from the class and other concerned groups. If the class is large, we might also look at the possibility of adding cameras that reserachers could remotely control for capturing the distribution of algal blooms, turbidity, IR & optical absorption measurements, publishing the data to a webpage, etc. You would work in teams of twos for designing and building the electronic interface and software for a sensor system and them team up as one large group to make a system that monitors these parameters at a site on the lagoon.

The detailed course schedule that will help you plan is:

ECE 4 Course Plan








Week of Lectures Exercises or Designs to do Laboratory

2 April What is Design? Block design problems Intro to the lab & LEGO


* Block design+ a video on design
Course wiki


* Walk around the UCSB Lagoon








Programming Programming LEGO Mindstroms


* Programming LEGO







9 April The UCSB Lagoon (Dr Stratton) Reading: Sense what in LEGO Mindstorms project(s)



water bodies & blog in [build blocks & integrate]



course wiki







Introduction to Labview 1. Reading about Labview



2. Simple Labview programs






16 April Circuit blocks for sensors Group nano-project: Labview session


* Introduction to op amps Software and circuit blocks



for the UCSB lagoon



[do individually, wiki and  get



together & synthesize]







More circuit blocks Problems that would help


* OA circuits for sensors
 in the understanding of



simple circuits






23 April Presentations & discussions Fine tuning hardware & Building & testing a simple


of designs for the Lagoon Monitor software designs; update wikis amplifier blocks






30 April Discussions on: Software design details in Breadboarding & testing


* Test & integration of system; Labview; update wikis sensor blocks


* Debugging H/W & S/W







7 May Spend time in lab writing & 1. Write out skeleton for Solder & test sensor block


testing Labview code final documentation !!Assemble measurement



2. Firming up of test plan PC for the Lagoon Monitor!!






14 May        Groups test their sensor+electronics+S/W [use all lecture & lab hours for this activity]






21 May           Integration of system in the laboratory [use all lecture & lab hours for this activity]






28 May Discuss details of final demo Complete documentation Test at UCSB lagoon






4 June/Exam slot                                   Final demo & presentation at the UCSB lagoon

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