Independent Design Project
In this project, you will design, implement and test a project of your own choosing.
Here are the guidelines:
- Your project must interact with the physical world (sound, light, movement, etc) somehow.
- Your project must be capable of operating independently of a laptop connection, so you cannot rely on serial input or output for the main features (but you are encouraged to use them for development and testing).
- Your project should be at the prototype stage, so use of a bread board and jumper wires is fine, and you do not need to construct an enclosure.
- You may use components that are not in your kit, but you are responsible for obtaining them in time. Some good sources are adafruit and sparkfun.
Your project should require 10-20 hours to build and test once you have all of the components. If you are currently spending about 8 hours on each project, then aim for something about twice as ambitious.
Examples
Here are a few examples of projects at the right level:
- A system for monitoring plant growth conditions such as lighting, temperature and soil moisture, possibly incorporating this sensor.
- A heart-rate monitor to measure and record beats per minute, possibly using this sensor.
- An air quality monitoring and data logging station, possibly using this sensor.
- A fridge monitoring station to monitor the temperature, record how often the door is opened, sound an alarm if the door is left open too long, etc, possibly based on a MagTag.
I recommend a project that overlaps your interests since that will be more enjoyable and you can apply your expertise to the design problem. Here are some suggested resources for inspiration:
Phase 1: Project Definition
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Describe what your design is intended to accomplish. This should be a brief high-level description that explains how the design interacts with the physical world, without referring to specific electronics components.
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Describe the key electronic components that you expect your design will require. If any key components are not in your kit, provide a link to a product page or datasheet.
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Describe your testing plan, broken down into 2-4 steps. Each step should clearly describe the purpose, test setup, sequence of operations, and expected outcomes. Taken together, the steps should demonstrate that design accomplishes what you described in part 1.
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Make a diagram or sketch showing what your project might look like in use as a finished product. Think carefully about a realistic size and enclosure. How is it powered?
Phase 2: Design Documents
- Prepare a bill of materials (BOM) for your project: this is a table (e.g. exported from a spreadsheet) with one row for each item of your prototype design (including wiring) that lists:
- The item label, e.g. R1, R2, … for resistors and Q1, Q2, … for more complex components. You can invent your own labeling scheme to use here.
- A brief description of the item.
- A link to more details about the component, e.g. a datasheet or vendor page.
- The estimated cost of the item.
Include a total cost estimate with your BOM.
- Prepare a schematic for the prototype circuit as you plan to build it. Items on the schematic should use the same labels that appear in the BOM. A clear hand drawn schematic is fine. Use standard schematic symbols for any resistors, capacitors, etc.