PHYS 523 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Instrumentation and Applied Physics Project

Topics to be covered, spanning two semesters

Note: we're still refining the details of topics and assignments! Stay tuned.

Unit 1: Introduction to the course and the projects available to students (1 week).

Try to finish everything in this list by week 2

• Discussion of projects;
• Self-organization into project groups; choose a project;
• Intra-group discussions of scope and techniques appropriate for the project;
• Guest lecture: Principles of project management (Dr. Riccardo Longo);
  • Introduction to project management and tracking software;
  • Create Your PHYS523 Project;
  • More on Resources: Budget & Contingencies;
  • Create Reports in MS Project;
• Installation of software tools: Anaconda Python, Arduino IDE, EAGLE PCB, Tinkercad.
• Lab exercises
  • Modify the Arduino MEGA 2560’s blink program so that it blinks the initials (of your English/American name) in Morse code
  • Install and test a BME680 on your breadboard
  • On your breadboard, install the following devices (in addition to the BME680 and Arduino): LCD (including 10kΩ trimpot), keypad, and microSD breakout.
  • Formulate a tentative project plan and division of project responsibilities with members of your group and discuss with course staff.

Unit 2: Defining the project (2 weeks)

Try to finish everything in this list by week 4

• Further discussion of project planning methodology with Dr. Longo;
• Identification and further clarification of hardware and software to be used in the project;
• Develop a plan for testing/verifying the performance of the project's devices and techniques;
• Identify risks and develop stubs of alternative design paths that might be necessary;
• Create a draft project timeline, with dependencies;
• Procurement: identify sources for parts and materials and enter information into the project’s order tracking system;
• Guest lecture: Safety concerns in electrical, chemical, mechanical, and radiological domains;
• Begin assembling breadboards and other test facilities (as well as software) for testing performance of project components;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group (for example, thermometric methods).
• Lab exercises
  • Install, set, and read back a DS3231 real time clock.
  • Install and read back a GPS module. Use it to set the DS3231 real time clock.
  • Write a short text file to your SD card. Copy the file to your laptop, then write a short Python program to read it and display its contents.
  • Finish installing all the parts on your breadboard required for your project’s data logger.
  • Register an Autodesk user account, then visit the TinkerCad website.
  • Write a single bare-bones program that read all your project circuit’s sensors and writes data to a microSD file.
  • Write a single bare-bones Python data analysis program that generates histograms and plots of environmental data read by your BME680. Calculate means and RMS widths for these quantities.

Unit 3: Project proposal and review (2 weeks)

• Create a formal written project proposal that includes timelines, risk, budget estimates, and calibration plans;
• Guest lecture: Clarity in oral and written presentations;
• Project review: Public (to the class) oral presentation of project; public project peer review by another student group (and course instructors);
• Project revision in response to review;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 4: Component tests (4 weeks)

• Measure performance of components that are proposed for inclusion in the project;
• Downselect as necessary, and define the final configuration of a prototype for the project;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 5: Prototyping (4 weeks)

• Build all prototypes necessary for the project, including controlling software packages;
• Guest lecture: Building a professional portfolio;
• Field test everything, including preliminary analysis of the data obtained, and calibration of devices;
• Guest lecture: Intellectual property and nondisclosure agreements;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 6: Project status review (2 weeks)

• Create a formal written project status document that includes results to date and differences between the plan submitted in the project proposal and the actual work performed;
• Oral presentation of project status (to the extent allowed by various non-disclosure agreements);
• Project review: peer review by another group (and course instructors);
• Project revision in response to review;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 7: Project construction (4 weeks)

• Design and fabricate any printed circuit boards necessary, then construct robust versions of the breadboarded prototypes;
• Design and fabricate (by 3D printing when possible) cases, housings, enclosures, etc., for the project hardware;
• Field test the project;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 8: Data and preliminary analysis (2 weeks)

• Take data
• Run preliminary analyses of the data to verify data validity;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 9: Analysis (4 weeks)

• Perform an extensive analysis (in close consultation with course instructors) of all data;
• Guest lecture: Legal, cultural, and regulatory issues in international collaboration;
• Guest lecture: Matters of scale: managing a billion-dollar project;
• Write a first draft of a final project report;
• "Technical culture" oral presentation by one group.

Unit 10: Outcomes (3 weeks)

• Write a second draft project report after feedback from instructors;
• Oral presentation of project status (to the extent allowed by various non-disclosure agreements);
• Project review: peer review by another group (and course instructors);
• Write final draft project report.

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