School of Electrical Engineering

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School of Electrical Engineering Computer
Science Final Year Projects
Gunilla Burrowes Peter Turner
Final Year Project Coordinator
Newcastle Laboratory Manager - Newcastle
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Importance of Final Year Project

• Culmination of your degree
• Opportunity to demonstrate knowledge skills you
  have acquired
• Project Management
• Analytical Skills taking a complex problem and
  devising a practical solution
• Communication Skills preparation of web sites,
  reports and a presentation
• Opportunity to demonstrate the qualities of a
  degree qualified Engineer
• Should not attempt other courses while taking
  Final Year Project

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How to find a project

• Since the kind of project undertaken is very
  diverse, there are a number of ways to find a
  suitable project including
•  Approaching your employer with an idea related
  to an aspect of your own work or their operations
  in general. Write a project proposal.
•  In consultation with PSB and University staff,
  developing an idea based upon an interest of your
  own. Write a project proposal.
• Consulting the list of Final Year Projects
  provided by the Newcastle Course Coordinator.
• Assessment will reflect the difficulty of the
  Project

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Final Year Project Course Structure

• Work on a Major Project from problem definition
  to conclusion
• Group or Individual projects.
• Two supervisors one in Singapore one in
  Newcastle
• Self directed Time and Project Management
• Risk Management of Project
• ask questions
• Make decisions and move on
• Formal lecture series
• Part A 10 credit points (Fail or NA)
  Part B 20 credit points

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Supervision

• You will be allocated 2 supervisors
• Your Singapore (local) supervisor will provide
  the day to day management of your project and
  therefore will provide you with the technical
  support you need for your project.
• Your Newcastle supervisor is allocated to approve
  the academic content and scope of the project and
  then to support the local supervisors with
  management and technical issues.
• NOTE Your first contact point for your project
  is therefore your local supervisor.

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Final Year Project Support Structure

• PSB Coordinator Garry Yee
• Contact Details garry.yee_at_psbcorp.com
• For Enrollment / Assessment / Timetabling etc.
• University of Newcastle Coordinator Gunilla
  Burrowes
• Contact Details gunilla_at_ee.newcastle.edu.au
• For Academic allocation at UoN.

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Final Year Project Support Structure

• Local Supervisor Day-to-day technical
  management. MEET weekly.
• Newcastle Supervisor Approval and Assessment.
  CONTACT monthly.
• Additionally
• Engineering or Technical Support UoN PSB
  Technical Support Team
• Note Your first point of call for technical
  questions is your local supervisor. Your local
  supervisor will contact the Newcastle supervisor
  on a regular basis.

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Group Projects

• Each student should have a clear role and area of
  responsibility that leads to a definable
  contribution to the project outcomes and project
  report.
• Record keeping by individual students in a
  Professional Journal needs to be of a high
  standard
• Each student whether in a group or not is to hand
  in their own report.
• NOTE Individuals will be marked rather than
  groups

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Final Year Project Assessment
Assessment Component Assessment via Weighting
1. Interim (Part A) Technical Content OHS requirements, Progress reports journal Supervisor interaction Interim Report 14
Presentation Quality Interim web site report Supervisor interaction 6
2. Final (Part B) Technical Content Progress reports journal Final web site report Presentation / Interview 64
Presentation Quality Final Web site report Presentation / Interview 16
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Semester 1 2005 Key Dates
Date Event
1 February Submission of Project Preferences or Proposals
12 March 6 May Part A
7 May 12 August Part B
August 2005 (TBA) Final Assessment
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Project Options

• Industry Sponsored or Student Proposed Projects
• Industry based projects maybe more relevant to
  your current job
• If you have a project you would like to do then
  you need to submit a project proposal.
• UoN/PSB offered Projects
• Projects have been developed for groups
  consisting of Of up to 3 people
• Refer to Final Year Project Proposal List
• Submission of Project Preferences 1 February
  2005

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Some Advise on Design

• Take sometime to develop a project plan and
  discuss this with your supervisor.
• Break the project and individual tasks into
  manageable parts.
• Make sure you test each new addition to your
  project thoroughly.
• Dont test everything at once.

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Plagiarism

• Please be warned, we will be thoroughly checking
  submitted work for Plagiarism.
• How will we do this?
• eg. for work submitted as part of a project we
  will
• Upload all code and digital designs from
  hardware,
• Compile all code and digital designs that are
  submitted for marking,
• Compared Uploaded code to Compiled
• Compare submitted work to work submitted by other
  groups
• Compare submitted work to information available
  on internet.
• If you use someone elses work then please
  reference it in your report.

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Good Luck

• Additional sessions have been organised this week
  refer to new timetable
• Make an appointment with Peter or myself if you
  want to talk more about Projects this week.
• Final Year Project Web Site http//murray.newcast
  le.edu.au/users/staff/fyweb/4thyearprojects/index.
  html
• We hope you enjoy your Final Year Project

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UoN/PSB offered Projects (continued)

• We have developed 7 projects covering a wide
  range of technologies within Electrical
  Engineering and Telecommunications.
• Teleconferencing Phone
• Wireless Data Acquisition System
• Bluetooth Enabled Web Cam
• Robot Dog Soccer
• Walking Humaniod Robot
• Weather Station
• USB Wireless Communications Module
• Peter will give you a brief presentation on each
  of these.
• ALL Equipment that is issued must be returned in
  working order.
• Failure to do so will result in your grade being
  withheld.

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1. Teleconferencing Phone
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2. Wireless Data Acquisition System
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3. Bluetooth-enabled Web Camera
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4. Robot Dog Soccer
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4. Robot Dog Soccer (continued)
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5. Walking Humanoid Robot
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5. Walking Humanoid Robot (continued)
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6. Remote Weather Station
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7.USB Wireless Communications Module
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Design Considerations

• Please be careful with equipment.
• For some designs you will need to implement
  bi-directional buses.
• If 2 devices are connected together and both are
  configured as outputs then 1 device will be
  destroyed. Please simulate and check designs
  before testing.
• If you are unsure please see your supervisor.