SER 301 Project
In line with the PODBL concepts, this unit is made up of a major project that is to be conducted individually while the project planning is a group exercise.
MATLAB is a powerful programming language as well as a sophisticated simulation and design environment that is widely used in many modern industries around the world. It is renowned for its indepth functionality that allows for the testing of advanced engineering concepts, spanning from data mining to civil engineering. For Mechatronic engineering students, MATLAB’s vast collection of functions in sensing, signal processing and dynamical systems modelling will be useful in solving practical and complex problems directly relevant to real world applications.
The main objective of the project is for students to familiarize themselves with state of the art design philosophies and obtain a hands-on experience through application of the underlying concepts. Sustained experience is required to master the numerous functionalities of this program and this unit is only an introduction to the model-based systems design featured in a MATLAB environment.
The construction of sophisticated systems requires the modelling, designing and testing of the program in simulated environments. Once the performance is acceptable then, typically the design will be deployed on to a hardware platform or on to a real dedicated system.
This task will have three distinct phases.
1. The modelling and planning of a design architecture
2. The simulation of the system to see if the control and estimation principles are acceptable.
3. The implementation of the system on a real platform or hardware architecture.
Therefore, the project should consider the following fundamental aspects:
• Modelling of the plant (or system).
• If the sensing, feedback and output control of the project has been tested and verified in a Simulink environment
• Implementing/deploying the design in a Raspberri Pi or similar hardware system.
In addition to the underlying development principles, the assessment will be based on the following aspects:
1. Evidence of a problem statement, approach and solution.
2. Employment of fundamental principles.
3. Presentation and effectiveness in communication.
4. Ability to grasp new and modern concepts, initiation and lateral thinking
Assessments 2,3 and 4 are aimed at assessing your ability to plan and complete the major project. Assessment 2 (project review presentation) and Assessment 3 (project proposal) are group-based assessments. Assessment 4 (individual portfolio) is an individual-based assessment. Submissions for the assessments will be:
1) Assessment task 2
Group design proposal (Team) – During the intensive week – (25% overall unit mark)
a. The problem formulation.
b. Assumptions
c. Solution- Objectives
d. The key aspects in relation to the marking criteria include:
i. Sensing
ii. Feedback control philosophy
iii. Output control iv. Plant modelling
v. Presentation and coverage vi. Initiation
2) Assessment task 3
Presentation (Team) – During the intensive week – (10% of overall unit mark)
a. Oral communication of the aspects outlined in Assignment 1
b. The formulation and individual contribution to the project proposal (assignment 1 and 2) as a group- each member present for 3 minutes.
3) Assessment task 4
Project portfolio (Individual) –Towards the end of the trimester- (45% overall unit mark) a. Basic functionality of feedback control
b. Sensing
c. Mathematical modelling of the dynamic system
d. Pre- Filtering concepts
e. Control implementation and reasoning
f. Running the code on Embedded systems.
g. Initiation and lateral thinking.
In meeting the aforementioned requirements, students will be expected to engage in the development of a system capable of tracking a pendulum which can also be extended to tracking a human face.
The Raspberri Pi is an affordable, credit card sized computer (embedded system) that allows for user interface, sensing and control whilst supporting common peripheral devices. Simulink is a graphical programming environment for modelling, simulating and analyzing dynamic systems that are tightly integrated with MATLAB. With recent advances in Simulink functionality, the designs can be executed on a Raspberri Pi platform to utilize its compact and portability features, while Simulink facilitates high-level functionality.
Device Suggestions (A guide Only):
1. Matlab 2018b or 2019a(recommended) - Deakin has a site license and students are required to download and install MATLAB - The functionality is upgrading rapidly and some instructions in the course may be based in 2016/2017 version.
2. The following are recommended (guide only):
a. Raspberry Pi 3 model B, Universal power supply (for the Pi),
i. http://au.element14.com/raspberry-pi/raspberry-modb-512m/raspberry-pimodel-b-board/dp/2456986?st=RASPBERRY-MODB+-512M.
b. Camera Module V2 ( you may check with a USB camera initially),
i. https://core-electronics.com.au/raspberry-pi-camera-board-v2-8-megapixels38552.html?utm_source=google_shopping&gclid=CjwKEAjwpdnJBRC4hcTFtc6fwE kSJABwupNiLAq9flLRDG1JyOJxIzhqtTEFYjvXjxh426HUMjZ1IRoCxXXw_wcB c. Power supply
i. https://core-electronics.com.au/raspberry-pi-3-power-supply.html
d. Micro SD Card(16MB) – Recommended to have two. One Pre-installed with NOOBS for Raspberry Pi (https://core-electronics.com.au/16gb-microsd-card-with-noobs-forraspberry-pi-3-model-b.html).
e. Servomotor, i.e https://core-electronics.com.au/freetronics-sub-micro-servo-motor.html. You may need to connect to a separate power supply if you buy a one with a higher power requirement.
f. (Students may also consider other Pi accessories such as USB WiFi Dongle, Raspberry Pi 3 case).
g. A Breadboard and Breadboard Jumper wires.
3. A Smart Phone may also be considered as a deployable platform
* During the first 5 weeks students are expected to investigate the requirements of the project and source the appropriate hardware. These investigations will also form the basis for the project proposal (Assessment 3) due in Week 6.
See next page
Design Proposal Marking Rubric (To be used only as a guide):
Project presentation Rubric (To be used only as a guide)
Individual Portfolio marking rubric (To be used only as a guide)
The suggested project 1:
A tennis ball motion is captured by a camera and a servomotor is controlled so that a laser pointer attached to the servomotor is aligned with the (tracking the) moving ball. You should be able to see the laser light on the ball once it is deployed to the hardware platform such as a Raspberry Pi and when the ball is moving.
The project is expected to be conducted on a Matlab Simulink environment (50% of the marks) and then implemented on a hardware (i.e Raspberry Pi) Environment with pendulum tracking (25%) an object with random motion tracking (20%) searching a missed target and locking it in when tracking (5%).
1. You are expected to demonstrate your understanding of sensing, signal processing and control principles through the project.
2. Your engagements of the engineering concepts and technical arguments that ensure that the underlying approach and design principles are evaluated.
3. It is our expectation that you consider this a development exercise where you investigate and look for better and more effective ways of producing superior and sophisticated designs – let your imagination, curiosity and critical thinking take you further! That being said, there may be limitations in hardware and your goals can turn out to be too ambitions. If this is the case, you must identify the specific instances where limitations occurred. You must demonstrate your learning of the relevant coursework in your explanation as well as why and where your assumptions failed in the subsequent discussion.
• The effectiveness of your tracking can be demonstrated through generating an error plot, i.e. the amount of time the laser pointer is positioned on the tennis ball hanging on a 1.5m long string(pendulum) is considered as a guide in assessing the system performance. i.e the area under the tracking error curve when the system starts from the laser pointer on the tennis ball at the maximum deviation at 45o and end after 5 swings of the pendulum. This is inversely proportional to the system performance.
The suggested project 2 :
https://au.mathworks.com/videos/physical-modeling-building-a-rotary-pendulum-118779.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-famdFc9pM (These videos will not be available to the students)
Inverted Rotary Pendulum is expected to be designed and built through this project The project is expected to be conducted on a Matlab Simulink environment (50% of the marks) and then implemented on a hardware (i.e Raspberry Pi) environment with vertical positioning (25%), accounting for disturbances (20%) and bringing to the upright position automatically (5%).
1. You are expected to demonstrate your understanding of sensing, signal processing and control principles through the project.
2. Your engagements of the engineering concepts and technical arguments that ensure that the underlying approach and design principles are evaluated.
3. It is our expectation that you consider this a development exercise where you investigate and look for better and more effective ways of producing superior and sophisticated designs – let your imagination, curiosity and critical thinking take you further! That being said, there may be limitations in hardware and your goals can turn out to be too ambitions. If this is the case, you must identify the specific instances where limitations occurred. You must demonstrate your learning of the relevant coursework in your explanation as well as why and where your assumptions failed in the subsequent discussion.
• The duration of the inverted pendulum is positioned vertically after an initial 5o positional angle error and a small 5o push once it is stabilized is used as a guide in assessing the system performance. i.e. the area under the error curve
Submissions
1. Assessment task 2:
• A ten-page report submitted via CloudDeakin by the Due date
2. Assessment Task 3:
• A group presentation of each student in the group presenting for 3minutes.
• One PowerPoint file per group (prior to the presentation) and the video of the presentation (subsequent to the presentation) is to be uploaded to CloudDeakin.
3. Assessment task 4:
• 20 Page report on the project (refer to the template provided)
• Program files (Simulink, Matlab)
Video recording of the functionality of the design for Cloud Students. On campus students demonstrate the functionality in Week 11.

Design Portfolio (Structure)
1. Introduction
2. Problem formulation
3. Approach/Methodology
a. Mathematical Modelling
b. Software
c. Hardware
4. Results/Functionality/Outcomes
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
7. References
Figure 1: Sensing and Control Philosophy underpinning the project
T2 2019