EEEN30043 Sensors Design Assignment 2022 Template with marking scheme
Deadline: 1:00 p.m., Friday, 20 May 2022
This course assignment represents 20% of the value of the final mark for EEEN30043. It should be undertaken as private study and the submitted report written independently of other members of the course. All references should be clearly indicated in the text and listed at the end of the report. The report structure must be as stated below. Students who fail to submit their completed assignment by the required deadline will receive zero marks. You are advised to start working on this assignment early and submit well before the deadline.
Note 1: Reports must be submitted electronically via Blackboard as a single PDF file and all text must be 11pt Arial font with all page margins being 20mm. They MUST be titled: “Sensors Assignment XX” – where XX is your student ID number.
Note 2: All reports should be submitted through the TurnItInUK portal for automatic plagiarism checks.
1. Introduction
During the course, a set of basic sensor techniques are covered along with their integration within the host instrumentation or alongside actuators. However, a sensor is of limited value on its own, as it is the application of the device which is the critical factor. The entrepreneurial sensors engineer must therefore be conscious of the wider context into which their designs may be applied. This assignment will test your understanding of the sensor techniques and give you an opportunity to think innovatively about how they may be used.
2. Course Assignment
You are to select a sensor-related design problem of interest to you. The problem should address a commercial product or research instrument. It should rely on the selection and operation of one or more sensors which are available, or have been demonstrated by researchers. Most of all, it must be useful to someone. It is not essential that the application is new but in cases where precedents exist you should emphasise how your approach to the design differs from the existing state-of-the-art. The following link may help you with identifying potential application ideas and concepts: http://www.sensorsportal.com/HTML/Sensor.htm.
3. Structure of the Report
Your final report must be based on the following structure. The marks for each section are given in the brackets. In each section you’ll find some ideas how to earn full marks:
i. Executive Summary [10 marks]: No more than one paragraph (150 words) summarising: aims and objectives; context and identified customer need; market factors and competition; idea, design and implementation, recommendations.
ii. Idea and Market [10 marks]: Brief Statement of the idea and the sensing needs; identification of the customer; general appreciation of market and competitors; important specifications; target market price. iii. Review and Current State-of-the-Art [20 marks]: Evidence of keyword literature search, e.g. through Google Scholar and database of patents (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/ ); description of the state-of-the-art supported by references; summary of relevant related sensor technologies; assessment of the uniqueness of the proposed sensor system; iv. Preferred Design and its Implementation [40 marks]: Quantitative specification wherever possible (e.g; accuracy, sensitivity, precision, size, weight, robustness, etc.; design details (including e.g. part numbers, costs, interface specification, etc); outline of system electronics and software (as appropriate) and any miscellaneous requirements (such as mechanical components); block diagram of sensor system architecture and/or software flowchart; packaging requirements and/or user interface details; estimation of performance.
v. Prototype Delivery [10 marks]: Construction requirements (equipment needed, special facilities, etc.); testing programme (performance, safety, etc.); estimated costs and time schedule (including materials, construction and testing).
vi. Conclusions and Recommendations [5 marks]: Clearly formulated and concise conclusions, along with recommendations to senior managers.
For additional marks, the overall quality of the report will be assessed (max. 5 marks), based on clear and concise writing style and layout, the length of the report, the balance across sections, and the use of appendices.
4. Style of the Report
The style of this document should be something you would present to a potential investor, i.e. in plain English, nicely formatted and containing a complete, succinct and persuasive description of your product. The main body of the report must not exceed 5 pages of text. Additional pages in the form of appendices can be included. These appendices should be used for supporting material such as data sheets, drawings, patent pages, etc. There should be no more than 10 pages of appendices.