End-of-Semester Control System Design Projects by Senior-level EET Students

Biswajit Ray; Robert Chambers; Nathan Henry; Paul Michael Karcher

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Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: ET Projects
Tagged Division: Engineering Technology
Page Count: 14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--30374
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/30374
Download Count: 1766

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Paper Authors

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Biswajit Ray Bloomsburg University

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Biswajit Ray received his B.E., M.Tech., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Calcutta (India), Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (India), and University of Toledo (Ohio), respectively. He is currently the coordinator, and a professor, of the Electronics Engineering Technology program at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he taught at University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, and designed aerospace electronics at EMS Technologies in Norcross, GA. Dr. Ray is active in power electronics consulting work for various industrial and governmental agencies.

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Abstract

The ability to conduct and design experiments is rated as one of the most desirable technical skills of engineering and engineering technology graduates. Specifically, a recent survey indicates that employers want graduates with an ability to integrate hardware and software and to formulate a range of alternative problem solutions. Additionally, potential employers of our EET graduates are primarily in the control and automation, and automated manufacturing and testing sectors of industry providing additional motivation for a control systems course embedding design projects focusing on hardware and software integration.

The senior-level control systems course consists of two hours of lecture and a three-hour laboratory per week. The first ten weeks of the fourteen-week semester are devoted to structured lecture and laboratory sessions, and major topics include system modeling, steady state and dynamic response, system stability, controller design using root locus and frequency response techniques, and control system modeling and simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The final four weeks are dedicated to student-initiated end-of-semester design projects. These projects provide an opportunity for students to integrate their theoretical, hardware, and software knowledge by developing complete control systems. Development of soft skills such as teamwork, proposal and report writing, oral presentation, and project management basics are an integral part of the project experience. Data collected via direct and indirect assessment instruments for evaluating the established project outcomes will be included in the paper.

Technical details for the following two control system design projects, implemented during the spring-2017 semester, will be included in the paper: a ball balancing on a plate, and an automated guitar tuner. Both projects focused on feedback-control system design and implementation encompassing sensors and actuators, interface electronics, control logic implementation in software (LabVIEW or Arduino microcontroller), user interface design, and laboratory testing. For these student-initiated projects, students were responsible for developing the project idea; preparing the project proposal; specifying all of the necessary electronic and electro-mechanical components; hardware implementation, including designing and printing 3-D parts; necessary shop work; preparation of a final report; and an oral presentation including the demonstration of successful operation of the project.

The full paper will discuss the background and scope of each of these projects, including the hardware and software integration essential to implementing modern control systems. Pedagogical advantages to incorporating student-initiated projects during the last few weeks of a semester will be presented. Performance indicator-based outcome assessment instruments and associated data for the course-embedded project experience will be addressed as well.

Citation
Format

Ray, B., & Chambers, R., & Henry, N., & Karcher, P. M. (2018, June), End-of-Semester Control System Design Projects by Senior-level EET Students Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30374

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The ability to conduct and design experiments is rated as one of the most desirable technical skills of engineering and engineering technology graduates.  Specifically, a recent survey indicates that employers want graduates with an ability to integrate hardware and software and to formulate a range of alternative problem solutions.  Additionally, potential employers of our EET graduates are primarily in the control and automation, and automated manufacturing and testing sectors of industry providing additional motivation for a control systems course embedding design projects focusing on hardware and software integration.

The senior-level control systems course consists of two hours of lecture and a three-hour laboratory per week.  The first ten weeks of the fourteen-week semester are devoted to structured lecture and laboratory sessions, and major topics include system modeling, steady state and dynamic response, system stability, controller design using root locus and frequency response techniques, and control system modeling and simulation using MATLAB/SIMULINK.  The final four weeks are dedicated to student-initiated end-of-semester design projects.  These projects provide an opportunity for students to integrate their theoretical, hardware, and software knowledge by developing complete control systems.  Development of soft skills such as teamwork, proposal and report writing, oral presentation, and project management basics are an integral part of the project experience.  Data collected via direct and indirect assessment instruments for evaluating the established project outcomes will be included in the paper.

Technical details for the following two control system design projects, implemented during the spring-2017 semester, will be included in the paper: a ball balancing on a plate, and an automated guitar tuner.  Both projects focused on feedback-control system design and implementation encompassing sensors and actuators, interface electronics, control logic implementation in software (LabVIEW or Arduino microcontroller), user interface design, and laboratory testing.  For these student-initiated projects, students were responsible for developing the project idea; preparing the project proposal; specifying all of the necessary electronic and electro-mechanical components; hardware implementation, including designing and printing 3-D parts; necessary shop work; preparation of a final report; and an oral presentation including the demonstration of successful operation of the project.

The full paper will discuss the background and scope of each of these projects, including the hardware and software integration essential to implementing modern control systems.  Pedagogical advantages to incorporating student-initiated projects during the last few weeks of a semester will be presented.  Performance indicator-based outcome assessment instruments and associated data for the course-embedded project experience will be addressed as well.

AU  - Biswajit Ray
AU  - Robert Chambers
AU  - Nathan Henry
AU  - Paul Michael Karcher
CY  - Salt Lake City, Utah
DA  - 2018/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - End-of-Semester Control System Design Projects by Senior-level EET Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/30374
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--30374
ER  -