This is a practical course which brings together many aspects of electronic design and construction. Using all of the academic knowledge and skills encountered in first and second years, the course leads teams through the planning, design, construction, completion and leads to the final demonstration of a working electronic device. In addition, the course integrates a foundation component on Creativity, based on the "double-diamond approach", involving multidisciplinary interaction

1 introductory lecture, plus introductory laboratories in semester 1. 1 lecture per week in semester 2 and laboratories.

None

None

Deliverables; practical work undertaken during semester 1 and 2- 16%

Project work; final circuit - does it function, does it perform to specification - 16%

Project report; prepared as a team -20%

Project presentation; prepared as a team -16%

Self and Peer review - 12%

Creativity exercise - 20%

It is the default expectation that all courses will offer opportunities for reassessment or deferred assessment. Where it is not possible to offer this in some assessment components, the grade achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade, and any exceptions for this course are described below.

[No exceptions]

The aims of this course are to:

■ Give students experience in the full design process for an electronic circuit leading to a functional instrument.

■ undertake a project, carried out in a small team, which also draws on material taught in other electronics courses

■ Provide the student with initial experience of a systematic approach to realising Creativity.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Apply the principles of electronic design to realise a complete system/device of practical use, e.g. a heart rate monitor, temperature or gas sensor. This includes: designing circuits and drawing circuit schematics (analogue/digital); choosing components by extracting relevant information from datasheets; laying out and populate printed circuit boards; testing them for continuity and rework as necessary; writing necessary software/code; completing test and debug; assessing product life cycle, end-of-life environmental impact, and compliance with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations;

■ Describe the basic breakdown of projects into building blocks, work packages and tasks, identifying critical paths, interconnects, dependencies, risks, and mitigating actions, explaining the need for each task with a detailed, reasoned explanation;

■ Demonstrate an understanding of the importance and systematic application of creativity in engineering;

■ Apply the principles of teamwork to contribute to the success of a team project in a team of 3 or 4 students, e.g. mutual trust, assigning clear roles, ensuring accountability, clear communication and prompt action to resolve conflicts  in a team writing of user's manual and team report;

■ Implementing the principles of scientific rigour and reproducibility by preparing presentations/demonstrations/ technical and scientific reports on the team project, and by keeping an individual laboratory book, in electronic or physical format.