Introduction to ECE Design
This course is no longer offered
(1-0-3-2)
CMPE Degree: This course is Elective for the CMPE degree.
EE Degree: This course is Elective for the EE degree.
Lab Hours: 3 supervised lab hours and 0 unsupervised lab hours.
Technical Interest Groups / Course Categories: Seminars / Special courses
Course Coordinator: Kevin Toby Johnson
Prerequisites: None
Catalog Description
An introduction to basic concepts useful for all areas of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Focus on hands-on, team-based activities using robotics.Textbook(s)
Course Outcomes
- Recognize the effects of sampling interval, quantization/precision, and forms of numerical representation, on sampled signals.
- Apply fundamental concepts of charge, voltage, and current flow to simple circuits
- Recognize basic mechanisms of physical sensing (light, sound, touch) in electronic sensors
- Apply basic concepts of computer program flow and organization to implement desired behavior in software
- Demonstrate a basic understanding of DC motor control (PWM, power, speed, torque, and tradeoffs using gearing)
- Describe the many subdisciplines of ECE
- Modify the design of an autonomous robot to add behavior based on sensor inputs and using motors/actuators to accomplish simple tasks
- Assess the factors affecting the reliability and repeatability of the programmed tasks (How consistently does it work? How well does it work? Why?)
- Work in teams, including: a. Fair delegation of tasks b. Communicating with peers
- Creating a realistic timeline for a project and sticking to it or assessing why it didn't work
- Create engineering reports outlining a design strategy and assessing its strengths, weaknesses, and feasibility, and describing functional/technical specifications of the proposed design strategy
Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)
Not Applicable
Topic List
- Electricity
- Charge, Current, Voltage
- Energy, Power
- Ohm's Law
- Basic Circuit Elements
- Signals and Signal Processing
- Representing information using electronic signals
- Analog vs. digital signals
- Accuracy, precision, range, and resolution
- High-pass and low-pass filtering
- Sensors and Actuators
- Theory of operation of various sensors such as light, sound, position, and movement
- Theory of operation of DC motors and stepper motors
- Programming for Microcontrollers
- The Arduino family of microcontroller boards
- The Arduino programming environment
- Analog signal acquisition and processing
- Motor control
- Engineering Project Management
- Time-management
- Teamwork and task delegation
- Effective technical communication
- Engineering Design
- The design process
- Debugging hardware and software systems