Course Catalogue

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Students divide into teams of 4-6 members to design and construct electronic and electrical systems (typically autonomous vehicles) which perform assigned tasks on time and within budget. Students make oral and written presentations of their work, and learn to critically analyse reports from other engineers to extract key facts and arguments. Assessment of this course will be in Chinese.

This is a team project that will run continuously throughout the year with on-line support available and local GTAs to mentor the groups.

Mandatory Entry Requirements

None

Recommended Entry Requirements

None

None

None

All assessment will be carried out in Chinese.

Assessment

20% Examination (Reading two substantial scientific articles and providing an abstract for one and conclusion for the other).

30% Coursework: 15% individual research, analysis and report writing exercises, 15% team research, analysis and report writing exercises

50% Project work: 25% interim and final product evaluation, 25% team and individual project reports and oral presentations.

Reassessment

In accordance with the University's Code of Assessment reassessments are normally set for all courses which do not contribute to the honours classifications. For non honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students, and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions are listed below in this box.

Due to the nature of the coursework and sequencing of courses, it is not possible to reassess the coursework project and laboratory.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Due to the nature of the coursework and sequencing of courses, it is not possible to reassess the coursework project and laboratory.

The initial grade on coursework project and laboratory will be used when calculating the resit grade.

The aims of this course are to

■ build experience of working in a team to design and construct an integrated electronic system that must perform a specific function within budget;

■ enhance student written and oral technical communication skills, including the creation of well structured reports.

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

■ analyse technical requirements to develop an overall design plan;

■ design, construct and test electronic hardware to perform specific functions;

■ design, populate and test printed circuit boards;

■ interface electronic and electrical (power) systems;

■ select and use appropriate components using manufacturers' information, including data sheets;

■ appropriately use a microcontroller, including design, implementation and test of software;

■ maintain control of a project budget;

■ maintain a personal technical log book;

■ use a project planning methodology (such as PERT), defining milestones and measuring achievement against such milestones;

■ run a project without undue reliance on a supervisor;

■ perform productively as a team, recognising contributions from all team members;

■ appreciate the duty to comply with Health and Safety legislation;

■ critically analyse published information for its content, arguments and validity;

■ write a concise researched technical report that clearly addresses and analyses pertinent issues;

■ use appropriate language and style, demonstrating effective command of English including some complex usage;

■ read and understand the essential elements of a scientific or engineering article and produce conclusions and an abstract to such an article;

■ use and cite references correctly;

■ make short oral presentations that convey adequate information in an appropriate style;

■ use simple visual aids competently.

Students must attend the examination, submit all assignments, attend 90% of the timetabled meetings with the team supervisor, take part in all presentations, contribute to all team reports, and maintain a personal log book that shows a satisfactory level of contribution to the project.