The Project
You will design and build something this term, on a topic you choose, following the engineering design process: define a need, write the specifications, consider alternatives, choose one, build it, test it, and hand it over. The project is the largest part of your grade.
What you will turn in, in order
- A topic. A paragraph or two, early in the term. Not binding
- A proposal. Two to four pages, written to me: the problem, the constraints and criteria, at least two alternatives, how you chose, how you will test. This is what gets your project approved
- A presentation and demo. Six minutes plus questions, live over Zoom, showing what you built and what your tests measured. Up to two minutes of it may be a recorded video of the demo
- A final report. Two or more pages plus figures, written for someone who has to build, use, and maintain it without talking to you: what it is, what it is made of, how it works, how to test it, and what changed from the proposal and why
Each page has the full instructions and the rubric.
What counts as a project
A working prototype that solves a problem, designed and built by you, with a result you can measure. It has to go through the design process: a stated need, specifications with numbers, alternatives you considered, a choice, a build, and a test. A plan, a paper, or a design that never gets built does not count. Something has to exist at the end that you can show and test.
Part of the design has to be your own. Assembling a kit or following a step-by-step build does not count. You can start from a kit, a tutorial, or someone else’s design, but you have to make a nontrivial change or addition of your own to meet your need, and you have to be able to explain what you changed and why.
It does not have to be electrical or complicated. It has to be finishable this term alongside your other classes.
The project is individual. You may get help and buy parts; the design decisions and the build are yours.
Examples from previous terms (to show the range, not to pick from):
- Energy: a wind-powered generator; a small hydropower generator; a thermoelectric phone charger; a solar water pump
- Mechanical and outdoor gear: a ski or snowboard brake; a trebuchet; a self-erecting tent; a body harness built from old climbing gear
- Electronics and control: an audio filter; a coin counter; automatic windshield wipers driven by a humidity sensor; a garden irrigation controller
- Household and assistive: a sous vide cooker; a thumb guard for hammering; a needle-threading aid for people with shaky hands; a cookbook stand for one specific kitchen
- Civil and environmental: a water filter from natural materials; rehabilitating a pond overrun by algae; a set of small bridges built and tested to failure
- Fabrication: a custom workbench; a 3D-printed drone case; a secret latch for a backyard gate; a baby stroller for trails
Many of these are ordinary. Small things done properly, with real measurements, score better than ambitious things half-finished.
Three rules
- Keep the scope manageable. The most common mistake is a project that is too big. Choose something you are sure you can finish; if you finish early, add a feature
- Start early. Parts take time to arrive, and you need time to troubleshoot when something does not work
- Measure something. Every project needs at least one number you measured that shows whether it met its specifications. “It works” is not a result
Where to build, and where to look
- The CCC Makerspace. The Les de Asis Makerspace in the Holden Industrial Technology Center on the Oregon City campus: 3D printers, a laser cutter, CNC machines, a vinyl cutter, a full wood shop and metal shop, and SolidWorks, Fusion 360 and AutoCAD on the computers. Open to students. Hours and details: clackamas.edu/student-life/campuses-buildings-hours/makerspace
- For ideas and to see how other people built things: Instructables (step-by-step builds of every kind) · Hackaday.io (people documenting their projects, mostly electronics) · Printables (3D-printable designs, free)
- Parts and tutorials for anything with electronics in it: SparkFun and Adafruit, parts and the tutorials that go with them
- Free software: Tinkercad for simple 3D modeling and for simulating Arduino circuits in the browser before you buy anything