Engin 103

Project 2

Developing Virtual Instruments

Developing a Virtual Instrument consists of the following steps: 1) Define the problem you want to solve, specify what will be the inputs and the outputs. 2) Determine the equations or operations needed to produce the outputs from the inputs 3) Implement the controls and indicators and graphs in the Control Panel and the operations in the Block Diagram 4) Fix any error and implement modifications as needed 5) Test the final results against expected theoretical values.

You are required to work with your team to develop two different Virtual Instruments, which solves two different problems to be presented during Day 1 and Day 2 (check e-syllabus for dates). Your team should develop two VI’s from scratch, all VI’s will be checked, and when LabVIEW elements not introduced in class are used, you will be asked to explain in detail about them during the presentations. In Day 2 you are required to present the second VI that solves a different problem which calls in at least one sub-VI. Working with your team is required for receiving credits from the projects, observing timelines set by the team leader assures successful completion of the project. The team leader will need to submit a specification for each VI before the presentation day on a day that will be announced on the e-syllabus.

Project 2	Min. number of inputs*	Min. number of outputs	# of SubVI’s	# times a Sub-VI is called in
Part I	4	3	Not required	Not required
Part II	5	4	At least one	At least twice

* Numeric constants are not considered as inputs

Each team will do a 5 minute presentation on their VI’s in each of the two presentation days. The webpage on the project, along with the project report will be due the class after the second day of the presentations (please check the e-syllabus for exact dates). The team leader will meet with the instructor to discuss team progress on the project on a weekly basis. The project report is expected to be a good written document (see Good Writing Practices), and graded under three categories: correct grammar and neat presentation; logical arguments and structure; accurate report of the team project, completeness, and no plagiarism. Project report will be submitted in hardcopies along with the cover sheet with member signatures, the team meeting log and task distribution table, and also in electronic form (Word files, named pr2_XX.doc, where XX is the two digit team number) to the team FTP file folder. A complete report should include the following sections:

-Introduction: brief description of project objectives in your own words, background information needed for the design of the VI, work distribution among the team members, and timelines for the different parts of the project: research, design, coding, testing/debugging.

-Design and building: this section should include the Front Panel and Block Diagram with explanation on why different elements have been used and placed that way.

-User Manual and Trouble Shooting: should explain in details how to use the VI, with specific examples, and how to trouble shooting common errors

-Conclusion: overview of the team achievement and lections learned for the future.

Team leaders: the cover sheets to be submitted with the team report for Project 2 will include the “Comments and Signatures” and

The “Meeting Log and Task Distribution”

Engin 103 Project # 2 Report for team # ____ Submitted by ____________________ (team leader) Today’s date is ______________
Team leader: Please comment on these teamwork elements: communication, organization, and participation while you and your team were completing Project 2. In one paragraph, make a self- evaluation for your team as compared to other teams in the class, and to the team performance in the previous Project. Describe any recommendation you would like to make for your team and the leader for Project 3.
Members	Signatures
Leader:
Member:
Member:
Member:

Project meeting log and tasks distribution

Please fill in the following table every meeting, including the date and attending members’ names. The second form should be filled by the team leader.

Date:	Name		Name	Name	Name		Name
Name		Task Assigned				Percentage of Completion

Team leaders will upload the Word file pr2_XX.doc to the team folder and submit a signed hard copy on or before the report due date. There will be no individual report required for this Project. Grades will be computed as follows:

Report for team #
Submitted		On time Late
Uploaded electronic copy		Yes No
Project 1 web page		Yes No
Team participation table		Yes No
Report submitted (80)	Progress Report: p2pr.html (5)
	p2p1.html (5)
	p2p2.html (5)
	Introduction Problem solved, equations (20)
	LabVIEW inputs/outputs, Front Panel (15)
	LabVIEW elements: Block Diagrams, Sub-VI’s; Results Testing (20)
	Conclusions (10)
Good writing practices (20)	Grammar and presentation (5)
	Logical arguments and structures (5)
	Accurate, completeness; non-plagiarism (10)
Deduction
Project report total (100)
Project presentation total (200)		Performance and Design (180):
		Web pages Parts I and II (20):
Project 1 total (300)

Grading criteria in Design and Performance

Design: -Front Panel: ergonomic (is it easy for the user to understand what problem your Virtual Instrument is solving, what are the required inputs, if they are numbers what is the range of possible values, what are the outputs, etc.); correct information (for numeric quantities with units, what units are you using for the inputs and outputs, for example if an input is the speed, in what unit should the user enter, miles/h; km/h; m/s?, if an output is the time, what unit is it in, hours, minutes, months, etc.) -Block Diagram: organization, minimum wiring (no wire crossing unless unavoidable), transparency (is it easy to see which wire is connected to which terminal of an operation or sub-VI, is there any wire crossing an operation or sub-VI although not connected to it, etc.) -Requirements: does it have minimum 4 inputs and 3 outputs (Part I) or 5 inputs and 4 outputs and one of your own sub-VI that includes two or more operations that was called in at least twice in the Block Diagram (Part II).

Performance: -Proficiency: how much of the LabVIEW elements introduced in class, and others are being used in your Virtual Instrument -Utility: how useful or practical is the application you developed -Complexity: length of equation used or number of operations or LabVIEW elements used in the Block diagram