#14: Housekeeping

News and Announcements

  • Faculty Evaluations

Old Business

New Business

  • Documentation Instructional Series
    1. Spring ’17 Blog Posts
    2. Mission Accomplished
    3. Final Documentation and Blog Posts
      • Project Summary Blog
      • Blog Post Grading
        • In addition to Blog posts linked to from Action Items, blog posts linked to from this document will be incorporated into your final blog post grade.
        • Do not forget summary paragraph.
      • Non-Technical Blog Posts will be deleted
    1. Source Materials – As specified in the Project Summary Blog your final post must include or link to these zipped files. When unzipped they must be in their native file formats (Solidworks Drawings, Fritzing Diagrams, Eagle CAD files, Arduino Code, etc.)
    2. Video
  • Technical Training Series – Division Managers

Assignments and Due Dates

  • Meeting Minutes on BeachBoard
  • Project Cost / Reimbursement Letters
    • For my signature are due no later than Friday, May 5th by 2:00 pm (end of class).

Lab Tasks

  1. Review of Verification and Validation Plans and Reports
  2. I recommend returning parts on loan, except those integrated into the project, today – avoid the crunch.
  3. Get projects mission ready.

Mission Accomplished

  1. Verification and Validation Reports
    • Updated and Printed Verification and Validation Checklists and associated Test Reports are Due at the time of the Demonstration
    • Updated Checklist broken out by Division and Type (Will, Shall, Should). Unless otherwise directed (approved), verification will be at the system level.
    • Request waivers on tests you are not planning on conducting. It never hurts to ask.
    • Provide link to PDR System Level Requirements Do not include unlinked requirements. In other words, a system level requirement which is not linked to a project requirement. Again, unless approved, subsystem verification is not factored into your grade.
      • Include a “Change Control Page” at the beginning of the Test Report. See SMD Pick and Place for excellent example.
    • Checklist may include percent complete versus a simple Yes or No.
    • Common mistakes: quantitative (no sharp edges), missing requirements (flight time, safety).
  2. Grading Note(s)
    • Points deducted for use of glue gun and other adhesives like epoxy, twisted non-soldered wires, poor workmanship, tape, zip ties, etc.
  3. Non-mission Critical Parts

During the final week of class (not during final’s week) teams will return parts on loan or purchased with University funds and not required in support of the demonstration. Please bring paper versions of all relevant emails and receipts to expedite the process.

Promotional Video on the Engineering Method

  1. The objective of the video is to provide a fun and positive overview of the engineering method and project. The video may be used for promoting the electrical engineering department to the college and outside world (e.g. as a recruiting tool).
    1. Reference Video: You can view previous videos here.
    2. Time: Approximately 2 minutes
    3. Music: Non-copyrighted instrumental track. Here is a good source of non-copyrighted material http://www.mobygratis.com/catalog
    4. Voice Over: Optional but recommended
    5. Video: Please do not use copyrighted material (e.g. clips from movies)
    6. End Credits: Second to last clip should thank our sponsors (for example: 4PCB and Arxterra) including by name and corporate logo. The final clip must always show CSULB Emblem and give credit to the COE/EE department.
    7. Do not enable commercials on your YouTube videos. Here is a tutorial on how to “Turn Off Ads on YouTube Videos.”
    • Grading
      • Points will be deducted if the video is not turned in on time and the above instructions are not followed.
      • Do not forget to illustrate the Engineering Method through your Project Video with voice-over and/or text overlays.
      • Please provide in your accompanying email, who participated in the creation of the video and to what extent.

Blog Posts - Common Errors

Top 10 Blog Post Mistakes

  1. Blog Posts should have a descriptive title, show a square teaser photo plus a short introductory paragraph with Read More à tag.
    1. Post should indicate semester
    2. Title should describe content
    3. Teaser photo must be square
    4. Verify short summary paragraph is on project home page. (prosthetic arm/hand)
    5. If missing “Read More” tag you probably have the complete blog post on the project page.
  2. Code must include helpful comments and should be single spaced done in Courier font
  3. Too much space between paragraphs
  4. Image Size and Number
    • Images should be under 200 Kbytes. See “How to Blog Post – 101”. And only upload once (Arxterra/public_html/www.arxterra.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01 – 04). All of these files are over 400K. Interesting that the biggest files are also uploaded multiple times – which should tell you something!

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