Winter Quarter 2010 Course Announcement

ENGR110/210
Perspectives in Assistive Technology

David L. Jaffe, MS and Professor Drew Nelson
Tuesdays & Thursdays   4:15pm - 5:30pm
William Gates Computer Science Building, Toshiba Classroom, Room B12 (lower level)

Assignment Two

For your second assignment your team is asked to choose a specific design concept and fabricate/test a functional prototype. The embodiment of your chosen design should be in the form of detailed sketches, drawings, an a functional prototype. Your team will present this design in class and submit a final comprehensive final project report that encompasses your work for the entire quarter.


Team Project Presentations
Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Your team will describe your project work in a 30-minute "podium-style" presentation using Powerpoint slides in the classroom. Your presentation should include the following elements:

  1. Introduction of team members
  2. One sentence project description
  3. Statement of problem and user population affected
  4. Discussion of interviews with project suggestors and users
  5. Statement of need
  6. Identification and limitations of existing solutions
  7. Magnitude of problem addressed by this project
  8. Description and analysis of all design concepts considered
  9. Description of and rationale for selected design including its key benefits, comparative advantages over existing solutions, performance, user testing and acceptance, safety considerations, etc
  10. Project visualizations: photographs, videos, sketches, drawings, models, prototypes
  11. Device demonstration
  12. Future work and challenges for continuing the project, including technical feasibility, engineering difficulty, and estimated cost of a commercial product

Course staff, your classmates, and others in attendance will judge your project on its overall design solution and your presentation on its overall quality and the following metrics:

  1. Content - what was overall quality of the information you presented?
  2. Clarity - did the audience understand your presentation's content?
  3. Conciseness - was your presentation short and to the point?
  4. Completeness - did you include all major elements?
  5. Convincing - did you provide a good reason for your decisions?
  6. Creativity - how inventive / innovative was your design?

More about the project presentation


Team Project Report
Due Friday - March 12, 2010 at 5pm

  1. Your report should include all your background research, user interaction, evolution of ideas, etc. Your team's report should be at least 10 pages in length.

  2. Provide a concise and accurate overview of preliminary design concepts (at least 3) your team considered to address the identified problem. Describe the general design objectives, the rationale for the design concepts selected, how these concepts address a specific project problem, and features / potential benefits of each of the specific design concepts. Include any models, mechanical engineering analyses, calculations, drawings, and sketches you have developed as well as any feedback from potential users or coaches.

  3. Comment on the chosen concept's technical feasibility and engineering difficulty, estimated cost of materials, and safety considerations.

  4. Describe the project responsibilities and how they were divided among team members.

  5. Assuming this project will be pursued in ME113 or as directed study, identify future challenges and include a timetable of major tasks to produce and test a functional prototype.

  6. Suggested format for your team's Final Report:
    • Cover page - include course name & year, project title, team name, team member's names, and team member's photos
    • Abstract - one paragraph summary of objectives, approach taken, and results of the project
    • Introduction - problem to be addressed, problem background
    • Objectives - project goals and rationale
    • Design criteria - project background research, interviews with project suggestors and potential users, project specifications
    • Methods - what did your team do and why - include prototyping, model building, preliminary testing, analyses
    • Results - discuss specifics of your design solution such as features, benefits, aesthetics, cost, safety, reliability, usability, test results, feedback from users, etc.
    • Discussion - include challenges and suggestions to further develop and refine the project
    • References - bibliographic citations
    • Acknowledgements - mention individuals and facilities who helped you
    • Appendices - detailed calculations, testing notes, relevant vendor information, etc. that are referenced in the main body of the report

    In addition to a printed final report, please submit an electronic copy.


Individual Reflection
Due Friday - March 12, 2010 at 5pm

Reflect on your class and team experiences. Each project team member will provide a discussion (one page minimum) of the design process, what you learned, and what was most valuable to you individually. Here are some items to address:

  1. You have spent the past quarter hearing from different professionals and users, interviewing community members, brainstorming with your team, doing background research, looking at prior art, etc. Please comment on the relative value of the different parts of this process toward your design.

  2. How did the different interactions in the class (with users, community members, speakers, professionals, etc.) contribute to the results of your design? Was any particular interaction especially rewarding or helpful? Why?

  3. If you were to go through this process again, what would you do differently? Was there support from the teaching staff or course content that was helpful or that you felt was missing? What advice would you give to future students?

  4. Other questions you can reflect on can be found here.

  5. Learning through Structured Reflection article


Updated 03/01/2010

Back to Homepage

back to homepage