BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
MCH 4997 Capstone Project I and MCH 4998 Capstone Project II
This manual is prepared to provide the necessary information regarding the content, requirements, scheduling, project template, and evaluation criteria of MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 Capstone Project courses. The manual is intended to assist students and faculty project advisors in the planning, management, implementation, and assessment of both the Capstone Project courses. 1.
Catalogue Descriptions MCH 4997 Capstone Project I (1-4)3
The main objective of this course is to develop an acceptable and professional design behavior of the students for mechatronic applications. Students are required to design, manufacture and test performance of a mechatronic machine. Mechatronic creativity is the most emphasized design criterion in the design evaluation. Prerequisite: Graduation status. MCH 4998 Capstone Project II (0-6)3
This course is a continuation of MCH 4997 Capstone Project I. Prerequisite: MCH 4997. 2.
Overview The MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 courses constitute a single capstone project that is expected to be completed over a two academic semester period. For the project, students are expected to design a hardware, manufacture, and test and evaluate a prototype of the design. The first semester MCH 4997 course is devoted to the conceptual design of the hardware and the second semester MCH 4998 course is devoted to the manufacture and test of the design. The successful completion of the MCH 4997 course is a prerequisite to enrollment in the MCH 4998 course. The capstone project should represent the individual effort of the student. The MCH 4997 course includes one hour per week lectures on engineering methodology, written and oral communication and ethics by a course coordinator. A faculty member will act as the project advisor and oversee the student’s progress throughout the MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 courses. A student research symposium will be held at the end of each spring semester where the students are expected to exhibit their designs to the University community and to the general public. 3.
Objectives The objectives of the MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 courses are as follows:  To provide the student with the opportunity to integrate and apply the knowledge and problem solving skills they acquired throughout their undergraduate education by working on an engineering problem.  To encourage students to work independently, enhance their knowledge and broaden their engineering creativity.  To help students acquire non-technical skills such as time management, self-discipline, and critical thinking.  To improve students' ability to communicate in formal oral and written English.  To provide students with the opportunity to work closely with one faculty member who will serve as their project advisor. 4.
Content and Scope
The student will be requested to choose from a variety of project topics related to Mechatronics Engineering that will be announced before the beginning of the first semester. For this purpose, the student should complete and submit a Capstone Project Selection Form (provided in Appendix A), after the project topics are announced. As an exception, the student may also suggest a project topic provided that he/she can provide a reasonable justification for the suggested project topic. Such suggestions should be submitted to the Department Chair before the announcement of the project assignments. Suggestions after the assignments are announced will not be considered. The student suggesting a project idea should also submit a Capstone Project Selection Form. The suggested project will be assigned to the student only if the project topic is deemed acceptable by the Department and a faculty member agrees to advise the project. As a part of the capstone project, students are expected to design, manufacture and evaluate a mechatronic hardware that consists of not only mechanical parts, but also electrical and/or electronic components. The project may also involve software programming either as a tool to assist the design stage (e.g., CAD and analysis of the hardware) or as a part of the prototype (e.g., programming of a microcontroller). The project may be research oriented where a novel design idea is pursued or purely application oriented where an improved solution is developed to an already solved engineering problem. Typical projects include analytical and/or numerical analysis of the design, computer simulations, manufacturing of at least one prototype, and experimental validation. In some rare occasions where it is not feasible or practical to build a prototype for a research oriented project, extensive computer simulations may replace the manufacturing and experimental evaluation of a prototype, conditioned on the approval of the project advisor. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE can literature reviews be accepted as a MCH 4997/8 capstone project. 5.
Rules and Guidelines
The student can enroll in the MCH 4997 course only if she/he has an academic standing enough to graduate at the end of the following semester. In general, students are expected to enroll in the MCH 4997 course at the first semester of the fourth year of their undergraduate education. The capstone project is conducted individually under the supervision of a faculty member who acts as the project advisor. Group projects are possible, provided that they are structured in such a way that at most three individual projects complement and constitute a larger project. For such group projects, each student is still expected to work independently. Likewise, students working on group projects will be evaluated independently, similar to other students. A list of available projects will be announced at the beginning of the first semester. By the end of the add-drop period, each student will pick exactly three project topics from that list and submit the Capstone Project Selection Form (Appendix A) to the Department Chair. A student planning to propose a project topic should arrange to meet with the appropriate faculty members to discuss the project topic in advance of the deadline to submit the Capstone Project Selection Form. Every faculty member has a predetermined quota for capstone projects and this quota will not be exceeded. The final assignments of the projects will be done by the Department based on the students’ preferred project topics listed in the Capstone Project Selection Form and faculty members’ quotas. Every effort will be made by the Department to assign the student with a preferred project. However, there are no guarantees that students will be assigned to one of the topics in their preference list. If the student fails to submit the Capstone Project Selection Form before the deadline, s/he will randomly be assigned an unassigned project topic. In case there are no matches between some students and projects, a second round of selection might be possible. The students cannot change the project topic or switch advisors throughout the duration (two semesters) of the project. By the end of the 6th week of classes, the student should complete, sign and submit the Capstone Project Selection Form (Appendix B) to the project advisor. The form should provide a detailed project description, including overall objectives of the project, a brief review of the design methodology, and a list of milestones and the corresponding schedule. If approved, this form should be signed by the project advisor and submitted to the Department Chair. The supervisor and student each should keep a copy of this form for future reference. Students enrolled in the MCH 4997 course will have one hour of weekly meetings with the course coordinator which will appear as a regular 1 credit course in the student’s schedule. During these meetings, the students will be lectured on topics such as research methodology, fundamentals of design, project management, technical report writing, presentation skills, and ethics. In addition to these weekly lectures, each student enrolled in either MCH 4997 or MCH 4998 courses is expected to have weekly meetings with his/her project advisor. Students are responsible for meeting with their project advisors and scheduling these weekly meetings, after the project topic assignments are announced. The project advisor’s activities may include:  Reviewing the project proposal and offer suggestions,  Referring the students to relevant information sources,  Overseeing the progress of the project and offering academic and technical insight,  Reviewing and evaluating the project report. Despite the fact that the project topics are determined by the faculty in most cases, it is not the advisor's responsibility to tell students exactly what to do. The student is ultimately responsible for the project content and implementation. Students are highly encouraged to keep a logbook and maintain an up-to-date record of their progress. Students are also advised to have their logbooks available with them for the weekly meetings with the project advisor. In addition, the students are also encouraged to prepare a brief report outlining last week’s progress and plans for the coming week; and submit this report to the project advisor at the beginning of each weekly meeting. The student should submit a copy of the Preliminary Design Report to the project advisor before the end of classes for the first semester. If the student fails to submit the Preliminary Design Report by this deadline, s/he WILL FAIL the MCH 4997 course. A student who has successfully completed the MCH 4997 course is required to register for the MCH4998 course in the following semester. The MCH 4997 course is a prerequisite of the MCH 4998 course, and students who fail the MCH 4997 course WILL NOT be able to register for the MCH 4998 course. There will be no weekly lectures for the MCH 4998 course by the course coordinator; however, the student is expected to continue meeting weekly with the project advisor. The budget is an important aspect of the capstone project and should be well justified. Costperformance efficiency will be a major factor in the evaluation of the project. The student will be able to use the University’s facilities free of charge on an availability basis, provided that the necessary permissions are requested and granted. Hence, the student should consider the facilities available at the University in planning every aspect of the project. However, the student is responsible for the cost of the raw materials and other consumables. The student will also be responsible for costs accrued during the design and manufacture of the project at facilities other than those available at the University. The performance of the student for the MCH 4998 Capstone Project II will be evaluated by a committee of three faculty members including the project advisor who will act as the committee chair. The Department will determine the committee members for each project and announce the committee member list by the first week of the final exam period. Provided that the scope of the project is consistent with the expertise of the faculty member, at most one committee member can be from another department within the Faculty of Engineering. 6.
Timeline
MCH4997 Capstone Project I
A regular Mechatronics Engineering student is expected to enroll in the MCH 4997 course during the fall semester. The timeline for the MCH 4997 Capstone Project I course is outlined in Table I. Table I. Timeline of the MCH 4997 Capstone Project I course. First Day of the semester The Department will announce the list of project topics on the MCH 4997/8 Capstone Project website (http://akademik.bahcesehir.edu.tr/coskunkazma/mchcapstone/). First week of the semester Weekly lectures by the course coordinator begin. By the end of the adddrop period (2nd week of classes) Deadline to select three project topics and submit the Capstone Project Selection Form (Appendix A) to the Department Chair. If the student fails to submit the Capstone Project Selection Form before this deadline, one of the unassigned projects will randomly be assigned to the student. By the end of the 3rd week of classes Project assignments and the project advisors will be announced on the MCH 4997/8 Capstone Project website. 4th week of classes Weekly project meetings with project advisors begin. By the end of the 6th week of classes Deadline to submit the Capstone Project Statement Form (Appendix B) to the project advisor. Last day of classes Deadline to submit the Preliminary Design Report. If the student fails to submit the Preliminary Design Report by this deadline, s/he WILL FAIL the MCH 4997 course. MCH4998 Capstone Project II
A student who has successfully completed the MCH 4997 course is required to register for the MCH4998 course in the following semester. During the MCH 4998 course, the student will continue working on their capstone project, but should focus on the manufacturing, test, evaluation, and validation of the design. The timeline for the MCH 4998 Capstone Project II course is outlined in Table II. Table II. Timeline of the MCH 4998 Capstone Project II course. First week of the semester Weekly project meetings with project advisor resume. Last day of classes Deadline to submit the Final Project Report. If the student fails to submit the Final Project Report by this deadline, s/he WILL FAIL the MCH 4998 course. First week of the final exam period The Department will announce the committee members for each project and the schedule for the oral presentations. 7.
Facilities
The student is fully responsible for choosing the appropriate methods and tools necessary for the successful completion of the project. The student is encouraged to utilize the facilities available at Bahçeşehir University in completing the project, provided that this does not conflict with the teaching and research conducted. These facilities include but not limited to 
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CNC Manufacturing Systems (Vocational School) Dassault Systems CATIA CAD Software (25 licenses, DSC05) MathWorks Matlab and Simulink Numerical Computation Software (50 licenses, D building computers) dSPACE Real-Time Control & Signal Processing System (ds1104 board and ControlDesk software, 7 systems, Control Lab) 8.
Project Deliverables and Other Documents
The work conducted throughout the project is to be disseminated through a preliminary design report at the end of the first semester for the MCH 4997 course; and a final project report and an oral presentation at the end of the second semester for the MCH 4998 course. The report template that is to be used in writing both the preliminary design report and the final project report is provided as an additional MS Word document in .dot format. When you double click on the template, a new document will open in MS Word. You can copy and paste (please use “paste special >> unformatted text” option) your project report to this new document and save it as your project. Note that every time you double click on the template document, a new document will open. Therefore, if something goes wrong, you can start over. A single copy of the MCH 4997 Preliminary Design Report should be submitted to the project advisor at the end of the first semester, before the beginning of the final exam period for the first semester. Three copies of the MCH 4998 Final Project Report should be submitted to the project advisor and the two committee members before the beginning of the final exam period of the second semester. Once the MCH 4998 Final Project Report is reviewed and approved by the committee, the student will prepare three bound copies of the report and a CD-ROM. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that the printed report complies with the project report template. Reports that do not comply with the template will not be accepted. The CD should include the capstone project Preliminary Design Report and the Final project Report both in MS Office Word 2003 (.doc) and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format, the project final presentation in MS Office Powerpoint 2003 (.ppt) and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format, as well as the relevant software codes, scripts, applications, executables, videos, animations, technical and functional drawings. If a document cited in the report is not easily accessible, it should be included in the CD-ROM. The bound Final Project Report and the CD-ROM should be signed by the committee members and submitted to the Department Chair. The work conducted throughout both the MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 courses is orally presented to a committee of three faculty member ( including the project advisor acting as the committee chair) at the end of the second semester, after the final exam period. Students can make presentations ONLY AFTER they have submit their Final Project Reports. The presentation dates are determined by the Department and announced to the students during the first week of the finals. The presentation should also include a demo of the design, if applicable. The student will also be required to present their work as a poster presentation during the student research symposium that is to be held at the end of the spring semester each year. 9.
Evaluation of the Project
The performance of the student for the MCH 4997 Capstone Project I will be evaluated by the project advisor and for the MCH 4998 Capstone Project II course by a committee of three faculty members including the project advisor who will act as the committee chair. The capstone project courses will be evaluated based on the persistence and progress of the student throughout the semester (evaluated by the project advisor), the oral presentation, and the final project report (evaluated by the committee members). The student has to collect a minimum of 30 points from the progress evaluation in order to pass the course. The evaluation criteria are summarized in Table III below.
Table III. Evaluation criteria for the MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 courses. SECTION
CRITERIA
WEIGHT WEIGHT (%)
(%)
Is the conceptual design technically sound for MCH 4997?
30
PROGRESS
REPORT
Does the final product work for MCH 4998?
50
Did the student provide all the deliverables on time (attending weekly meetings, reports and presentation etc.)?
20
Format (Template use, justify text, uniform font, page numbering, figures and captions, tables and captions, referencing)
15
Content (Description of the work done, originality, language)
15
Format and language
10
Content
10
30
PRESENTATION
TOTAL
20
100
A final letter grade for the courses will be assigned according to the ranges provided in Table IV below. Table IV. Letter grade points. Point range
Grade
Letter Grade
90-100
4,00
A
87-89
3,67
A-
84-86
3,33
B+
80-83
3,00
B
77-79
2,67
B-
74-76
2,33
C+
70-73
2,00
C
67-69
1,67
C-
64-66
1,33
D+
60-63
1,00
D
59 and below
0,00
F
Students who do not get a passing grade at the end of the second semester will receive an ‘I’ (Incomplete) letter grade. These students will have two weeks of extension after the last day of the finals to complete the shortcomings of the report based on the suggestions of the committee. If the project advisor is not convinced that the shortcomings are satisfactorily addressed by the end of the extension, the student will receive an ‘F’ letter grade and fail the course. 10. Academic Dishonesty
At Bahçeşehir University academic dishonesty is defined as ‘an intentional act of deception in which a student attempts to misrepresent mastery of academic effort or information. This includes unauthorized copying or collaboration on a test or assignment, or using prohibited materials and text’. Academic dishonesty includes: CHEATING – use or attempted use of unauthorized materials, information or study aids, or an act of deceit by which a student attempts to misrepresent mastery of academic effort or information. This includes unauthorized copying or collaboration on a test or assignment, or using prohibited materials and text FABRICATION – falsification or invention of any information including falsifying research, inventing or exaggerating data and listing incorrect or fictitious references. ASSISTING – helping another commit an act of dishonesty. This includes paying or bribing someone to acquire a test or assignment, changing someone’s grades or academic records, or taking a test/doing an assignment for someone else (or allowing someone to do these for you). It is a violation of law to create and offer to sell part or all of an education assignment to another person. TAMPERING – altering or interfering with evaluation instruments and documents. PLAGIRSM – Representing the word or ideas of another person as one’s own or presenting someone else’s words, ideas, artistry or data as one’s own. This includes copying another person’s work (including unpublished material) without appropriate referencing, presenting someone else’s opinions and theories as one’s own, or working jointly on a project, then submitting as one’s own. We wish good luck to all students in their graduation projects. We welcome suggestions for additional information that should be included to make the manual more useful. APPENDIX A: Capstone Project Selection Form
BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING
MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 CAPSTONE PROJECT SELECTION FORM
STUDENT’S NAME AND LAST NAME:
ID:
PROJECT CHOICE #1:
PROJECT CHOICE #2:
PROJECT CHOICE #3:
SIGNATURE:
APPENDIX B: Capstone Project Statement Form
BAHÇEŞEHİR UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING
MCH 4997 and MCH 4998 CAPSTONE PROJECT STATEMENT FORM
STUDENT’S NAME AND LAST NAME:
ID:
SIGNATURE:
PROJECT TITLE:
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT (ATTACH EXTRA SHEETS IF NECESSARY):
PROJECT ADVISOR:
SIGNATURE: