Project Report Format
ET438B
Everyone in class must turn in their own design project report!
Bind all project reports. Do not submit stapled reports. Use a binding that
will securely hold all the pages of the report. Do not use ring binders. Use
Plastic or card stock front and back pages. See the lab or course instructor for
acceptable bindings.
General Format Requirements
The report format for this assignment will be similar to those of other technical
courses that require lab. These reports give students experience in organizing
technical material for presentation, writing in a technical style, and using
hardware and software tools to find solutions to engineering problems. Being
able to communicate effectively in a written report is a valuable skill that most
engineering and technology students find difficult to master. Employers place a
high value on technical employees that can write clearly and make effective
presentations of their work.
Each report will have the following parts: cover page, table of contents, body, and
appendix. The next sections describe these parts in detail.
A sample cover page is attached to this document. Follow the format for this
page. Keep it plain and try to space it like the example given. Create the table of
contents and equipment list on separate pages. Most word processors have the
ability to generate the table of contents automatically. Use this feature to
generate accurate and professionally formatted table of contents pages.
The important information in a laboratory report is contained in the body. The
body contains the theory and design information used in the project/lab, a
discussion of the results of the testing, graphs, schematics, block diagrams and
other items that document work in the report body. The next section discusses
the requirements for these items in detail.
The appendix in technical reports contains the original data and example
calculations. Place extended mathematical details or supporting theory in the
appendix. An appendix in not used in all technical reports, but may be useful in
some cases. It is a good place to present component data sheets, computer
program code, and mathematical details not directly related to the results
Page format
Margins:
1 in.
Font: no greater than 12 point
Page numbers: bottom center of each page. Omit on cover page, table
of contents and equipment list pages
Text and Equation Formatting
All work submitted in a project/lab report should look professional. Type all text
using a word processor. Equations and mathematical symbols should be
inserted using an equation editor and the subscripting and superscripting
features of the word processor. All modern word processor programs have these
features: learn to use them. Create graphs using the graphing and plotting
feature of a spreadsheet program. MS Office is an integrated set of office
programs that includes a word processor, equation editor, and spreadsheet. The
computers in the CLC labs around campus have this software installed. It is also
available on the computers in room D106 and D122. Make use of these tools.
Spell check and proof read the text of the document. Each grammar and spelling
error will reduce your score by a point. All word processors have spelling and
grammar checking features. Run the text of the document through these
features to eliminate common mistakes.
Schematics
The author when explaining the design/lab should refer to schematics included in
the report. Make sure each schematic has a unique figure number. Document
each circuit developed for the project with a schematic. Use VISIO or any
electronics schematic program to produce the drawings. Do not use drawing
copies. Each drawing used must be an original printout or a unique hand
drawing unless otherwise approved by the lab instructor.
Print schematics large enough to be readable when producing them with a CAD
tool. Turn off any positioning grid before printing the drawing to reduce the
clutter in the drawing. All components should have labels (e.g. R1 R2, U1 C1
etc.) and values. This includes the potentiometers. Label potentiometers with
the total resistance of the device. Make sure that the drawing fits onto the page
completely. Schematics should include proper symbols. (E.g. OP AMPs are
triangles). Represent special ICs as rectangles with all used pins labeled. Omit
unused pins. Group inputs of special IC symbols on the left and outputs on the
right.
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Experimental results
Show the results of the work in this section. This section should include
experimental data sheets and graphs that verify the operation of the test circuits
or the project design. For this project, the outcome is an automatic frequency
response tester. The results should include the original bode plot of the circuit
under test and calibration curves of the function generator. There should also be
graphs from the data collected by the automated tester. Tables of data taken
can be included along with the graphs. Other data tables and graphs that should
be included in this section are:
Input voltage signal conditioning test verification
Output voltage signal conditioning test verification
frequency-to-voltage signal conditioning test verification
Note: photocopies of the original test sheets from the lab should not make
there way into the body of the report. Make new table and graphs for this
section. Original lab data sheets should only appear in the appendix of a
formal report
Major Sections Details
Title page – Follow the example attached to this document. Do not add graphics
or other embellishments. This only wastes your time an adds nothing to the
technical content.
Table of Contents – this part is similar to table given in project task list document.
The table of contents provides a listing of the materials presented in the report
and the starting page of the sections. To get full credit for this section, all
headings must be on pages specified in to table of contents and the sections
must be in the correct order. Organize the report using the order given in the
section below.
1.) Project overview - use the first sections in the task list document as a guide.
Place this in your own words. Describe what the project is supposed to
accomplish in your own words. Discuss the technical specifications of the
design. What were the design criteria?
2.) System Technical Documentation - describe how the system hardware and
software works.
a.) Hardware/circuits
Explain how each sub-system in the system works down to the
component level. Include schematics of all the circuits that would allow
another person not familiar with the project to construct it. Refer to
these schematics when describing the circuits. More than one person
in the group can use schematics. However, make sure that the quality
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of the work is acceptable because another's mistakes or omissions will
affect your grade. Circuit descriptions written by others should be
place in your own words. Discuss on a functional level what happens
in the IC such as the VCO the RMS converter and the frequency-tovoltage converter. Refer to the data sheet and application notes for
material. Include any useful design formulas and formulas used to
make theoretical calculations. Include and discuss the accuracy of
scaling and I/O equations.
b.) Software
Explain how the software works. Use the flow charts and print outs of
the program as graphics in the report. Use the flow chart in the task
document as a guide. Discuss each step in the software in detail.
3.) System Operation - document the performance of the system and show the
operating data is these sections.
a.) Show graphs of the performance of all tasks. (e.g. Task 2 theoretical
and actual frequency response measurements.) Such data and
graphs as, the I/O characteristics of the VCO (frequency Vs Vin), scalar
'best fit' and theoretical equation plots. Comparison of ranges on VCO
and frequency-to-voltage converter should all be included and
discussed. How do the sub-system perform? Are they accurate? How
do they perform in the system? Include data tables along with the
graphs.
b.) Results from test runs of the system. Cut and past graphs from the
LabVIEW program to place in this section. Conduct 5 test runs of the
system and include the best 2 in the report. Discuss how the system
performance compares to that of a theoretical frequency plot.
Compare it to the frequency plot data taken manually. Compute the
percentage error between the LabVIEW results and theoretical values.
Also compute the percentage error between the LabVIEW results and
the manually acquired data. Include tables and graphs of these
results in the report. Comment on the overall accuracy of the system.
4.) Conclusions - summarize the design and operation of the project. What is
the technical strength of the design? What works well? What does not work
well? Comment on the overall accuracy. What will improve the projects
accuracy?
5.) Appendix - this section can hold additional data taken during the design
process. Signed data sheets and copies of signed data sheet from other
team members belong here.
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Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
College of Engineering
Department of Technology
Continuous and Digital Control Systems
ET 438B
Section 01
Data Acquisition and Control Project
Design and Results
Prepared by: your name here
Group Memeber: Their names here
Date : date report is due