Group 3 Exploring Engineering Darin Gray July 8 th, 2011

Max Reinisch Niccolo Lamanna Niccolo Valerio Marc Hermann Darren Draper

 Before going to the building or computer first, our group relied on drawings and sketches as a basis for our work  As we became more confident in our work, we applied it to the computer simulator but constantly referred back to our principle sketches  After creating a successful circuit on the computer, we started building and testing

 First Step:  We began applying our knowledge of binary logic and the uses of logic gates to solve for the output we wanted  Trial and Error

 Second Step:  Apply Boolean Algebra to our logic gates and create complex combinations of logic gates

 Third Step:  Rough build plan sketch on paper to make the circuit will flow

 Fourth Step  Copy our paper sketches into “Yenka” to simulate the circuit and find any errors  Find any places in the circuit to make either more simple or make small changes to in “Yenka”

 Begin constructing the circuit by hand and testing the circuit  If the circuit didn’t work at all, or only worked in some cases, we used the multi-meter to test the voltage in the circuit board to find our errors

 Overall, this project relied heavily on the distribution of jobs amongst group members with the short time we had and many tasks to accomplish  The success we had was because of our ability to get things done together as a team and each contribute by getting our separate jobs done

 Niccolo Lamanna and Valerio were most often involved in the building of the circuit.  Max Reinisch was most involved with the design of the circuit.  Marc Hermann helped Max with the design and building of the alarm circuit. He also helped Darren with the PowerPoint.  Darren Draper created the website and PowerPoint. He also took photos and shot video.

 Overall, we faced many challenges while doing this project from design issues, to understanding and application.  The first and one of the biggest challenges was understanding how to wire the circuit with the logic gates  Turning one light on while tripping the prior light off was a big challenge we had in our designs  This challenge was overcome and we found success after we applied the Boolean Algebra introduced by Niranjan

 We also faced many problems with the translation of what we had in our rough sketches to applying it to our actual circuit  This problem was not fully overcome by the end of day two of design/building, and thus why our circuit doesn’t fully work  This problem was mainly due to the different designs we had, and the inability to find our small errors in wiring even though our schematic design worked

 Instead of building the entire circuit as one big piece, we tried to separate the sensors and then connect them at the end  This was another glaring error in our attack to wire the circuit  As we added more pieces to the circuit, either power wasn’t getting all the way through, or it was too confusing to try and rewire what we already had on the circuit board  One continuous obstacle we had was short circuiting. The input and outputs of the switches would touch and short-ciruit, thus not allowing our circuit to fully work  We solved this by attaching electrical tape to the three wires coming out of the switches, and it greatly improved our design

 To start with, if we knew our true reason for failure, we would have been able to fix it and find success in our circuit  With that said, we think our main reason for failure was the wiring  Our plan was complicated and when we tried to combine the different sensors and alarm when wiring, many of the wires got mixed up and didnt create a complete circuit  For this, some of our circuit works, and other parts are not complete

 We would improve the project by replacing long and messy wires with short, clean ones  This would make it more organized and easily comprehendible so we could find our errors more easily  If we made this circuit again, we would draw a detailed design of the circuit board and clearly label the wires and gates  Our goal for this step would be to be able to assemble the circuit with ease in little time because our picture would be so clear  Another path we would take if we had more time, would be attempting to use the least amount of gates to maintain simplicity

 First and foremost, we all learned that frustration is part of engineering.  Hopefully, next time, we can keep from becoming irritated and just focus our efforts towards solving it.  We learned a lot about each other as people, how we work, and our strengths and weaknesses  This benefited us when dividing up labor and finding the best person for each job  We learned about the importance of the step-by-step process needed before construction can even start  Planning is key to an engineers success and always relying on basic sketches and designs will ensure that success  We also learned the importance of team work and division of labor  Without this fact in mind, we wouldn’t have been able to finish as much as we did

 Now that we know each other better as people and engineers, we are certain that if we work together again, we would have great success  If we would redo this project again, our team would work in smaller teams like we did this time, but at first all work together to come up with a clear and simple schematic design  At times, our frustration levels with designing the circuit overcame our ability to focus on the central goal, thus why we would makes sure we always stay focused and concentrated on the task