| All project final hardware prototypes (delivered toward the end of the course) are expected to
be implemented at the printed circuit board (PCB) level. If your project does not involve the development
of hardware, your instructor will arrange for an analogous submission to be made at the same time as the
submission of the PCBs.
A given project prototype may be comprised of several PCBs,
perhaps due to design considerations, or simply due to the limitations of the free
version of Eagle. Regardless of the number of boards used, the entire project is
expected to be implemented using PCB technology. The use of any breadboards, perf-boards,
or other prototyping methods in the final protoype is discouraged.
All milled PCBs are to be single layer (signals are routed only
on the bottom of the PCB). However, the course technician
may approve the use of a double-sided board prior to PCB Presubmission for
unique situations.
Prior to PCBs being manufactured, the operation of all subsystems must be
verified. The deadline for in-lab demonstration of design project subsystems is
just prior to the PCB Final Submission. The motivation for having subsystem operation verified prior to the PCB
Final Submission is to aid in ensuring that the manufactured PCB will be usable.
It is interesting to note that many modern-day hardware-design companies
now skip proof-of-operation at the breadboard level. Indeed, the first level of
prototyping is often at the PCB-level, in part due to the improvement of CAD tools
over the years, and to accommodate surface-mount device packages.
Unfortunately, this is not a luxury available to EE Capstone Design at this time.
PCB Submissions
Please feel free to have the course technician do a quick scan of your PCB designs prior to submission. Manufacture of prototype PCBs is a relatively costly design stage. The following mark breakdown is intended to convey the priorities you may encounter when designing a PCB in the workplace. Manufacturability, for instance, is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, a single (seemingly small) error on a PCB can make for a useless board. Sometimes repairs can be made by clever re-work, but this is a time-consuming task. Professional board-houses can modify (or create) designs, but the they charge on the order of $130/hr. To this end, any modifications that the course personnel makes in order to improve your board comes at a price. PCB Final Submissions consist of submitting electronic schematics (Eagle .sch format), board files (Eagle .brd format), and also PDF submissions of the artwork, as described below. Please bundle these together in a single zip file. This zip file will contain the following for each of the boards that you are submitting:
The grading method for the PCB can be found here: pcbeval.pdf. |