ECE 3400 - Intelligent Physical Systems

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: ECE 2100, ECE 2200, ECE 2300. Recommended prerequisite: ECE 2400 or equivalent. In the spring 2021 offering of ECE 3400, every student will have a kit of components including a robotic platform, a microcontroller, various electronic components (more information will be communicated to the enrolled students some time in December and/or January). Every student will be required to complete and demonstrate the various hands-on tasks with several labs throughout the semester. The labs will have mostly a hardware component as well as a software component.

C. Poitras.

Students will engage in a holistic design approach to Intelligent Physical Systems which can perceive, reason about, and act upon their environment. This course will expand on the ECE 2000-level courses, and include topics on algorithms, field programmable gate arrays, wireless communication, sensors, actuators, power, and mechanics. Students will learn the value and trade-offs between theory, simulation, and physical implementations, and gain familiarity with rapid prototyping techniques, system debugging, team work, leadership skills, time management, and how to disseminate work to a broader audience through wiki-pages.

Outcome 1: Ability to apply specific design methodologies to the course project.

Outcome 2: Ability to evaluate what problems are best solved in software, electronics, or mechanics; as well as the trade-offs between theory, simulation, and practical implementations.

Outcome 3: Ability to work effectively on a team, as a member and as a leader.

Outcome 4: Ability to effectively communicate through online media, the system design process through
which the project was implemented.

Outcome 5: Awareness of professional and ethical responsibilities in the context of Intelligent Physical Systems.