The Pressure Sensing Project

The paper discusses the use of a multi-faceted electronic project as a capstone experience for an associate degree program in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) at Purdue University's School of Technology New Albany location. This project incorporates several different technologies from both the analog and digital realms of electronics. The project is designed by the course instructor of ECET 297 / Electronic System Design and Fabrication. ECET 297 is in the fourth semester of the A.S. program. The students are given the design of the circuit in block diagram and schematic form. Each subpart of the circuit is intended to provide review to the student as each technology has been covered in previous courses. The students are then required to fabricate the circuit one portion at a time until the project is completed. Fabrication of the project is done on prototyping (UBS-100) boards. Each section must be functioning correctly before the next section is to be fabricated and thus the project provides an excellent troubleshooting experience. Careful and neat layout of the circuit is mandated by the course instructor and the course grade is partially dependent on that. A project such as this one has been used each of the past six years in ECET 297 in New Albany. Each year's project is unique as the course instructor designs a new one for each successive class. The faculty in ECET at New Albany considers the projects used over the past six years in the course to have been effective capstone experiences for the students. Student feedback on this course has been excellent and individual students have reported that they have had such pride in their completed project that they have kept it fully assembled on its protoboard years after graduating.