Documentation Of Automation Projects

This paper describes a method to teach documentation skills as part of automation design projects. At the beginning of the semester, students are given a simple automated system and assigned the task of improving it in some sense. They are guided through the following steps: generate ideas for improving the existing system, prepare a proposal for approval by the instructor explaining the improvements, plan and execute the approved modifications, and prepare technical documentation. Students work in teams of three to four students. The projects are carried over from year to year. At the beginning of a semester, each team receives all the documentation generated the previous semester. The students understand that the documentation they generate will be useful for other students in the future, therefore they are motivated to produce clear and complete reports. Documents generated include: project proposal, project technical report, user manual to operate the project, poster board, and video tape of final presentation. Results from this laboratory are encouraging. The level of motivation in students is very high, and most of them complete the course with a very good understanding of concepts discussed in class.