Independent Design Guidelines and Grading Structure

Guidelines: This is an individual project that you select and complete. The following applies directly to Independent Design #1, but the grading percentages will also apply to the final project. There are no restrictions on what you select for your project as long it is considered safe and doesnt violate any laws. Independent design # 1 should focus as much as possible on the functionality of diodes and transistors. You dont have to use all of these components. Additional components are allowed, except for digital logic gates and any form of microcontroller. If a subset of the class wants to have a competition that is acceptable. I expect this would be more likely for the final project since there will be more time to organize it.

Grading (out of 100 points):

Creativity/independent ideas (25): All sources used must be documented in the report. If you build a
circuit identical to something found online then this score would be lower. If you came up with a circuit on your own or made modifications to improve an existing circuit this score would be higher. If you built a circuit that is designed for a specific function then it is almost impossible to find an exact circuit online that does it for you. For example, in the past a student made an intelligent mousetrap using clever circuitry and simple materials.

Report (25): Things that make the report better are MultiSim usage, descriptions, how the circuit
applies to our daily lives, troubleshooting discussion, pictures, organized structure, etc. You can add applicable pages from your lab notebook to the appendix if you feel it adds something to the document.

Application/Complexity (25): This grade will be higher based on a combination of how complex it is
and how applicable it is. It can be really complex, but have no application to our daily lives and still receive most of the credit. Alternatively, it can be somewhat simple, but have a very important application and still receive most of the credit. More credit will be awarded in this category for clever usage of diodes and transistors.

Promptness (25): (Dates are specific to Independent Project # 1)

25 points - Show your TA the circuit & submit your report by 6PM on Monday, October 3rd at 6PM. 20 points - Show your TA the circuit & submit your report by 6PM on Monday, October 10th at 6PM. Credit on all parts if you complete it by the credit week shown in the schedule.pdf document.

Circuit Construction Bonus: Up to 10 points bonus (depending on complexity of circuit) will be given for constructing the circuit on a proto-board or printed circuit board instead of a bread board.