Donald N.S. Unger, PhD Writing Across the Curriculum Fall 2008 The CI-M Side of 6.111 Lab 3: Writing the Design ReportDigiAlarm’08 Sands Hotel, Las Vegas 26-28 September 2008I’m on the MIT website. . . .Really. . .“I gave you the information. What’s the problem?” Does the “envelope” really matter?This might be a better way. . .The information on the business card is: Clear Easy to understand Complete Concise Well Organized Logically laid out In a familiar formGiving you the card does more than simply convey contact information, it demonstrates: 1. Attention to detail 2. Quick follow-through 3. Reliability 4. Genuine interest 5. Collegiality . . . . The characteristics of someone with whom you would want to work.Your Design Report does something similar: 1. Accurately and efficiently delivers the information you wish to convey: “Here’s our alarm design; it meets your specifications; it has been thoroughly tested.” 2. The manner in which it is presented makes clear that your design team would be the best group to work with: meticulous, thorough, attentive to details.Grades Don’t Matter (!) Is your design report so good that it would get you the job?BOR Enterprises Memo To: Jane Porsche From: Bob O’Reilly Date: October 10, 2007 Re: Porsche Carrera GT Anti-Theft System Hi Jane, Attached you’ll find the reports you requested from our office. As you can see, not only were we able to design a system to your specifications, we managed to add an additional safety measure that will keep car thieves from driving away with your vehicle. Please let me know if you have any questions. My direct line is (617) 555-1212. We look forward to working with you in the near future. Sincerely, Bob O’Reilly BOR Enterprises, President Enclosure: ProposalDigital Design Solutions, Incorporated Automotive Electronics Division Don Unger Senior Engineer 6111 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 October 10, 2008 Ms. Jane Porsche CEO, Macrosoft Corporation One Kendall Square Cambridge, MA 02139 Dear Ms. Porsche, I submit herewith a proposal for the design of a car alarm system entitled “A Digitally-Implemented Custom Car Alarm.” Any questions relating to the proposal may be sent directly to me. Your consideration of this proposal is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Don Unger Enclosure: ProposalCaulfield Engineering, LLC Mary Caulfield, Principal (617) 324-2494 [email protected] Mary Caulfield Caulfield Engineering 3 Ames St. Cambridge, MA 02142 10 October 2008 Ms. Jane Porsche 312 Technology Square Cambridge, MA 02142 Dear Ms. Porsche: I submit herewith a proposal in support of my design for an anti-theft system for your new Porsche. The design complies with your specifications, and has both a standard alarm as well as a special fuel pump lockout feature. Should you have any questions regarding this proposal, I can be reached at the phone number or email address above. We greatly appreciate your considering our firm and look forward to working with you. Sincerely, Mary Caulfield Enclosure: ProposalTesting and Debugging Testing and debugging was not too difficult for this project. First of all, the signals of the included florescent display in the labkit are driven using a hexadecimal display driver such that numbers passed in as inputs to the driver will determine the numbers display on the 16-character florescent display. Using the code supplied in the Appendix, the least significant digit shows the current state of the FSM (see the Anti-Theft FSM module Description for number to state correspondence). The second to the last digit shows the time left in the Timer module. The third right-most digit is driven by the time_param_selector inputs while the next two digits are the time values to be reprogrammed into the Time Parameter module. The next two digits are driven by the Siren generator to display the current siren frequency.Testing A wide range of tests and debugging techniques were employed on our prototype model in order to ensure proper functionality of the hardware and software. First, the prototype was set up to display four sets of numerical values on an external LCD display. These values coincided with the FSM’s state at any given moment, the interval being outputted from the FSM to the Time Parameters module, the value being sent from the Time Parameters module to the Timer, and the countdown clock in the Timer (see Figure 2). By monitoring these numbers, we were able to ensure that the software was functioning within specifications. Next, our engineers tested the re-program functionality of the delay times. Random values were preset and tests were performed to verify that the respective countdowns changed accordingly. Finally, all delay times were set to zero. This was considered to be the ultimate test because if the system was working properly it would mean that the siren would turn on at the moment any door was opened and turn off immediately upon shutting the door. The system passed with flying colors.Your submission will consist of: Letter of Transmittal Design Report Title and Abstract Table of Contents List of Figures Overview Focus on this Description Conclusion References AppendicesIssues of Format If it’s not yours (even if that’s “obvious”) or it’s not common knowledge, give credit—using IEEE citation format Page Set-Up: one column, single spaced, justified left, ragged right, 1” margins,12 point font (of a professional sort, f. ex. Times Roman or Helvetica) Graphics should be: labeled, self-contained, explained in the textLess is More: We Don’t Grade by Weight Your report should run 4000-6000 words, not including appendices As long as you convey all the information you need to convey (ask your TA), and do so clearly and in good prose (ask your writing instructor), you do better to aim for concisionProblems We Often See: 1. Failure to follow guidelines—if unsure, ask. 2. Problems w/ tone, either hype: “Our design completely blows away the competition!” or lab-speak: “Then tested module B by running a simulation in which. . .” 3. Failure to properly credit sources. 4. Clumsy use of graphics.Time Line: First Draft due 6 October; returned 23 October Comments are representative Meant to facilitate re/vision, not merely editing Ask for clarification if comments are not clear Revise Peer Workshop on Thursday, 30 October,
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