Electronics term project facepalm

[c4757p]

Halfway through our junior years, this is the sort of thing they expect us to choose from for a term project in Electronics:

1. Temperature control. Not even hysteretic, let alone P-I, just a basic comparator. And we are required to use an ADC and binary comparator, because why the freaking hell not? 74LS85 is still relevant, right guys?

2. Dual slope ADC. OK, this one's not a bad idea, IMHO.

3. Transistor curve tracer. No base step, so pretty much just an oscillator with X and Y outputs.

4. "Amplitude modulator". Square wave only. Wheeeee! Damn, I already made one of these in class as a bodged diode-resistor AND gate out of lack of breadboard space for a 7408... would have worked for an analog input with minimal change.

5. PWM motor speed controller. We've already done this in lab, but open-loop, so pretty much just one or two more op amps to close the loop.

6. Low battery level indicator. Yep, you read that right. (Extra credit for displaying three levels, because copy and paste, hell yeah!)

These are labs, not term projects. And mostly with the complexity we saw at the beginning of the term... Most of us could do #1, #3, and #6 in one lab session, #4 and #5 with some extra brainstorming time, and #2 in two or three lab sessions.

[Psi]

I'm guessing the class is a mix of people with self taught electronic knowledge and others who've never even seen a transistor?

[c4757p]

As usual, yeah, but the thing is - these aren't any more challenging than what we've done in lab! Wouldn't you expect the term project, which lasts multiple weeks, to at least require combining what we've learned? I mean, #6 is just a freaking comparator for Christ's sake, and #1 should be.... (We built an ADC from scratch in the last lab, so really it's just that lab + binary comparator.) #3's just an oscillator, we've done those. #5's just a comparator plus Lab 5 (IIRC). There's no sense of it being a "final project" at all, most of these could have been labs.

(Also, we're allowed to work in groups of up to four, so that pretty much "takes care of" - as much as they ever do - the ones who don't know a transistor from a transmission.)

[smashedProton]

Wow, Im still just a highschool student and I have ideas for all but numbers 2 and 4...  could you send in your schematics for those btw? 

But yeah... This makes me REALLY excited for university.  What are you guys learning that takes up your time?  One or two years of independent study is more than enough to do anything on that list.  How much math do you get?  How helpful?

[c4757p]

Wow, Im still just a highschool student and I have ideas for all but numbers 2 and 4...

#4 is simpler than it looks. Square wave input only, remember - that's just a switch: carrier on, carrier off.

What are you guys learning that takes up your time?

The same things, over and over again. Next week's lab is biasing a common emitter amplifier. I've already been taught what I need to know to do that in at least two other classes (Circuits and Semiconductor Devices).

How much math do you get?

Lots.

[IanB]

But yeah... This makes me REALLY excited for university.  What are you guys learning that takes up your time?  One or two years of independent study is more than enough to do anything on that list.  How much math do you get?  How helpful?

Not all colleges are the same. Ideally you would be stretched more and be doing harder stuff than this...

[smashedProton]

The same things, over and over again.

That reminds me of high school...   If the magic paper is what they want.... that's what I'm going to have to give them. 

[Bored@Work]

Do all six of them. Then annoy your teachers even more by coming back and asking for even more because you ran out of projects.

[c4757p]

Do all six of them. Then annoy your teachers even more by coming back and asking for even more because you ran out of projects.

Ha... I annoy them enough as it is Turns out it irritates them a bit when you tell them about the mistakes in the lab (and offer a solution) rather than struggling with it for an hour and blaming the problem on your own stupidity.

Besides, I'd rather spend the time doing something a bit more enriching.

[rolycat]

Why not build a temperature regulated transistor curve tracer with low level battery indicator which uses a dual slope ADC to convert the values to an amplitude modulated signal driving a plotter with a PWM speed controlled motor?

Almost as pointless as the individual projects.

[NiHaoMike]

The motor speed control can get really involved if you use something other than a brush DC motor.

[c4757p]

The motor speed control can get really involved if you use something other than a brush DC motor.

Sure, and the ADC can get really involved if you want seven and a half digits...

We, however, are building a 4-bit (yes, you read correctly - or not, oops - edited 'digit' to 'bit') ADC, or a controller for two DC motors.

[NiHaoMike]

What about pick something and then optimize for low cost?

For temperature control, you could call a comparator a "one bit ADC" along with a simple logic circuit (if needed) to enforce minimum on/off times. You'll be surprised how well that works for most applications.

[VintageTekFan]

Why not build a temperature regulated transistor curve tracer with low level battery indicator which uses a dual slope ADC to convert the values to an amplitude modulated signal driving a plotter with a PWM speed controlled motor?

Almost as pointless as the individual projects.

 

[c4757p]

What about pick something and then optimize for low cost?

OK, then how about I build it with my lab kit? There must be enough fakes in there to reduce the price to a negative value...

[zapta]

..These are labs, not term projects. And mostly with the complexity we saw at the beginning of the term... Most of us could do #1, #3, and #6 in one lab session, #4 and #5 with some extra brainstorming time, and #2 in two or three lab sessions.

Got it. You are very smart.

[c4757p]

Huh?

[dr.diesel]

Huh?

 

[tsmith35]

That reminds me of high school...   If the magic paper is what they want.... that's what I'm going to have to give them.

"If money is all that you love, then that's what you'll receive."

[Abstr7ct]

So this is some kind of a rant? If you find these projects very basic, it would be because you've been self-teaching and tinkering in the world of electronics for a while. Other students, who haven't been doing the same thing, would look at these projects in a different way than you.

You may have been lucky to expose yourselves to enough electronics before university, but remember that they're also unlucky people. I, as an example, was unlucky. My eyes weren't opened to the world of hobby electronics until my first year in electrical engineering and that was two years ago. It depends on where and how you lived your pre-university life.

[c4757p]

It isn't that they are basic. We don't do our labs alone - I'm quite aware where the other students stand. It's that they are simpler than the labs. We have three or four weeks to do less than what we normally do in one!

This isn't an "I'm smart and they're all morons" thing. The vast majority of my classmates agree, these are almost insultingly stupid. None of us are morons. I might be the only asshole miserable enough to bitch about it - but trust me, I'm not sitting here stroking my ego while they all struggle in the breadboard mines.

[Stonent]

Why not build a temperature regulated transistor curve tracer with low level battery indicator which uses a dual slope ADC to convert the values to an amplitude modulated signal driving a plotter with a PWM speed controlled motor?

Almost as pointless as the individual projects.

Damn! You stole my idea. I was going to write that all out but I was on my phone and couldn't read his post and see mine at the same time.

[Psi]

Why not build a temperature regulated transistor curve tracer with low level battery indicator which uses a dual slope ADC to convert the values to an amplitude modulated signal driving a plotter with a PWM speed controlled motor?

Almost as pointless as the individual projects.

Pointless yeah, but also fun to build due to the weirdness of it

[smashedProton]

Why not build a temperature regulated transistor curve tracer with low level battery indicator which uses a dual slope ADC to convert the values to an amplitude modulated signal driving a plotter with a PWM speed controlled motor?

Almost as pointless as the individual projects.

Pointless yeah, but also fun to build due to the weirdness of it

Exactly, I'm on project 3 at the moment.   Working my way down the list.

[smashedProton]

This isn't an "I'm smart and they're all morons" thing.

I turned it into that,  sorry.   I have been having confidence issues recently.   The forum isn't the place for my bullshit.