Last updated at 09:20 PM on 27 Jun 2010

Overview

This page provides supplementary information to support lectures in ME 199A during Winter 2010. The notes are presented in reverse chronological information, i.e. the most recent lecture is listed first.

Lecture Notes

18. Quiz 3, Preparation for Final Presentation

Class meeting on 8 March 2010

Homework: Assignment 16 Due 10 March 2010

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to complete the performance analysis from measurements on your pump
  2. Understand the requirements for the final presentation

Handout

Impeller Photos

Photos of the impellers after they were printed on the MakerBot

17. Pump Testing

Class meeting on 3 March 2010

Homework: Assignment 15 Due 8 March 2010

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to start measurements necessary to specify the performance characteristics of the pump
  2. Have a plan to complete testing and analysis with your partner(s)

Handout

16. Theory for Pump Testing

Class meeting on 1 March 2010

Homework: Assignment 14 Due 3 March 2010

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to safely complete the assembly of the centrifugal pump
  2. Be able to make measurements necessary to specify the performance characteristics of the pump
  3. Be able to compute pump performance parameters from measurements of pump performance

Handout

Alternative Information on Soldering

There are many on-line demonstrations on soldering and building circuits on breadboards. The following video, "How and Why to Solder" shows the basic technique and explains the purpose of flux.

Adafruit.com provides a set of links to soldering tutorials.

Another, broader set of resources, is the collection of Physical Computing Tutorials from the Physical Computing course by Tom Igoe at NYU.

To see how developing soldering skills will help you build electronic systems, have a look at this tutorial on perf board projects from the Make Magazine blog.

15. Pump Fabrication

Class meeting on 24 February 2010

Homework: Assignment 14, Due 3 March

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to safely use hand tools in EB 365
  2. Be able to safely use the milling machines in EB 365
  3. Be able to safely use the milling machines in EB 365 to fabricate a pump body from ABS
  4. Be able to safely use hand tools in EB 365 to complete the assembly of the centrifugal pump
  5. Be able to create an assembly drawing of the pump from the set of parts

Handout

Refer to the pump fabrication guide that you downloaded for class 13

Technology in the news

70 to 100 microprocessors in a luxury car

According to a blog post at thecarconnection.com on the Toyota recall, a modern luxury car has about 100 million lines of computer code running on 70 to 100 microprocessors.

Bioprinters?

The Economist magazine has an article on using rapid prototyping technology to make replacements for body parts. Be sure to read the comments.

As a follow-up, consider spending 20 minutes watching this TED lecture. (The video requires a Flash plug-in.) The speaker describes a bioprinter at about 11:00 minutes into the presentation.

14. Pump Fabrication

Class meeting on 22 February 2010

Homework: Homework 13, Due 1 March

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to safely use hand tools in EB 365
  2. Be able to safely use the milling machines in EB 365
  3. Be able to safely use the milling machines in EB 365 to fabricate a pump body from ABS
  4. Be able to safely use hand tools in EB 365 to complete the assembly of the centrifugal pump

Handout

Refer to the pump fabrication guide that you downloaded for the last class

13. Pump Fabrication Project, Linear Regression for Power Law functions

Class meeting on 17 February 2010

Homework: Homework 12, Due 22 February

Learning Objectives

  1. Be aware of the steps necessary to complete the water pump fabrication
  2. Be able to perform linear regression on a class of non-linear functions that can be mathematically transformed to a linear function
  3. Be able to use the built-in trend line tool in Excel for computing a least squares curve fit

Handout

Download the pump fabrication guide to your laptop and bring your laptop to class

Download and print these documents before coming to class

12. Linear Regression, Pump Fabrication Project, SolidWorks

Class meeting on 15 February 2010

Homework: Homework 11, Due 17 February

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to perform a least squares line fit to data
  2. Be able to compute and interpret the coefficient of determination for a least squares line fit
  3. Be able to use the built-in trend line tool in Excel for computing a least squares curve fit
  4. Understand the Pump Project Assignment
  5. Be able to complete the tutorial to create a pump impeller model in SolidWorks

Handout

Download and print these documents before coming to class

Before taking the Solder Safety Quiz (on the homework), View and study this presentation

11. Linear Regression

Class meeting on 10 February 2010

Homework: Homework 10, Due 15 February

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to identify what is minimized in a least squares fit
  2. Be able to perform a least squares line fit to data

Handout

Download and print this document before coming to class

Notes on Linear Regression

Java Animations of Electrical Circuits

Paul Falstad has many educational Java applets

The following applets may help you learn about basic electrical circuits

Note that you can edit the circuits by right-clicking on the image

10. Midterm Exam

Class meeting on 8 February 2010

9. Quiz 2, Review for Midterm, Assignment on Societal Issues, SolidWorks Preview, Boe-Bot Programming

Class meeting on 3 February 2010

Homework: Homework 9, Due 8 February

Learning Objectives

  1. Know what will be covered on the midterm exam
  2. Be able to identify the tutorial material for SolidWorks
  3. Be able to discuss your two-page paper on sustainability
  4. Be able to build solve an open ended programming problem with the Boe-Bot

Midterm on Monday, February 8

One way to study for the midterm is to review the Learning Objectives for each lecture that are posted on this web page.

Handouts

Print these out an bring them to class.

Prep for Pump Fabrication Project

Consult the list of equipment needed for the class at http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~gerry/class/ME199A/equipment/.

In particular, make sure you have

  • Safety glasses

  • Stainless steel ruler (6 inches)

  • Dial Caliper

  • Screw Driver

  • Fine point Sharpie (or other permanent marker)

  • Teflon tape

This equipment should be part of the toolbox that you bring to class.

Music on a Boe-Bot

The FREQOUT command is used to produce a sine wave output from one of the I/O pins on the Basic Stamp. You have already used this to make a tone to indicate that a PBasic program has started.

Putting FREQOUT in a loop allows you to play a continuous tone 

FOR counter = 1 TO 100
FREQOUT 4, 10, 2500
NEXT
or a time-varying tone, like a ramp in pitch

FOR pitch = 2000 TO 3500 STEP 100
FREQOUT 4, 10, pitch
NEXT

You can see where this is going ...

Suppose you wanted to play the five note sequence G, A, F, (octave lower) F, C, from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. You could consult a table of frequencies of musical notes to find the frequencies for each of those musical notes. From there, it is a simple matter to make you Boe-Bot whistle the five note sequence.

8. Plotting in Excel, Boe-Bot Whisker input

Class meeting on 1 February 2010

Homework: Homework 8, Due 3 February

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to create plots in Excel
  2. Be able to alter Excel plots by resizing the plot area, reformatting axes, adding data series to plots
  3. Be able to use built-in functions in Excel, correctly accounting for angles in radians
  4. Be able to build the whisker detection circuits in the Boe-Bot
  5. Be able to use a multimeter to test the whisker detection circuits in the Boe-Bot

Quiz 2 on Wednesday, February 3

The quiz covers the following topics

  • Analysis of electrical circuits with series and parallel resistances.
  • Physical attributes and components on the microcontroller of the Parallax Board of Education -- the microcontroller for the Boe-Bot
  • PBasic Commands used to move and control the Boe-Bot

Reminder on Homework 7

Your two-page paper on sustainability is due on Wednesday. Come to class with your paper completed, and be prepared to discus what you found.

Handouts

Print these out an bring them to class

7. Basic Stamp Design and Memory Map, Plotting in Excel and MathCAD

Class meeting on 27 January 2010

Homework: Homework 7, Due 1 February. Part 4 due on 3 February

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to inspect the memory map of the Basic Stamp microcontroller
  2. Be able to run and watch a sophisticated BS2 program running by inspecting the memory map
  3. Be able to construct a plot in Excel
  4. Be able to translate a word problem into computational procedure suitable for execution in Excel or MathCAD.

Handouts

Print these out an bring them to class

Note that the memory map function on the Macintosh MacBS2 application does not give as much information on memory contents as the memory map function for the Windows version of the compiler. The MacBS2 application only shows the amount of memory occupied by the program and by the data. The Windows Basic Stamp compiler uses color in the "RAM Map" to show the type of variable stored in memory.

Coffee Tables with Interactive LED

FastCompany Magazine has a story about an interactive coffee table that uses LEDs to respond to objects or motion. The table was created by a (literal) couple of designers from Because We Can, and uses interactive LED panels from Evil Mad Science laboratory.

Hat tip: adafruit

6. Programming BOE-Bot motion, Structured Excel

Class meeting on 25 January 2010

Homework: Homework 6, Due 27 January

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to write subroutines in PBASIC
  2. Be able to write a program that moves the BOE-Bot in a pre-planned pattern
  3. Be able to set up a spreadsheet in Excel that is organized and easy to read

Using DEBUGIN on a Macintosh -- Chapter 3, Activity 4, pp. 112--117

For Macintosh users running MacBS2 as the IDE for the BOE-Bot, the DEBUGIN command does not allow communication from a Mac to the BOE-Bot. The MacBS2 FAQ suggests using programs such as Zterm or goserial that communicate across a serial port. GWR was successful using CoolTerm to communicate between his Mac and the BOE-Bot with the following procedure (after installing CoolTerm)

  1. Compile the TestServoSpeed.bs2 program, and download it to the BOE-Bot

  2. Set up the marker system for recording wheel rotation, and start CoolTerm

  3. Answer the prompts with a number in the range 650 to 850.

  4. Measure the number of rotations and record the value in a table similar to the one on p. 116 of the BOE-Bot manual

Handouts

Print these out an bring them to class

Women Played a Prominent Role in Early Computer Development

From the ENIAC Programmers Project

Did you know, sixty years ago, six young women programmed the ENIAC, the first all-electronic programmable computer?

the public unveiling of ENIAC, February 1946. Six young women mastered the power of the ENIAC an 80 foot long, 8 foot tall, black metal machine and harnessed its power through an archaic programming interface using dozens of wires and 3000 switches. They programmed ENIAC to perform a ballistics trajectory, a differential calculus equation important to the WWII effort, and they succeeded brilliantly. When the ENIAC was unveiled to the public on February 14, 1946, their program captured the imagination of the press and made headlines across the country. Afterwards, the ENIAC became a legendary machine and its engineers (all men) became famous. Never introduced or credited at the ENIAC events of the 1940s, the Programmers story disappeared from history. They became invisible.

Grace Hopper is another (and there are more than just a few) distinguished contributor to the development of modern computing.

5. Kirchoff's Current Law, Binary Numbers, BOE-Bot Servo control

Class meeting on 20 January 2010

Homework: Homework 5, Due 25 January

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to predict current flow into junctions for simple resistor circuits
  2. Be able to define "bit", "nibble", "byte" and "word"
  3. Be able to convert from binary to decimal and decimal to binary number formats
  4. Be able to write PBASIC programs to control the servo motors on a BOE-Bot

Handouts

Print these out an bring them to class

Binary Numbers in 60 Seconds

Here is a short video that gives you the essence of converting decimal integers to binary (base 2) numbers.

Counting in Base 2

This blog post by bre pettis shows you how to use your fingers to count in base two:

4. Kirchoff's Voltage Law, MathCAD plotting

Class meeting on 13 January 2010

Homework: Homework 4

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to use your multimeter to measure voltage drops around a circuit
  2. Be able to compare predicted and measured voltages for simple resistor circuits
  3. Be able to define and create a voltage divider on a breadboard
  4. Be able to create functions on a MathCAD worksheet
  5. Be able to create plots on a MathCAD worksheet

Handouts

Print these out an bring them to class

3. Multimeter Demo, Breadboarding an LED Circuit, Resistor Color Codes

Class meeting on 11 January 2010

Homework: Homework 3

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to use your multimeter to measure voltage and resistance
  2. Be able to build circuits on the BOEBot Breadboard
  3. Be able to write a PBASIC program to make an LED blink

Quiz 1

Quiz 1 will cover Electricity, Ohm's Law, and the basic structure of an atom

Multimeter Demo

Download the PowerPoint presentation on using a multimeter and the breadboard area of your BOEbot

BOE-Bot Kits

Bring your BOE-Bot and a laptop to class

Resistor Color Codes

Resistor values are indicated by a series of stripes on the resistor. The following diagram shows how to interpret the meaning of the color stripes.

Resistor Color Codes from Appendix C of 'Robotics with the BOE-Bot'

Microcontrollers for Fun

How about a self-balancing water tray to keep your drink from spilling in your car?

or craft and textiles with electronics?

or LEDs in a brain-shaped jello mold?

2. Resistors in series and parallel. Intro to MathCAD

Class meeting on 6 January 2010

Homework: Format for homework involving the BoeBot, and Homework 2

Learning Objectives

  1. Be able to compute the equivalent resistance for two resistors in series
  2. Be able to compute the equivalent resistance for two resistors in parallel
  3. Be able to use MathCAD to perform simple engineering calculations
  4. Understand the homework format involving the BoeBot.

Lecture Notes on Electricity

Class notes on electricity

The tronixstuff blog has three posts on resistors that complement the class notes

Java Animations of Electrical Circuits

Paul Falstad has many educational Java applets

The following applets may help you learn about basic electrical circuits

Note that you can edit the circuits by right-clicking on the image

Homework

In the last class, a format for completing engineering assignments was described. Many assignments this term will involve programming your Boe-Bot. Those assignments do not fit the format for general engineering assignments. Instead use a modified format, which can be downloaded with this link.

MathCAD

First, we'll do a sample calculation of the equivalent resistance of the series and parallel combinations of resistors. Download the hand written version of the analysis.

Save these documents to your hard drive by right-clicking on the link, and selecting "Save As..."

BOE-Bot Kits

To complete Homework 2, you will need to purchase your own BOE-Bot, a robot kit from Parallax. Each student needs a kit.

Parallax has set up a custom link for PSU students at their educational store

http://www.parallax.com/tabid/768/ProductID/634/Default.aspx

Your price will be $127.99 instead of $159.99 (plus $12 shipping). The only way to get the PSU discount is to use the link, above.

To buy a kit from Parallax at the discounted price:

  1. Use the custom purchasing link.

  2. Don't worry if the web page says "Not in Stock". Here's a note from the Sales Manager who helped to set up the custom PSU link:

    The part is not "out of stock", but we have no way of getting rid of that notice on the page. Let them know their order will ship within a day and they should choose UPS ground, or USPS priority. Shipping either way will be about 2 days.

  3. Select UPS Ground or Priority Mail. There is no need to use more expensive shipping because standard UPS shipping should have the kit arrive in two days after your purchase.

1. Introduction, Ohm's Law

Class meeting on 4 January 2010

Learning Objectives

  1. Know how to contact instructors: email, telephone, office hours
  2. Understand the goals and expectations of the class
  3. Be able apply Ohm's law to the prediction of voltage, current and resistance in simple DC circuits.
  4. Understand the homework format

Handouts

Hardware Requirements

This course does not have textbook, but you will be required to purchase a BOE-Bot robot kit, and a modest collection of hand tools.