ANTI-THEFT DEVICEGroup 3

Exploring EngineeringDarin Gray

July 8th, 2011

GROUP 3Max Reinisch

Niccolo LamannaNiccolo ValerioMarc HermannDarren Draper

OUR BUILD PLAN AND PROCESS

General Process Before going to the building or computer

first, our group relied on drawings and sketches as a basis for our work

As we became more confident in our work, we applied it to the computer simulator but constantly referred back to our principle sketches

After creating a successful circuit on the computer, we started building and testing

First Step First Step:

We began applying our knowledge of binary logic and the uses of logic gates to solve for the output we wanted

Trial and Error

Second Step Second Step:

Apply Boolean Algebra to our logic gates and create complex combinations of logic gates

Third Step

Third Step: Rough build plan sketch on paper to make the

circuit will flow

Fourth Step Fourth Step

Copy our paper sketches into “Yenka” to simulate the circuit and find any errors

Find any places in the circuit to make either more simple or make small changes to in “Yenka”

Green Light and Alarm Schematics

Yellow Light Schematics

Red Light Schematics

Complete Schematics

Fifth Step Begin constructing the circuit by hand

and testing the circuit If the circuit didn’t work at all, or only

worked in some cases, we used the multi-meter to test the voltage in the circuit board to find our errors

The Role of the TEAM Overall, this project relied heavily on the

distribution of jobs amongst group members with the short time we had and many tasks to accomplish

The success we had was because of our ability to get things done together as a team and each contribute by getting our separate jobs done

Role of Each Team Member Niccolo Lamanna and Valerio were most

often involved in the building of the circuit.

Max Reinisch was most involved with the design of the circuit.

Marc Hermann helped Max with the design and building of the alarm circuit. He also helped Darren with the PowerPoint.

Darren Draper created the website and PowerPoint. He also took photos and shot video.

Challenges and Eventual Successes

Overall, we faced many challenges while doing this project from design issues, to understanding and application.

The first and one of the biggest challenges was understanding how to wire the circuit with the logic gates Turning one light on while tripping the prior light

off was a big challenge we had in our designs This challenge was overcome and we found

success after we applied the Boolean Algebra introduced by Niranjan

Challenges and Eventual Successes Cont…

We also faced many problems with the translation of what we had in our rough sketches to applying it to our actual circuit This problem was not fully overcome by the

end of day two of design/building, and thus why our circuit doesn’t fully work

This problem was mainly due to the different designs we had, and the inability to find our small errors in wiring even though our schematic design worked

Obstacles Instead of building the entire circuit as one big piece,

we tried to separate the sensors and then connect them at the end This was another glaring error in our attack to wire the circuit As we added more pieces to the circuit, either power wasn’t

getting all the way through, or it was too confusing to try and rewire what we already had on the circuit board

One continuous obstacle we had was short circuiting. The input and outputs of the switches would touch and short-ciruit, thus not allowing our circuit to fully work We solved this by attaching electrical tape to the three wires

coming out of the switches, and it greatly improved our design

Why We Failed To start with, if we knew our true reason

for failure, we would have been able to fix it and find success in our circuit

With that said, we think our main reason for failure was the wiring Our plan was complicated and when we tried

to combine the different sensors and alarm when wiring, many of the wires got mixed up and didnt create a complete circuit

For this, some of our circuit works, and other parts are not complete

Improving the Project We would improve the project by replacing long

and messy wires with short, clean ones This would make it more organized and easily

comprehendible so we could find our errors more easily If we made this circuit again, we would draw a

detailed design of the circuit board and clearly label the wires and gates Our goal for this step would be to be able to assemble

the circuit with ease in little time because our picture would be so clear

Another path we would take if we had more time, would be attempting to use the least amount of gates to maintain simplicity

Lessons Learned First and foremost, we all learned that frustration is part of

engineering. Hopefully, next time, we can keep from becoming irritated and just

focus our efforts towards solving it. We learned a lot about each other as people, how we work,

and our strengths and weaknesses This benefited us when dividing up labor and finding the best person

for each job We learned about the importance of the step-by-step process

needed before construction can even start Planning is key to an engineers success and always relying on basic

sketches and designs will ensure that success We also learned the importance of team work and division of

labor Without this fact in mind, we wouldn’t have been able to finish as

much as we did

Applying Lessons Learned/How We Would Redo This Project Again Now that we know each other better as people

and engineers, we are certain that if we work together again, we would have great success

If we would redo this project again, our team would work in smaller teams like we did this time, but at first all work together to come up with a clear and simple schematic design

At times, our frustration levels with designing the circuit overcame our ability to focus on the central goal, thus why we would makes sure we always stay focused and concentrated on the task

THANK YOU