ECE354 is a "lab course" in which students learn how to program a microcontroller, integrate it with peripheral devices, and demonstrate the functionality of the system. Lectures introduce the functionality of the microcontroller in general as well as specific components for each lab project. The lab projects are implemented by students in groups of two, but each student is graded individually. There is one mid-term exam and no final exam. For each lab project, there is a short quiz, which is administered online through WebCT.

The labs are design to increase in difficulty and workload up to Lab 3. Labs 4 and 5 will be less intense to accommodate preparation for finals and project work in other courses.

Grading

The final grade will be determined in the following way:

Lab Grades

Each lab requires the implementation of a circuit on the breadboard, a program for the microcontroller, and a setup of the oscilloscope and logic analyzer to demonstrate the correct operation of the system. Once a group is ready to have their project graded, they can sign up for a demo time slot. In-lab grading will be done by the instructor and the head-TA. Each student will be asked a few questions regarding the design and implementation individually. Then the team demonstrates the correct operation of their implementation. This concludes the in-lab grading. A final report is to be turned in at the instructor's office (KEB 211C) by the deadline shown on the schedule.

The grade for the lab is determined by these three components:

The grades for each component and the overall grade will be noted on the lab report.

Late Policy

Project demos, quizzes, and lab reports are due as posted on the course web page. Late submissions will not be accepted in general and be graded at the instructor's discretion. If you know that your project is running late, contact Prof. Wolf to make individual arrangements.

Honors Section

There will be an honors section for this course. Details to be announce. If you are interested, please contact the instructor.

Honesty Policy

Consultation with fellow students is encouraged, especially on design issues. However, directly copying another student's work (past or present) defeats the purpose of the assignments and is an honor code violation. Lab reports, programs, or test answers that are directly copied from another student will result in serious penalties including course failure and possible action by the college disciplinary committee. If in doubt, please consult a TA, the instructor, or the official UMass guidelines regarding academic honesty.

Special WebCT note: It is expected that students complete the online WebCT quizzes without help or discussion with other students. Do not post answers to quizzes in the online discussions.