Proposal

Name:

Engineering Lab I Software and Hardware Upgrade

FiscalYear:

2014

Audience:

Engineering and Computer Science, College of

Submitter:

Pastran, Pablo

Budget Manager:

Asseff, Lynn G.

Project Manager:

Alhalabi, Bassem A.

Proposal Approvers

Dept. Chair:

Erdol, Nurgun

Local IT:

Neelakanta, Mahesh

Dean:

Ilyas, Mohammad

Facilities:

N/A

OIT:

Bagdonas, Joseph A.

Proposal Funding

Year 1:

$ 28,000.00

Year 2:

$ 1,000.00

Year 3:

$ 1,000.00

Total:

$ 30,000.00

Proposal Funding versus Average

Questionnaire

Narrative

Engineering Lab I is a Computer Engineering Lab which is used to host four undergraduate labs which aim is to reinforce concepts taught in class with real life applications. The classes taught in the Engineering Lab I are LOGIC DESIGN, MICRO PROCESSORS, MICRO CONTROLLERS, and EMBEDDED SYSTEMS.  The lab is used for EMBEDDED SYSTEM graduate level courses as well to teach theory and real life applications.  Due to these classes being core classes for engineering students, they serve over (200- 300) Logic Design Students, (60 – 100) Microprocessor students, and Embedded System which serve over (50) students.  We serve over (300) students every semester teaching students from the most basic to complex concepts as they graduate from one level to the next.

Logic design is an introduction level course which introduces students to hardware for the first time in their college careers.  Logic design tests students via (5) labs which both teach and test their knowledge in the use of logic gates, binary, sequential circuits, timing diagram, K-Maps, state diagrams, Flip-flops and VHDL. 

The Micro-Processor and Micro-Controller classes introduce students to the architecture of a specific Microprocessor.  These classes are designed to introduce students to the architecture of micro-controllers and show them how to program at the most basic levels using Assembly Language and C language.  Micro Processor and Micro Controllers students are tested on the concepts taught in class via (5) labs testing their knowledge requiring the adept use of the low level languages Assembly and C using various hardware interfaces.

The Embedded System class is the culmination of the Logic Design, Micro Processor, and Micro Controllers classes.  Embedded systems teaches a more in-depth level of a micro controller processor architecture while allowing students to explore what capabilities and limitations of various processors.  The embedded system class test student’s prior hardware and software knowledge via one lab given as the Midterm each semester.  As students were only introduced to the basic concepts in the Logic Design and Micro Processor classes, these concepts are reinforced prior to administration of the midterm.  Once the Lab is completed students are required to design and implement a final project which encompasses an integration of hardware implementation and Software using Code Composer Studio (CCS) provided by Texas Instruments.

Funding is sought to update and upgrade the equipment in the Engineering Lab I located in room 203 of the Engineering East building in the Boca Raton Campus.  Equipment used for this lab comes in the form of teaching modules provided by Motorola over fifteen years old with no replacement available in the market and any comparable devices are overpriced.  Due to the fact that a very limited number of modules are still in working order after years of student use, we moved in FALL 2014 to a different platform: the MSP430 Launchpad developed by Texas Instruments.  Texas Instruments has awarded a grant to FAU via their university program of over $45K in Licenses and MSP430 Kits.  The goal of this grant is to expose student to a number of such platforms such as Atmel, Microchip, National Instrument (Rio) and to other families of Texas Instrument so students graduating these classes will be well exposed giving them a diverse knowledge and a greater understanding of the current technology available and what to expect when he or she arrives at the job market. Funding will also be used to purchase the necessary software licenses for every piece of hardware implemented in the Engineering Lab I.  Funding will also be used to introduce students to more relevant concepts such as Field-programmable gate Array (FPGA) which are widely used in industry. 

We believe that updating and upgrading the Engineering Lab I equipment and platforms will better prepare Electrical Engineers and Computer Engineers graduating from FAU for the job market effectively improving the reputation and legacy of FAU.

Donations:

Texas Instruments - 45K

Florida Atlantic University would like to Thank Texas Instrument for Donation of Equipment and Licenses of Code Composer Studio IDE.  We are please to announce our continue effort to work with the leading companies in the industry to generate better prepare Computer and Electrical Engineers.

SUMMARY OF EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE THAT WILL BE ACQUIRED:

MSP430 LAUNCHPAD

Atmel (Development Board)

National Instrument (Development Board “RIO”)

Microchip (Development Board)

ATMEL PROCESSOR / SOFTWARE

MICROCHIP PROCESSOR / SOFTWARE

NATIONAL INSTRUMENT (RIO) / SOFTWARE

Goals:

Goal 1:  Providing Increased Assess to Higher Education

Updating and expanding the Engineering Lab I equipment and acquiring the software will expand the capabilities of Engineering I lab, allowing us to increase research which is now limited by the number and quality of modules currently present.  It will also expand the number and variation of labs that can be provided to students therefore expanding their knowledge with very important topics such as FPGA.

Goal 2:  Meeting Statewide Professional and Workforce Needs

Statewide Professional and Workforce needs to support this proposal because the new equipment and software will allow significant increase in research and design at both undergraduate and graduate level in the Engineering Lab I.

Goal 3:  Building World-Class Academic Program and Research Capacity

This goal is supported by the proposal because new equipment and software would allow a significant increase in research and design projects at both undergraduate and graduate level in the Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering.

Goal 4:  Building a State-of-the-Art Information Technology Environment

Hardware and Software acquired with this Grant will allow the technology in this lab to be more up to date rivaling the technology used in the job Market giving our students an edge in the Industry.

Goal 5:  Enhancing the Physical Environment

The equipment purchased will be consolidated in the Engineering Lab I allowing for any user from specific classes access at any time.

Goal 6:  Increasing the University’s Visibility

The goal of this grant is to increase the quality and knowledge of our current graduates so they have a better chance of finding a job since they will be better prepared for the job market using relevant micro controllers and technologies.

Facilities
No additional Facilities will be required because equipment will be located in room 203 of the East Engineering Building with card access given to all students enrolled in Logic Design, Micro Processor, Micro Controllers, and Embedded System Class.

Hardware Requirements

SUMMARY OF EQUIPMENT/SOFTWARE THAT WILL BE AQUIRED IF APPROVED:

A variety of platforms with corresponding software will be acquired from Texas Instrument, Microchip, National Instruments and Atmel.  (Development Boards)

*Supplemental funding is added for Fiscal Year 2-4 for Maintenance of equipment failure.

** Proposal Budget is estimated is produce on different prices from each company and platform.  Grant will be divided evenly  

Software Requirements

SOFTWARE THAT WOULD BE ACQUIRED IF APPROVE:

Code Composer Studio (CCS) – Texas Instrument (Donated Fall 2014) – Floating Licenses

# Software Licenses: 100

Atmel Studio – Atmel (Free)

MPLAB X IDE – Microchip (Free)

# Software Licenses: 50

Personnel Costs
No additional cost Foreseen.  Existing Teaching Assistant (TA) will implement granted Hardware and Software.

Other Costs
No other Cost Foreseen
Timeline

Installation and testing will be done in SUMMER 2015 and the project will go live in FALL 2015.

Software that is Free can be downloaded and installed on the cloud as soon as possible and License software will be installed once the grant is awarded.

Sustainability
Not Applicable
Resource Matching
None Known

Implementing Organization
Department of Computer & Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Teaching Assistant will implement Grant.

Proposal Budget

Fiscal Year 1 Fiscal Year 2 Fiscal Year 3 Total
Hardware One-Time $ 15,000.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 15,000.00
Hardware Recurring $ 1,000.00 $ 1,000.00 $ 1,000.00 $ 3,000.00
Software One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Software Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Personnel One-time $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Personnel Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Other One-time $ 12,000.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 12,000.00
Other Recurring $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 0.00
Totals $ 28,000.00 $ 1,000.00 $ 1,000.00 $ 30,000.00

Supporting Documentation

Filename Size Description
Atmel SAM D20 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit.pdf 236,687b Atmel SAM D20 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit
Atmel SAM4L-EK Development Board.pdf 232,344b Atmel SAM4L-EK Development Board
Atmel Studio .pdf 324,787b Atmel Studio
Engineering Lab I Tech Proposal.docx 20,222b Engineering Lab I Tech Fee Proposal 2015
Microchip.pdf 492,284b Microchip
National instrument Prices Hardware.pdf 215,352b National Instrument Prices
National Istrument labView Prices.pdf 175,792b National Instrument LabView Prices
NI CompactRIO.pdf 345,632b NI CompactRIO
NI LabVIEW RIO Evaluation Kit.pdf 191,898b NI LabVIEW RIO Evaluation Kit
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION LINKS.pdf 214,105b Supporting Documentation Links *Very important
Texas Instrument Donation $45K.pdf 312,487b Texas Instrument Donation Fall 2014
Texas Instrument Platform.pdf 253,759b Texas Instrument Platform Prices
Texas Instrument Prices.pdf 165,392b Texas Instruments Prices for CCS