Each lab assignment will be graded based on the following rubric:

  • 60% Meets list of basic deliverables
  • 20% Sensible report documentation and organization
  • 20% Extra features

You should hand in your report as a web page that is at least visible on-campus at Harvey Mudd. The link to this page should be emailed to Professor Spjut by the time of the deadline.

What to turn in and how

Write up a blog like status report to the course website with the following sections:

  • Introduction: Briefly explain what was done.
  • Design Methodology: Explain how you approached the design of this assignment from both a software and a hardware standpoint (as appropriate). Make sure to take plenty of pictures of your design and label and diagram any unique features of interest! What makes your design yours? What ideas and inspirations made you come to the design decisions that you made?
  • Testing Methodology Explain how you tested your design. These test should convince your fellow reader that the requirements of the assignment have been met. This can be easily supplemented with videos and pictures (Have fun with it!). Graphics and plots are also high recommended where applicable! Remember, a good graphic with suitable caption is far better than a wall of text.
  • Results and Discussion: Did you accomplish all of the prescribed tasks? If not, what are the shortcomings? How might you address them given more time? As appropriate, how did the design perform (ex. How fast/accurate/reliable was it?). Is there anything you would do differently if you were to redo the lab? Is there anything else interesting worth mentioning?
  • Conclusions: Briefly summarize what was done and how it performed. How many hours did you spend on the lab? Any comments, suggestions, or complaints about the assignment? This will not count toward your grade, but will help refine the lab for the future.
  • Source Code: Remember to post your source code to the website only after the due date of the lab. The report does not need to be long, but should be complete. Some individual questions may not apply to this particular lab, but are listed to give you a general idea of what is desired. Future reports will follow a similar format and the questions may be more applicable in these instances.