From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Fri Nov 5 11:51:59 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Fri Nov 5 11:52:21 2010 Subject: [ece4723] humidity sense pin In-Reply-To: <12157146.19141288975793049.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> Message-ID: <20596202.19171288975919323.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> The ECE4723 lab spec was written originally for use with a naked PIC24. This year, we are using the mini-Bully board as a target. The mini-Bully has a status LED connected to RB15, and cannot be used for humidity sensing as the lab spec requires. Use RB14/RP14 for humidity sensing instead. jwb ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101105/b6f53bb5/attachment-0001.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Tue Nov 9 09:14:50 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Tue Nov 9 09:14:58 2010 Subject: [ece4723] Re: Product Cost Spreadsheet In-Reply-To: <3AB373BE-0B7D-4204-883E-9044B54DF009@msstate.edu> Message-ID: <32531543.29041289315690852.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> I place a PDF of the MSRP analysis in the Handouts folder. I didn't give you the actual spreadsheet. The exercise of building the formulas (it's quite easy) is good to help you understand where each costs gets added in. Of course, my spreadsheet is from a manufacturer's point of view. The distribution and retail channels are just lump multiplier. If you were the distribution channel or retailer, you would break out lots of your individual costs like the manufacturer portion does. jwb ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 ----- Original Message ----- To: "J. W. Bruce" Sent: Monday, November 8, 2010 7:56:30 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Product Cost Spreadsheet Hey Dr. Bruce, Can you post the excel sheet you went over in class that estimates how much a product will cost. I just wanted to mess around with it. From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Tue Nov 9 09:23:07 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Tue Nov 9 09:23:16 2010 Subject: [ece4723] nice online article from our friend Jack Message-ID: <21822400.29101289316187311.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> Jack has written a nice article you may want to read in your spare time: http://www.embeddedinternetdesign.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=228200368 enjoy. jwb ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101109/3290ee4a/attachment.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Mon Nov 15 09:22:04 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Mon Nov 15 09:22:08 2010 Subject: [ece4723] Re: Confusion with Task 7 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <473030.50651289834524844.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> Oops. That was left over from an older lab where I had the students record the rainfall rate on the MCU. You should implement getRainfall() -- returns the amount of rainfall clearRainfall() -- resets the rainfall counter to zero In practice, a weather station would clear the rainfall counter every day at midnight or on the first of the month. jwb ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 ----- Original Message ----- To: "J. W. Bruce" Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:33:42 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: Confusion with Task 7 In this lab you asked that we create two python functions getMinRainfall() and getMaxRainfall(). Our controversy is should we store the rainfall amount each time it is called in a buffer so we can compare it to later values we read and determine the maximum rainfall and the minimum rainfall? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101115/187d0824/attachment.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Tue Nov 16 12:44:32 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Tue Nov 16 12:44:36 2010 Subject: [ece4723] failure mode analysis & SECON Message-ID: <879968.56741289933072339.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> Class ended before we got a chance to get back to how we might apply FMEA to the SECON problem. It is unlikely (low occurrence) that component issues (in a working design) will impact the SECON competition (typically <48 hours in duration). So a hardware or component FMEA is probably not a great use of our team's resources. Based on my observations of historical events at SECON, the most probable causes of failures (in order) of MSU designs at SECON are #1: the host not following the competition rules/specifications #2: hasty on-site design changes by our team #3: some other team not following the rules during head-to-head Scenario #2 is solved by a more rigorous design review and authorization procedure during the week before and during the competition. In FMEA terms, the corrective action has resulting in higher risk (increased occurrence or decreased detection, or even increased severity) of a failure mode + cause. Scenarios #1 and #3 failures are best analyzed by a usage/environmental FMEA. Take the specs, formulate failure modes based on each "rule" in there. The effects of failure are determined by examining/experimenting with the MSU design. Then, brainstorm corrective actions for each with the new risks associated. You may want to include a cost estimate (in terms of time) for each corrective action. Hopefully, through this you can identify the ways the host can screw up your design and have some solutions in place before you get to the competition. Good luck. JWB ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101116/36f7b6cb/attachment.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Mon Nov 29 10:42:43 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Mon Nov 29 10:42:45 2010 Subject: [ece4723] semester metrics Message-ID: <28759191.92581291048963326.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> You need to update your semester metrics spreadsheet before 5PM TODAY!!!!!!!!! Commit the new spreadsheet to SVN. jwb ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101129/f67e18dd/attachment.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Tue Nov 30 16:58:40 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Tue Nov 30 16:58:43 2010 Subject: [ece4723] ECE4723/6723 TODOs Message-ID: <31483764.98881291157920297.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> * send 1 or more study questions to me before Noon WEDNESDAY * send dissection ratings to me before 5PM THURSDAY see you Friday at 12noon. ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101130/bd1b62d2/attachment.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Tue Nov 30 17:04:43 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Tue Nov 30 17:04:49 2010 Subject: [ece4723] Re: ECE4723/6723 TODOs In-Reply-To: <31483764.98881291157920297.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> Message-ID: <17843092.98991291158283172.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> I uploaded the FMEA lecture for your web perusal enjoyment ;-) jwb ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 ----- Original Message ----- From: "J. W. Bruce" To: "ece4723" Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 4:58:40 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: ECE4723/6723 TODOs * send 1 or more study questions to me before Noon WEDNESDAY * send dissection ratings to me before 5PM THURSDAY see you Friday at 12noon. ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101130/d5c75d47/attachment.html From jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu Tue Nov 30 17:21:04 2010 From: jwbruce at ece.msstate.edu (J. W. Bruce) Date: Tue Nov 30 17:21:13 2010 Subject: [ece4723] not jupiter but its neighbor Message-ID: <9562881.99091291159264057.JavaMail.root@zimbra.ece.msstate.edu> We had a Jupiter theme this semester. While Rhea is not Jupiter's moon, the photo is way cool. http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/11/image-of-the-day-saturns-moon-rhea-its-atmosphere-has-oxygen-ets-not.html ------------------ J.W. Bruce, Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Mississippi State University 406 Hardy Road, Simrall 335 Mississippi State, MS 39762-9571 Office: (662) 325-1530 FAX: (662) 325-2298 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.ece.msstate.edu/pipermail/ece4723/attachments/20101130/f2b95421/attachment-0001.html