CEG/EE 260 Labbook Policy
Dr. Doom
General Lab Book Requirements
The lab book for this course is the primary proof of
a student's work. Therefore, it should be an accurate
and complete document reflecting the student's effort.
In addition, the purpose of the lab book is to get the
student accustomed to proper design and documenta-
tion practices. When a student enters the "real
world", it is very likely that he/she will work on a
project for some time and then move on to another
project or company. Just because a given individual
has left a project does not mean that the project
disappears. Often a project will be maintained and
updated for several years after it's initial release.
Some unfortunate individual is usually left maintain-
ing a project long after the original designers are
gone. This person does not have to be so "unfortu-
nate". His fate is determined by the documentation
left by those that went before him. A well-
documented project is fairly simple to take over, but
a poorly documented project can be a nightmare.
So, in an attempt to proliferate better documenta-
tion practices, a reasonable effort will be expected of
students in this course. It is well known that engi-
neers typically hate to write documentation -- they
like to design new and exciting things, but good
documentation is often critical to the success of a
project, both during the development phase and the
maintenance phase.
Documentation is especially important to you, be-
cause if your TA cannot follow your work, points
will be deducted.
Try to be as clear and concise as possible. Act is if
you are turning your lab book in to your boss. Your
documentation is an important part in judging your
overall skill and effort.
That being said, it is understood that this is a col-
lege course and students have many other require-
ments on their time. Please do your best, and at a
minimum, follow the subsequent guidelines.
1.) Show all of your work.
Many students will do preliminary design work on
scrap paper. The lab book is also made of paper, why
not do your work there? Preliminary design is an
important part of the process. Label your work as
"preliminary" - incorrect initial approaches will not
count against you. Some circuits are very simple and
it is not necessary to show work. Some circuits are
not so simple. If there is only a final print-out for a
complex circuit, can you prove that it is your own
work? Can you explain its operation? It is best to
show your design process - then there is no question
about a circuit's origins.
2.) Include printouts of all of your circuit designs.
In this course, we will use hierarchical design
practices - this means that our final circuits will be
composed of smaller sub-circuits. Include the print-
outs of the smaller circuits so that person who re-
views your schematics knows what the circuit does.
You may know what is inside of a sub-circuit block,
but without a printout, your TA will not.
3.) Always include printouts of your most recent
circuits.
The lab book is a living document of your design.
It should eventually reflect the final circuit that you
have designed (or are working on). It is not neces-
sary to remove previous versions of your work from
the lab book, just mark them as "old" or "outdated"
and add the new designs to your book. This will help
the person who follows you to understand your
thinking process when learning the function of your
circuit. It will also help you when you need to re-
member why you made certain design decisions.
Finally, note that your lab book is your emergency
backup. If disaster strikes, and lose or corrupt your
files, you will want your most recent fully debugged
schematics available.
4.) Include simulation/test results for every circuit
that you design.
Anyone can throw logic gates and wires onto a
schematic page. Simulation and testing are the proof
that it works. Some circuits in this course are quite
large and complex. If exhaustive testing is not feasi-
ble, then please document the test cases that you
performed. One of the most important aspects of
engineering design is the development of adequate
(and methodical) test procedures. A well thought out
test plan shows thorough understanding of a design
and its requirements.
5.) Present your test results in a clear and read-
able way.
Your TA will give you guidelines during your lab
sessions.
6.) Document any assumptions that you make.
If any portion of the lab assignment is unclear, then
document what you believe the lab is specifying. It is
best to clarify any doubts with your TA or professor,
but this is not always possible -- especially when you
start working on a lab assignment at 2:00 AM the
morning the lab is due.
7.) Document any known bugs or problems.
If the time has come to turn in your lab book and
the circuit is not operating correctly, then document
the problems that you are facing, the things that you
have tried, and any ideas you have about fixing them.
