Project Proposals

For this class, you have a semester project. Now that you are somewhat familiar with the class, it is time to start thinking about your final project.

The project proposal is an initial write-up of what you are doing. The purpose is to make sure your group plans to do an appropriate amount of work. That is, it should not be too easy nor too ambitious. The project proposal should contain the following:

The title page (project name, team members, class, etc.) should be on a page by itself. The other items above do not need to be on a separate page - just use your best judgment.

When writing, remember that we are looking for quality, not necessarily quantity.

Type your work. If you want to include a graph or drawing, these should also be done via a computer.

Turn in one copy of your proposal per team. This is a team effort, and it is up to you to make sure that the work is fairly distributed across your team. The professor reserves the right to replace team members if needed (e.g. if a team member fails to show up for team meetings, he may be replaced by someone who will). There are going to be group dynamics to consider, which is one of the reasons why this is a team project (and a valuable experience). For example, one member may be a strong programmer, but does not communicate well. Another person may be a good leader, while inept with hardware. Learning to overcome individual difficulties and challenges in building your team is an important part of the semester project.

The professor will let you know if your proposal needs to be revised. Go ahead with the project as planned unless you hear otherwise. If you find you need to change something major (e.g. you cannot obtain the software in time, so instead you want to solve a different problem), be sure to inform the professor.



Show that you have thought it through. If you will use a special board that already is set up in a computer that you own, say this. If you plan to get a special board that you plan to put in a lab computer, also say this and indicate how much the board costs, when you expect to purchase it, if you have permission to install it in the lab, and if the computer meets any minimum requirements to use the board and related software.

See also the comments from previous project proposals.

Another page that you should consider is this one on determining your grade.

See how to quote a reference.

See references link for information about the style of references.

See the paper summary feedback for useful examples of what to do when writing a technical document.