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

Remember that we are looking for quality, not necessarily quantity.

Make your work professional, such as typing or drawing things on a computer.

Every team is responsible for one video for the project proposal. 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.


Typically, the biggest problem with proposals is that they are not sufficiently detailed. Give specifics about what it is that you are doing. For example, include model numbers of equipment that you will use, or version numbers for software.

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.

Another common problem is that people approach this too timidly. You are not asking for permission to do this, you are telling us what you are already working on. You are not just starting to think about what you may want to do, you are describing your ideas and initial work.

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.