Projects and Project Teams
A major aspect of this course will be the use of what you are learning to design and construct a
working instrument. The instrument project will consist of designing and building an optical
spectrograph. This instrument will have a solid-state optical detector and operate under computer
control. It should be able to take wavelength-calibrated spectra of bright emission-line sources (lamps).
You will carry out the project as a member of a project team. Each team will be responsible for
planning, designing, and building its own instrument. The members of your team will all come
from different segment groups so that your team quickly collects all of the skills needed to carry
out the project.
Assignments and Deadlines
Each segment will have a reading assignment, a set of paper exercises, a piece of software to master, a
practical exercise, and an evaluation/debrief. Because other groups will need access to the hardware, your
group must complete each section within the allotted time. The evaluations should be done individually and
handed in to the instructors. You should work out the paper exercises or problem sets on your own. You
may then consult with your group about the answers. Once you are sure you know the answer, you must
hand in your own writeup. Problem sets will be due at the end of each segment (note that, for the computer
interfacing segment, you will need to demo your knowledge rather than do a problem set). Each project
team will have a preliminary review of their design and a final review of the project. At the two reviews,
each member of the team will be expected to be able to stand up and make any part of the presentation.
At the preliminary review, approximately six weeks before the end of classes, each team member will have
to turn in a written description of the instrument, how it will work, and how it will be built. This document
should be about two pages long, plus figures.
Class Meetings
In order to transfer information between the groups and teams and between these entities and the
instructors, to settle scheduling conflicts, and to provide an opportunity for making adjustments in
the material, we will have at least a brief class meeting each MWF at 10:00. Once in a while, I will
present a class lecture/activity on an instrumentation topic. The other time will be used for meetings
of groups and teams, together with the Prof. or TA. Attendance at the meetings is a course requirement.
Do not be late for class. We will notice.
Getting Help
(a) Your Segment or project group: You are all working together, so split up the learning task in a way that
makes sense to you and then teach each other what you know.
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