Sophomore Cornerstone Course

In this class, the students will work in a multi-discipline team to design, build, and test a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machine capable of producing double-sided Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) and performing light mechanical machining. Each student will be a team leader for their own machine and a team member for another. For example, an EE major will lead the team to make her machine while also participating as a team member on a team lead by an ME. Engineering practices, project management, engineering models, and prototypes will be introduced.

The 3D printer built in the Cornerstone course is used to fabricate many of the parts for this machine. First, an engineering model is built using hand tools, such as a hand drill or drill press, and prototyping materials like plywood and 3D printed parts. It is controlled with a temporary controller constructed with prototyping techniques such as breadboards and perf-boards. Once operational, the team will perform tests on the engineering model and determine where performance can be improved. They then use the model, along with other more advanced techniques, to build a more robust version – transforming an engineering model into a prototype. For example, they might use the engineering model to make precision metal chassis to replace the wooden structure and a printed circuit board to replace the perf board controller. In this way, the machine is to be used to make a better version of itself.

The resulting, evolving machines are used directly in the Foundation, Keystone, and Capstone courses and indirectly in other courses. For example, in a high-speed logic course, the machine can be used to create circuit boards with various signal paths. Through applied learning, the students can directly compare bus speeds between an ordinary PCB trace and a properly designed microstrip line. Similarly, in an electromagnetics course, the approach can be integrated into the applied design of antennas and coplanar waveguides to complement the academic curriculum and enable hands-on creation, testing, and implementation.

The team will hold design reviews attended by their peers, mentors, instructors, and industry professionals.

In this class, students learn to use CAD and CAM tools, and electronics design is covered. Additionally, it also focuses on mechanics, torque, acceleration, vibration, thermal expansion, etc.

Summary: What’s in this for you?

In this second course you will learn how to use advanced tools and use the 3D printer you built last year to build a more advanced machine using what you’re learning in your academic courses. You’ll learn how to design boxes and printed circuit boards and make them on this machine. You’ll learn how to be a team leader and an even better team member. And you’ll build a pretty sweet CNC machine and be able to make prototypes of things you are learning in other classes.