20.20(S11): Technical Specification Review

Tech Spec Review

By this time in your project's development you should have a clear idea of what you'd like to accomplish as well as a growing sense of how you'll do it. The technical specifications should detail in concrete terms what you will need and how you will implement your idea. The requirements for this presentation are detailed below but there are two important things to keep in mind as you develop the material for this review.

1. This is not a "final presentation." It is intended to update the class and instructors about a work in progress
2. This review may lead you to re-think some aspects of your initial idea. Maybe some competing technology is now more competitive than you first thought. Maybe the impact is smaller. These changes to your vision is not only OK; they are to be expected and should be considered part of your work
3. Each presentation can be no more than 15 minutes!!!!! You will have ~5' for questions and answers after that 15 minutes is up.

Purpose of the Tech Spec Review

1. To share with the group the concrete plans you've made to implement your idea
2. To gather feedback on the plans from your instructors and classmates
3. To gain some experience working as a team to define the ideas and to critically consider their strengths and weaknesses
4. To gain some experience presenting your ideas to the class

Expectations

Be sure to briefly re-introduce everyone. You can start with your team/project name(s) and the project idea (i.e. what you'll be addressing and, very roughly speaking, how). Then you can spend the bulk of your time getting down to the brass tacks.

Each project idea must have

• A description of your system's design in terms of devices
• A description of your system's design in terms of parts
• A timing diagram to show anticipated system operation
• if possible, a simulation of a small module or portion within system, using Tinkercell
• A plan for testing and debugging your first generation system
• A description of the impact you envision for your system
• A description of any concerns raised and open issues within your team
• A "GO/NO GO" decision

The format for this technical specification is likely to be powerpoint but other platforms for describing the work may also be approved. Each person in your group should plan to speak for some of the time.

Evaluation

You will get questions and immediate feedback on your presentation from your classmates. You will also get some more detailed comments from the instructors and your team's mentor. This presentation is worth 15% of your final grade for the class and you will be assigned one score for your team.