Class

Howdy. Welcome to the class. If you've got any immediate questions for me, please email me instead of posting here. If you've got questions for the whole class, or thoughts about any of the topics we've discussed, this is a fine place for it.

Class 1 (Jan. 17):

        * Basic electronics
        * Perception Backgrounder
        * “Analogy”
        * Multimeters

    Assignment

       1. Manufacturer Letter Assignment
       2. Introduce yourself on the ITP Sensor Workshop Wiki. 
       3. Sign up for two days of shop cleaning.

Class 2 (Jan. 24):

        * Signal theory primer
        * Input and sampling
        * Sensors and time - graphing a sensor’s value over time
        * Basic statistics - averages, medians and outliers
        * Understanding edges, peaks, and thresholds
        * Defining an ‘event’

    Assignment:

       1. Sensor Walk

Class 3 (Jan. 31):

        * Present Sensors Walk assignments
        * Types of Sensors
              o Resistive and capacitive sensors
              o Piezoelectric sensors
        * Simple device interfaces:
              o voltage output, RC time
              o pulsewidth output
              o serial output
        * Linearity and non-linearity: Characterizing sensors

    Assignment:

       1. Sensors & Time

Class 4: (Feb 7):

        * Understanding datasheets
        * Complex data intefaces 1:
              o SPI
              o I2C
        * Special Topics: MEMS

    Assignment:

       1. Datasheet Reports
       2. Finalize sensor selection for Sensor Report & Presentation

Class 5: (Feb 14):

        * Present datasheet Reports and questions
        * Hand in sensor choice for end of term Sensor Report & Presentation
        * Complex data interfaces 2:
              o AT
              o BT
              o Others
        * Special topics: Power harvesting with piezo/solar sensor

    Assignment:

       1. None 

Class 6 (Feb. 21):

        * Present datasheet Reports and questions week 2 (as required)
        * Connecting sensors to the internet
              o Xport
              o Serial to the network
              o Data-logging with a database

    Assignment:

       1. Datalogging  

Class 7 (Feb. 28):

        * Present data-logging assignments
        * Sensor Interfacing - Electronics:
              o Hardware/software debouncing
              o Hardware/software filtering
              o Op Amps
                    + Buffer amplifiers
                    + Gain amplifiers
                    + Differential amplifiers
                    + Power amplifiers
        * Sensor Interfacing - Mechanics:
        * Mounting and fastening strategies
        * Self-built sensor assemblies
        * Wedges levers and pulleys

    Assignment:

       1. Actions, Events, Filtering  

Class 8 (March 7):

        * Advanced data filtering, averaging and weighting
        * Gesture recognition
        * Mapping strategies

    Assignment:

       1. Actions, Events, Filtering (con't)

March 14 - Spring Break

Class 9 (Mar. 21):

        * Present Actions, Events, Filtering assignments
        * Special topics: Printed Circuit board fabrication for less noisy circuits

    Assignment:

       1. None 

Class 10 (Mar. 28):

        * Presentations week 1

    Assignment:

       1. None 

Class 11 (Apr. 4):

        * Presentations week 2

    Assignment:

       1. None 

Class 12 (Apr. 11):

        * Presentations week 3
        * Review material, questions on previous topics

    Assignment:

       1. None 

Class 13 (Apr. 18):

        * Presentations week 4
        * Repeat presentations

    Assignment:

       1. None 

Class 14 (Apr. 25):

        * Presentations week 5
        * Repeat presentations, any remaining assignments, wrap-up

    Assignment:

       1. None