This module aims to introduce students to recursion and to the principles of recursive, applicative and functional programming. In it, they will use various functional abstractions to control the complexity of programming, and will use abstraction mechanisms in programming. They will also study the principles of program evaluation and explore the evaluation mechanism via a meta-circular evaluator.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
A1. The key mechanisms underpinning the functional programming model
A2. The principles of evaluation of programming language
Intellectual Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
B1. Discuss and perform the decomposition of problems using procedural, data and metalinguistic abstractions.
B2. Understand the concept of functional programming and be able to write programs in this style in the context of Scheme.
B3. Reason about evaluation mechanisms.
Subject Specific Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
C1. Program in a functional style
C2. Evaluate programs step by step.
Recursive Techniques recursion on numbers, lists, trees, graphs.
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 36 | |
| Tutorial | 12 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Programming Exercises | - | 65% |
| Exam | 0 hours | 35% |
Referral Method: By examination
This module aims to develop a student’s skills in a number of areas including design project management and communication skills. Basic construction skills are taught in the laboratory through an exercise to build and test a live wire detector. A significant component of the module relates to the design, build and test of an autonomous vehicle as part of a group design project. This is supported with an exercise to program a commercial industrial robot to perform a series of pick and place tasks.
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
A1. Define the specification of an artifact that needs to be designed, tested and commissioned
A2. To understand the design process
A3. To understand the processes involved in project management
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
B1. Develop a plan for the implementation of the design and the undertake those activities
B2. Analyses the design as it evolves, and deduce problems with the subsequent rectification
B3. Undertake an evaluation of the complete design and prepare a critical précis
Subject Specific Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
C1. Undertake small scale mechanical and electronic construction
C2. Undertake realtime programming
C3. Undertake detailed faultfinding of the developed circuits if required
Employability/Transferable/Key Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
D1.Ability to operate as a team
D2.Prepare working documents, designs and gantt charts
D3.Prepare a full report of the design and its operation
D4.Use of a logbook in the engineering design environment
• The development of individual practical skills through completion of a simple build and test exercise, incorporating soldering, circuit construction and the manufacture of a container.
• Groups of students are required to undertake a design, build and test project against a predefined specification. The project assessment includes a competitive trial, individual log books, group reports and quality assessment of the designed system.
• Small group exercise on programming of an industrial robot to perform a series of predefined tasks.
• The groups will have seminars on project management and principles of design to support the activities.
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist Lab | 72 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Group Project | - | 85% |
| Robot Programming | - | 10% |
| Laboratories | - | 5% |
Referral Method: By examination
The module aims to provide a detailed understanding of all aspects of the selection, sizing and operation of modern electrical drive systems; this will be achieved by consideration of the individual sub-system including power semiconductors, electronic power converters and associated electric motors, mechanical power transmission, speed and velocity transducers, and controllers.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
A1. Understand the operation of modern drive systems applied to industrial applications including robotics and advanced machine tools.
A2. Apply your knowledge of the electrical characteristics of power semiconductor devices, to select power semiconductor devices for a range of applications.
A3. Understand the basic topology of converters, inverters and power supplies
A4. Understand the dynamics of mechanical systems found in industrial applications.
A5. Characterise the operation of motors, drives, sensors and the mechanical power train within the drive system.
Intellectual Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
B1. Perform design calculations for drive and power converter applications, and understand the approximations used.
B2. Understand the advantages and disadvantages that different motors drives will bring to an application.
Subject Specific Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
C1. Investigate the characteristics and performance of a power converter or electric drive.
C2. Analyse a specific application and produce the drive requirements that will result in the selection of sizing of a suitable drive system.
C3. Demonstrate the basic skills required to operate a power converter and electric drive.
Employability/Transferable/Key Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
D1. Transfer understanding and theories from one discipline to another, in particular from the mechanical design to the electrical power and control domains.
D2. Understand the wide range of issues that impact on the use of drive system in the industrial context, including safety, efficiency and costs (procurement, running and disposal)
The Drive Environment: Robotic and machine tool applications; introduction to position and speed control systems; dynamics and load characteristics; power transmission; Environmental factors; determination of speed and torque requirements; motion profiles; Installation considerations.
Devices: Review of diodes, thyristors, bipolar junction transistors, MOSFETs; IGBTs; basic characteristics of all devices; drive requirements; thermal management; protectio
Converters: Two and six pulse circuits; derivation of operating equations; overlap and its effect on output waveforms
Inverters: Three-phase inverters; dc link inverter; forced-commutation thyristor circuits
Specification of Drive Systems: Mechanical transmission elements; gears; leadscrews, belts etc.; sizing algorithms.
Position and Velocity Transducers: Specifications; analogue versus digital; review of available linear and rotary systems.
Servo Drive Systems: Consideration of specific drives and their operating characteristics including brushed d.c. series motor drives, brushless d.c. motor drives, and vector-controlled a.c. motor drives.
Controllers: Integration into the drive package; networking.
Power Supplies: Linear and switched mode power supplies; practical characteristics and analysis of step-up and step-down switched mode power supplies
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | Lectures | 48 |
| Specialist Lab | 3 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Design of a typical drive system | - | 15% |
| Power electronic experiment | - | 5% |
| Exam | 2 hours | 80% |
Referral Method: By examination
To develop knowledge for materials at the extreme ends of the conductivity range, i.e. insulators and superconductors.
To develop knowledge of material response to electrical fields, i.e. polarisation and conduction in dielectrics.
To introduce to the students magnetic materials, their processing techniques and applications.
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
A1. Understand engineering aspects of these materials and the metallurgy involved in the production of special electrical materials.
A2. Explain material response to electric and magnetic fields.
A3. Appreciate applications and advantages of high temperature superconducting materials.
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
B1. Understand materials structure and properties
B2. Select suitable materials for engineering applications
B3. Apply theories related to superconducting materials
Subject Specific Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
C1. Measure electrical properties of materials.
C2. Relate structure and composition to material magnetic properties.
• Dielectric material (16)
o Polarization mechanisms at the microscopic and macroscopic levels; frequency dependence of polarization; dipole moments; complex permittivity; Arrhenius equation; electronic polarization; Clausius-Mosotti relationship; Maxwell-Wagner interfacial polarisation; dipolar polairsation; Debye equations; Cole-Cole plot.
o Electrical conduction mechanisms; charge injection mechanisms; space charge limited current; hopping conduction process
o Electret materials, triboelectric series.
o Piezo-electricity; ferro-electricity; pyro-electricity
• High temperature superconductivity (4)
o Historical development of superconducting materials
o Engineering materials at low temperature; economic benefits; properties of HTc superconductors, Type I and Type II superconductors; Meissner effect, Critical current density; Cooper pairs, BSC theory.
• Superconducting Applications (4)
o Josephson junction and flux quantization
o Principle of SQUID operation
o Power apparatus; cables and current limiter; energy storage systems.
• Metallurgy and magnetic materials (12)
o Importance of phase constitution and crystal orientation in conducting and magnetic materials. Conducting alloy systems and structure;
o Soft magnetic materials; iron-silicon alloys; recrystallisation, grain orientated material and properties; iron-nickel alloys, importance of ordering and magnetic annealing; soft ferrites and garnets; powder metallurgy and principles of sintering; magnetic properties, uses and economic factors of magnetic sheet steel.
o Hard magnetic materials; alnico alloys, fine particle magnets; rare earth alloys; barium ferrites, production and uses; comparison of ferrites and alnico alloys.
o Storage and recording
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 36 | |
| Tutorial | 12 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Exam | 2 hours | 100% |
Referral Method: By examination
This module aims to introduce students to a range of electronic devices and from this to provide an opportunity for then to explore the design process, to make mistakes and learn from them in a benign environment.
Conventional laboratory experiments are useful mainly to assist understanding or analysis: because they are of necessity stereotyped; they are of limited usefulness when a circuit or system must be designed to meet a given specification. The majority of engineering tasks fall into this latter category, and therefore require design or synthesis skills that are distinct from the understanding of underlying engineering principles. This is additional to the analysis skills emphasized in the course so far. This module includes design assignments that have been devised to provide a bridge between 'conventional' experiments and the project work in the third and fourth years, (which in turn provide a bridge to 'real' projects in industry). The exercises have real deadlines and concrete deliverables and students are encouraged to be creative, develop imaginative solutions and to make mistakes.
All three assignments have a common format:
• Customer orientated rather than proscriptive specifications are given
• Design work carried out, bringing academic knowledge to bear on practical problems
• Laboratory sessions are used for construction and verification of designs
• Allow students to demonstrate their communication skills in writing individual and group reports.
The differences between the assignments are in:
• Complexity
• Size of team
• Assessment credit
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
A1. Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the principles of operation of a range of electronic devices.
A2. Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the problems associated with designing practical circuits and systems.
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
B1. Synthesise simple circuits and systems.
B2. Design simple digital IC’s
B.3 Appreciate the problems in dealing with uncertain and possibly ambiguous specifications.
Subject Specific Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
C1. Demonstrate familiarity with the advanced use of function generators, oscilloscopes and complex devices such as logic analysers and spectrum analysers.
C2. Construct and test a range of circuits.
C3. Integrate and debug hardware and software systems. In particular appreciate the special problems that occur when both domains are combined,
C4. Understand and interpret technical literature and data sheets.
Employability/Transferable/Key Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
D1. Write formal reports in a clear, technical style.
D2. Address problems associated with personal and group time management in a problem solving environment.
D3. Demonstrate an awareness of team structure and dynamics, together with an appreciation of individual responsibilities working both as a pair and in a larger grouping.
• Effective use of laboratory equipment: oscilloscopes, spectrum analysers, network analysers, sensitive meters and component testers, sources
• Synthesis vs analysis
• Effective use of design resources, Matlab, Spice, ModelSim etc.
• Designs optimised to meet multiple criteria: phone antennae
• Design of consumer devices: iStuff examples
• EMC
• Manufacturing techniques, RoHS, WEE
• Commercial models, outsourcing, fabless design etc.
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Specialist Lab | D2 Integrated circuit design exercise, D3 Analogue circuit design exercise and D4 System design exercise | 63 |
| Lecture | Supporting lectures | 10 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| D2 Integrated circuit design exercise | - | 30% |
| D3 Analogue circuit design exercise | - | 20% |
| D4 System design exercise | - | 50% |
Referral Method: There is no referral opportunity for this syllabus in same academic year
This module looks at the how computer systems are designed and constructed, focussing on microcontrollers but also looking at how they fit into the context of other types of computer (e.g. DSP and desktop processor). It considers how data is processed and manipulated, communication via buses. It also looks at operating systems (including real-time systems), performance and benchmarking, and factors that affect the power consumption of systems. We also look at multicore and GPU processing, and development toolchains (how to get from C to optimised machine code).
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to:
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to:
There will be 36 hours of lectures, 2 x 3-hour labs, and a number of tutorial sessions (schedule to be advised).
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 36 | |
| Tutorial | 12 | |
| Specialist Lab | 6 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| 2 x 3-hour labs | - | 10% |
| Design task, approx 500 words | - | 10% |
| In-class tests | - | 5% |
| Exam | 2 hours | 75% |
Referral Method: By examination
In recent years there has been an increasing recognition of the important role played by the human-computer interaction in the success of computer systems.
This course aims to gives students an understanding of how the study of human-computer interaction affects the design of interactive systems, hardware and software and improve students' awareness of the issues that determine the usability of an interactive computer system.
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
A1. How different disciplines (human factors, cognitive psychology, engineering, graphics design, etc.) influence the design of interactive systems
A2. How users interact (dialogue) with system.
A3. The classification of input/output devices and techniques
A4. How to design, prototype and evaluate a user interface
Intellectual Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
B1. Describe the main concepts (conceptual model, metaphors and paradigms) that influence human-computer interaction
B2. Explain the main theories of cognition and how these are used when designing interactive systems
B3. Classify the different input/output devises as to their effect on human-computer interaction.
B4. Describe the process of designing for interaction and why a user centred approach is preferred.
Practical Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
C1. Design a solution interacting with a computer system.
C2. Choose appropriate methods of evaluating an interactive system.
C3. Evaluate a design for interacting with a computer system.
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | Lectures are used to present theoretical and practical aspects of developing interactive systems. During the lectures there may be quizzes and discussion with plenary feedback. Participation, while not compulsory, is encouraged. | 22 |
| Tutorial | Tutorials will be used to work through examples illustrating the practical application of the techniques discussed in the lectures. | 10 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | - | 50% |
| Exam | 2 hours | 50% |
Referral Method: By set coursework assignment(s)
The aim of this module is to introduce students to the fundamental concepts underlying all programming languages, to introduce a broad range of programming language styles and features, and to provide the theoretical foundation that they will need in order to be able to make informed judgements about programming languages.
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 36 | |
| Tutorial | 12 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | - | 25% |
| Exam | 2 hours | 75% |
Referral Method: By examination
This module aims to give students experience of working in a team, and of the problems of communication and scale in software engineering. It will consolidate and integrate the techniques and concepts introduced in earlier modules and demonstrate the need for a professional approach to all aspects of software development. Students will adopt an agile methodology, which puts the user at the heart of building, refining and delivering their software system.
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to:
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to:
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to:
There is a little formal teaching on the unit. Students will exercise and develop skills in the following areas:
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 36 | |
| Tutorial | 12 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Group Project | - | 100% |
Referral Method: By examination
This module aims to provide a broad and stimulating introduction to the theory of computing.
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to:
| Activity | Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 36 | |
| Tutorial | 12 |
| Method | Hours | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|---|
| In-class tests | - | 70% |
| Exam | 1 hour | 30% |
Referral Method: By examination