Professional Documents
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Table of Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
1.
Your final year project is one of the most important aspects of your engineering degree.
To see why, lets look at a definition of engineering, taken from the IEEE.
Engineering is that profession in which knowledge of the mathematical,
computational, and natural sciences gained by study, experience, and practice
is applied with judgment to develop economically effective use of matter,
energy, and information to the benefit of humankind.
Engineering is first and foremost the application of knowledge. However, the
application must be carried out with judgment, to ensure that the resultant system is
effective and efficient, and that it is of benefit (which raises the issue of the ethical
responsibilities of engineers a topic for another day). The final year project is one of
the primary the mechanisms used by the University to provide you with an opportunity
to gain experience in the practical, effective, efficient, and beneficial application of
what you have been studying for the past several years. Naturally, you will continue to
gain engineering experience after you graduate but the final year project will be your
first exposure to the full rigor of engineering practice. It is essential that you learn from
this exposure and practice all of the engineering methodologies involved. It is
particularly important that you learn not just to apply what you know, but to apply it
with judgment, with the ability to assess what you are doing and to be critical of it.
Now that we have established the importance of your final year project, lets look at the
important issues in pursuing it. There are four principal concerns:
1.
2.
3.
4.
2.
Choosing a project
Planning, executing, and managing your project
Documenting your project
Assessment of your project
Given that you are going to spend a lot of time working on your project, it is essential
that you pick a project which you like and which you are capable of doing. Note that
these are not necessarily the same things: just because you like a particular project
doesnt mean you are qualified to do it. You may not have taken all of the requisite
courses or it may be a more theoretically-aligned project whereas you might be a more
practically-oriented engineering student (or vice versa). Think long and hard before
making your final choice. At the very least, you should take the following steps in
assessing and choosing an appropriate topic.
1. Find out what are your options. A list of projects proposed by academic staff.
Sample projects are given in Annexure 1.
2. Think about proposing your own project. Go through the Project Manuals, old
projects by seniors, IEEE magazines, journals and Internet to find out the best
option. Using the descriptions you have read as a guideline, write your own
proposal. Note, however, that the feasibility and suitability of your proposal will
have to be assessed before it can be added to your list. Submit your proposal to the
4. Go and talk to the supervisors (i.e. the member of staff who proposed the project or
the person nominated by the project coordinator in the case of your own proposal).
5. Submit your final proposal to the Project Coordinator who will have it reviewed
by an appropriate member of staff.
6. Your selections will now be reviewed by the project coordination panel.
7. A list of allocated projects will be published.
8. Now you can begin your project in earnest
3.
Most students have no idea how to begin their project. This is understandable: it is the
first time they will have had to tackle a large amount of work that is probably poorly
defined. To get started, it helps to know the key activities that result in a successful
project. They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
3.1
Problem identification
Requirements elicitation
Problem modeling
System analysis and specification
System design
Module implementation and system integration
System test and evaluation
Documentation
Project management
Problem Identification
Problem Identification involves a lot of background work in the general area of the problem. Normally it
calls for the use of prior experience, typically experience you may not yet have. It requires an ability to
look at a domain and to identify the issue that needs to be addressed and the problem to be solved. It also
required an understanding of the theoretical issues by which we can model the problem. So, the first
thing you need to do in your project is become an expert in the problem at hand: a problem-domain
expert.
Collect any papers, articles, book chapters you can on the area and make a copy for your own
personal archive.
Make sure you keep a full citation index, i.e., you must record exactly where every article you copy
comes from. Typically, you need to record the title of the article, the authors, the name of the
magazine/journal/book, the volume and number of the journal or magazine, and the page numbers.
If its a chapter in a book and the author of the chapter is different from the editor of the book, you
need to record both sets of names.
Requirements Elicitation
3.2
Having chosen your project, you will have in your possession a short description of what is involved in
the project. You will realize by now that this is completely insufficient for you as a basis for doing the
project. Consequently, your next task must be to find out exactly and completely what the project
entails.
Problem Modeling
3.3
Once you know the requirements, and are an expert in the problem domain, you can abstract the
problem from the problem space and model it computationally: this means we can identify the
theoretical tools we need to solve the problem.
3.4
With the requirements document, problem definition, and computational model identified, we can now
say exactly what our system will do and under what circumstances it will do it. This is the system
specification. In writing the specification, you should begin with the requirements document and then
you should identify the following.
The system functionality
The operational parameters (conditions under which your system will operate, including
required software and hardware systems)
Failure modes and actions on failure
Limitations & restrictions
User interface or system interface
It should also include
1.
A functional model. This will usually take the form of a functional decomposition: a
hierarchical breakdown of the major functional blocks involved in the
processing/analysis/transformation. Typically, this will be a modular decomposition of the
computational model. Each leaf node in the functional decomposition tree should have a short
description of the functionality provided, the information (data) input, and the information
(data) output.
2.
A data model. The identification of the major data-structures to be used to represent input,
output, and temporary information. This is sometimes known as a data dictionary. Note that we
are not interested here in the implementation of the data-structures (e.g. linked list, trees,
arrays) but with the identification of the data itself. Very often, it is useful to use entityrelationship diagrams to capture the data model.
3.
A process-flow model. This model specifies what data flows into and out of each functional
block (i.e. into and out of the leaf nodes in the functional decomposition tree). Normally,
data-flow diagrams are used to convey this information, and are organized in several levels
(i.e. DFD level 0, DFD level 1, etc.) The level zero DFD is equivalent to the system
architecture diagram and shows the sources and sinks of information outside your system.
4.
A behavioral model. This will typically use a state-transition diagram to show the behavior of
the system over time, i.e. the different states it can be in, the event and triggers that cause a
change in state, and the functional blocks associated with each state. It is also often useful to
create a control-flow diagram: a version of the data-flow diagram with events and triggers
superimposed on each process.
5.
A clear and detailed definition of all the user and system interfaces; one of the best ways of
encapsulating this information is to create a user-manual.
All this information is collectively known as the system specification and is the result of an
activity know as systems analysis.
3.5
System Design
You are now in a position to design your system using whatever design methodology is appropriate for
the area that said, there are a few general guidelines that apply to all areas:
Identify several design options algorithm, data-structures, files, interface protocols
and compare them.
Analyze your design to ensure it is technically feasible (i.e. validate its realizability).
Remember, you cant always build everything you design, either for theoretical reasons (ideal
filters, for example) or for pragmatic reasons (a 1-Farad capacitor would make for some
interesting implementation problems).
Analyze your design to ensure it meets the specifications (i.e. validate its operational
viability)
Cost your system (i.e. validate its economic viability)
Choose the best design. You will have to define what best means for your particular project.
It might mean the cheapest to manufacture, it might mean the fastest, and it might mean the
smallest it all depends. Its up to you to identify the test for optimality.
3.6
Finally, we are at the point where we can build the hardware and/or write the software. There is not
much to say here since the construction methodologies are so domain specific, even more than in the
case of design. However, there is one small piece of advice which is applicable to all areas: use a
modular construction approach. Dont attempt to build the entire system in one go in the hope that,
when you switch it on or run it, it will work. This is the so-called Big Bang approach (everything comes
into existence at one instant) and its name is very appropriate for it almost always results in initial
chaos. It is much better to build (and test) each component or modular sub-system individually and then
link them or connect them together, again one component at a time.
S.
No
1.
2.
Project
Planning
session
Interview users
Send
questionnaires
Work in the
target
environment
Study analogous
systems
Examine
suggestions and
problem reports
Talk to support
teams
Study
improvements
made by users
Look at
unintended uses
Conduct
workshops
Demonstrate
prototypes to
stakeholders
Try to address
following questions
What tasks
need to be
done to
complete the
project?
When and in
what order
will these
tasks be
done?
Who will do
each task?
What are the
intermediate
deadlines
(e.g., status
reports), and
what will be
done by these
deadlines?
Microsoft
Visio
Microsoft
Gantt
Project
Chart
Network
diagram
Resource
diagram
ModelSphere
StarUML
dotProject
Achievo
3.
Modelling
3.7
State
Chart
diagram
Activity
diagram
Class
diagram
ER
diagram
Data
Flow
Diagram
Rational
Rose
Microsoft
Visio
Eclipse
Open
ModelSphere
StarUML
dzine
Most undergraduate engineers misunderstand the meaning of the word testing. They think it means
showing that something works: their project, for example. But it doesnt. Testing means much more
than this. Certainly, you need to show that it works (i.e. that it meets the requirements and operates
according to the specification), but a good testing strategy also attempts to break the system: to show
not where it works but where it fails. This is sometimes referred to as stress testing. A well-engineered
system will always have been stress-tested: that is, taken beyond the point at which it was expected to
operate to see how it behaves under unexpected circumstances.
3.8
1.
2.
Documentation
So that you can be given credit for it (your final mark depends on it);
So that others can carry on your work and develop or maintain your system.
It is extremely important that you document your work at every stage of your project
3.9
Project Management
Projects requiring the construction of physical models will be allocated dedicated bench- space in the
laboratory. If any other special facilities are required, you should inform the Superintendent
Technician. In choosing electronics components for experiments you should try to make use of
standard components. Orders for specialized components may be submitted to the Project Technicians
if there is no equivalent stock item.
Project Schedule
A project schedule is an indispensable tool: building it forces you into thinking about all the things you
need to do, their inter-relationships, the time each will take, and what each one will be used for. Project
management tools usually represent a finished schedule in one of two ways, a PERT chart and a
GANTT chart
S.No. Task
Duration
Summer Break
Semester VII
Problem
Identification,
explore
innovative ideas
Requirements
gathering,
project planning,
Modelling(Project
Designing &
Architecture of
overall system ),
explore different
tools required,
Implementation,
Testing
and
Documentation
Deliverables
Identification of
topic of project
Evaluation
(tentative dates)
Evaluators
Semester VIII
brushing
knowledge of
language
required
Learning,
tools/frameworks
, designing
overall
architecture of
system, ER
Diagram/UML
diagram etc.
(Refer to table
no. 1)
Last Week of July Midterm:
September
Last
week (7th Sem)
Final : November
Last Week (7th
Sem)
Final
Implementation,
deployment,
testing and
Documentation
Midterm:
First
week of March
(8th Sem)
Final
:
First
week of May (8th
Sem)
Respective
Midterm:
Guides/Academic Respective
Research group
Academic
Research groups
Final: All Faculty
members
Midterm:
Respective
Academic
Research groups
Final: All Faculty
members
4.
During the course of the year, you have to write three reports. These are the Project
Specification, the Interim Progress Report, and the Final Report. These reports are
important for several reasons. First, they are formal components of the assessment
exercise. In other words, they contribute towards the overall mark you will receive
for your work. Second, and equally important, these reports are valuable milestones
for you: they help you focus on achieving concrete outcomes as your project
progresses.
4.1
Project Specification
The first report you have to write is really an extended definition of what the project is
all about. The ultimate goal of this report is to present a clear and explicit definition of
the required system, together with the steps that you will take to realize this system.
The following is an outline of a typical Project Specification Report.
Title Page
Specific Title of the Project
Degree
Author (name and student(s) roll number(s))
Institution
Supervisor
Date
Table of Contents
Section 1.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
Section 2.
2.1
2.2
Section 3.
5.1
5.2
5.3
Section 4.
3.1
3.2
Introduction
Brief summary of the problem being addressed.
Overview of the target domain for the final system (where is it going to be used?)
Overview of the technical area, i.e. background technical and theoretical context.
Summary of the system functionality (what is it going to do?)
Overview of the report: what material will you be covering and how is it arranged?
System Requirements
Required system functionality: focus on the functionality that a user requires
of the system, rather than on how the system will deliver that functionality.
List of criteria that define a successful project: expected outcomes, required
system behavior, and especially performance metrics.
Task Analysis and Schedule of Activities
Task decomposition
Project schedule
Task specification: for each task, identify goals, inputs, outputs, estimated effort and
duration, and task dependencies.
Theoretical Foundations: The Engineering Model
Introduction
Details of theoretical model
Mathematical/computational
model
4.4
4.5
4.6
Section 6.
6.1
6.2
6.3
System Specification
Functionality provided by the system
System interfaces, inputs, and outputs
System models:
Functional decomposition
Entity-Relationships
Data-Flow Model
Behavioral Model - State Transition Diagram
Specification of user interface
Failure modes and action on failure
Target architecture
Project Management
Meetings with supervisor
Major risks and contingency plans
Principal learning outcomes
References
Appendices
Project description from the project list
4. Review of Tasks
Provide a comprehensive review of the status of each task and sub-task, setting
out at least:
The status (not started, on-going, complete, behind schedule, ahead of
schedule );
Problems encountered and identified solutions;
Anticipated problems and possible solutions;
Impact on the project schedule.
5. Summary of Changes to the Specification
List and discuss the changes which have been made to:
System functionality;
Tasks and sub-tasks;
Project schedule.
6. Interim Results
If possible, provide examples of any interim results you have achieved.
7. Short Term Plans
Identify the next steps you will take in the project.
4.3 Final Report
Your final report is a critical part of your project. It defines what you have done and
why you have done it. It is also one of the chief ways that your project is examined and
assessed and it on the basis of the project that you will receive a large proportion of
your marks.
In writing your Final Report, you will need to decide on its structure.
FORMAT FOR PREPARATION OF PROJECT REPORT FOR B.TECH
1.
ARRANGEMENT OF CONTENTS:
The sequence in which the project report material should be arranged and bound should be
as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
2.
The dimension of the project report should be in A4 size. The project report
should be bound using flexible cover of the thick white art paper. The cover should
be printed in black letters and the text for printing should be identical.
3.
PREPARATION FORMAT:
3.1
Cover Page & Title Page A specimen copy of the Cover page & Title page
of the project report are given in Appendix 2.
Bonafide Certificate The Bonafide Certificate shall be in double line spacing
using Font Style Times New Roman and Font Size 14, as per the format in
Appendix 3.
The certificate shall carry the supervisors signature and shall be followed by
the supervisors name, academic designation, department and full address of the
institution where the supervisor has guided the student. The term
SUPERVISOR must be typed in capital letters between the supervisors
name and academic designation.
Acknowledgement - A specimen copy of Title page of certificate is given in
Appendix 4.
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
Abstract Abstract should be one page synopsis of the project report typed
double line spacing, Font Style Times New Roman and Font Size 14.
Table of Contents The table of contents should list all material following it
as well as any material which precedes it. The title page and Bonafide
Certificate will not find a place among the items listed in the Table of Contents
but the page numbers of which are in lower case Roman letters. One and a half
spacing should be adopted for typing the matter under this head. A specimen
copy of the Table of Contents of the project report is given in Appendix 5.
List of Tables The list should use exactly the same captions as they appear
above the tables in the text. One and a half spacing should be adopted for typing
the matter under this head.
List of Figures The list should use exactly the same captions as they appear
below the figures in the text. One and a half spacing should be adopted for
typing the matter under this head.
List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature One and a half spacing
should be adopted or typing the matter under this head. Standard symbols,
abbreviations etc. should be used.
Chapters The chapters may be broadly divided into 3 parts (i) Introductory
chapter, (ii) Chapters developing the main theme of the project work (iii) and
Conclusion.
The main text will be divided into several chapters and each chapter may be further divided into several divisions and
sub-divisions.
1. Introduction
2. Literature review
3. Problem definition and requirement analysis
4. Design and Implementation
5. Testing and deployment
6. Future enhancements
Appendices Appendices are provided to give supplementary information,
which is included in the main text may serve as a distraction and cloud the
central theme.
Appendices shall carry the title of the work reported and the same title
shall be made in the contents page also.
3.10
3.11
above.
REFERENCES
1.
Ariponnammal, S. and Natarajan, S. (1994) Transport Phonomena of
Sm Sel X Asx, Pramana Journal of Physics Vol.42, No.1, pp.421425.
2.
Barnard, R.W. and Kellogg, C. (1980) Applications of Convolution Operators to Problems in
Univalent Function Theory, Michigan Mach, J., Vol.27, pp.8194.
3.
Shin, K.G. and Mckay, N.D. (1984) Open Loop Minimum Time Control of Mechanical
Manipulations and its Applications, Proc.Amer.Contr.Conf., San Diego, CA, pp. 1231-1236.
3.12
Table and figures - By the word Table, is meant tabulated numerical data in
the body of the project report as well as in the appendices. All other non-verbal
materials used in the body of the project work and appendices such as charts,
graphs, maps, photographs and diagrams may be designated as figures.
5.
Projects are assessed according to several criteria and at several points during the
year. This assessment will be based both on your report and on presentations. The
assessment criteria are as follows:
Section
Project Specification
Percentage
of Total
Mark Awarded
(0-100)
Date
5%
* Classification:
80% - 100%
70% - 79%
60% - 69%
50% - 59%
40% - 49%
0% - 39%
Interim Progress
10 %
System Design
15 %
System Implementation
20 %
10 %
10 %
Technical Content
10 %
10 %
10 %
100 %
The project is assessed by both the Project Supervisor and the Second Marker
according to all of the above criteria. You must provide sufficient information in your
project report to allow the Second Marker to make an appropriate assessment. If you
dont provide the information, you cant be awarded marks.
Students may also be required to give a demonstration of their project and they may
also be interviewed by the External Examiner.
APPENDIX 1
List of final year projects offered by Faculty members of CSE/IT for academic year (20122013)
1. Faculty Members: Dr. Kiran Yadav and Ms. Aman Jatain
a. Shortest path algorithms applications in software testing
b. Shortest path algorithms applications in regression testing
c. Social networking websites for special groups
d. Web searching
2. Faculty Member: Mr. N.N.Das
a. Web crawler
b. Search Engine Optimization
3. Faculty Member: Mr. Anil Kumar Mishra
a. Implementation of BOM, PO
b. Software quality metrics using unconventional software development
techniques
4. Faculty Member: Dr. Deepti Gaur
a. Data clustering of micro-array data
b. Data clustering of medical data
5. Faculty Member: Ms. Prachi
a. Simulations of network security protocols
b. Asymmetric and Symmetric cryptosystems
6. Faculty Member: Mr. Hitesh Sharma
a. Database tuning
b. Automated functional testing of components
7. Faculty Member: Ms. Divya Sharma
a. Simulation of on-demand routing protocols
b. Stable routing algorithms
8. Faculty Members: Dr. Latika, Ms. Sumanlata Gautam and Mr. Gaurav Aggarwal
a. Games for children with special needs
b. Speech recognition systems (with Indian languages)
c. Speech-to-text
d. Birdsong analysis
e. Business IT systems
f. Operating system simulations
g. Open source technology
9. Faculty members: Dr. Latika and Divya would be
a. Data mining of source code to predict bugs
b. Automatic conversion of UML diagrams to different kinds of graphs
c. GradeUs: A web application for submission and grading of students
assignments. Interface to faculty and students
APPENDIX 2
(A typical Specimen of Cover Page & Title Page)
<Font Style Times New Roman Bold>
A PROJECT REPORT
<Font Size 14>
Submitted by
BRANCH OF STUDY
<Font Size 14>
ITM UNIVERSITY
<Font Size 16><1.5 line spacing>
APPENDIX 3
(A typical specimen of Bonafide Certificate)
<Font Style Times New Roman>
ITM UNIVERSITY
<Font Style Times New Roman size -18>
BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
<Font Style Times New Roman size -16>
<Font Style Times New Roman size -14>
<<Name>>
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT
<<Name>>
SUPERVISOR
<<Academic Designation>>
<<Department>>
<<Full address of the Dept & University >>
<<Department>>
<<Full address of the Dept & University >>
APPENDIX 4
(A typical specimen of Acknowledgment)
Acknowledgements
<Font Style Times New Roman ,size -16>
<Font Style Times New Roman, Font size 12>
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my project guide NAME OF PROJECT GUIDE
for giving me the opportunity to work on this topic. It would never be possible for us to take this
project to this level without his innovative ideas and his relentless support and encouragement.
Name of Student(s)
(Roll Number)
APPENDIX 5
(A typical specimen of table of contents)
<Font Style Times New Roman>
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER NO.
1.
TITLE
PAGE NO.
ABSTRACT
iii
LIST OF TABLE
xvi
LIST OF FIGURES
xviii
LIST OF SYMBOLS
xxvii
INTRODUCTION
1.1
GENERAL
1.2
.... .........
1.2.1
1.2.2
General
.......
1.2.2.1 General
1.2.3
1.3
8
12
............
19
. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .
25
30
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW
3.
4.
35
5.
45
6.
FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
50