The first term of senior design consisted of understanding the scope of both the project and the capstone series itself. We gathered details about what the project was and what needed to be included in the (referred to at the time) Tachyon Processor Card. By the end of the term, we had started to settle on the FPGA we would be using and the peripherals associated with it, such as DDR modules and power supplies. Interface definitions, block diagrams, and engineering requirements were in their early phases.
In between Fall 2019 and Winter 2020, we changed the FPGA we were going to use, due to limited documentation and existing schematic work for the planned FPGA. Because of this, we had to re-examine our engineering requirements and interface definitions, to better fit the new FPGA and our scope of the project. Our blocks shifted to pieces of documentation such as schematic work and a detailed user guide, as well as software demos and an enclosure. During this term, we finished our portion of the schematic work for the newly titled Tachyon FPGA Card.
Before Spring term started, it was announced by Oregon State University that due to COVID-19 restrictions, all classes would be taught online, including academic labs. Because of this, the scope of the ECE capstone course changed from producing a system meeting a set of engineering requirements to producing a set of technical documentation detailing the project and next steps to be taken. By the last part of the term, our project was updated on the ECE Showcase website for online viewing.
While we were happy to finish the schematic work for the project, we were not able to test a fabricated version of the project, due to academic labs being delivered online. Due to issues with part sourcing, the power monitoring circuitry on the Tachyon FPGA Card also had to be changed to something more readily available. One of the takeaways from this project would be to expect complications from design and to budget more time around them. Still, we thoroughly enjoyed working on this project, and learned a lot about the design process in industry, and also received valuable schematic capture experience.