491 Senior

Design
Project Plan
--May1604

Mario Perez
Jesus Hernandez
Mukund Choudhary
Jin Cui
Zhihao Liao

Project Adviser:
Professor Gary Tuttle
Professor Nathan Neihart

Team Member:
Jin Cui
Mario Perez
Jesus Hernandez
Mukund Choudhary
Zhihao Liao

Table of Contents
Project Statement ------------------------------------------------------ 4
System Requirement -------------------------------------- --------------4
Projects Requirements ------------------------------------------------4
Assessment of Proposed Solution -------------------------------------- 4
Validation and Acceptance Test ----------------------------------------5
Interface/System Description -------------------------- -------------------6
Technical Approach ----------------------------------------------------- 6
Process Details --------------------------------------------------------- 6
Test Plan -------------------------------------------------------------- 7
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Schedule ------------------------------------------------------- 7
Risks / Feasibility Assessment ---------------------------------------------7
Cost Considerations -----------------------------------------------------8
Market / Literature Survey ------------------------------------------------ 8
Conclusion -------------------------------------------------------------8

Project Statement
FRC Corporation in Mason City, Iowa is our client. They are a supplier of
equipment to various industries. Our project focuses on their antenna
test system that checks whether an antenna is good or not.
The client wants to remove some third party applications to test one of
their antennas. This project involves having both hardware and
software behind it.
Our goal was to explore new technologies that will replace the existing
set up our client currently has. We aim to meet or exceed the outdated
third party setup in existence. With the help of FRC Engineers and our
advisers, we hope to successfully deliver a quality system that can
perform the task at hand.
Our project objective is to follow a carefully scheduled timeline to
achieve our goal successfully. With the help of the client and our
advisers we aim to bring the current process to be in-house
engineered. With this achievement completed, our client will own the
process hardware and software instead of third parties.
Our criteria for success is to maintain an open line of communication
with all involved. By attacking the problem piece by piece the goal can
be achieved. The logical workings of the system our client currently
has can be replaced by newer and more efficient components and
software.
Avionic components is an area where our client excels, they are doing
a great job so far of teaching us the purpose of their product and
system to be replaced. We have great advisers that are well read in the
area we need help. We bring the knowledge of new components,
electrical system analysis and lots of hard work. We are very pleased
to be part of this team and are eager to see this through successfully.
Potential risks and obstacles in this project are mainly the physical
distance between us and our client and the little knowledge of the
avionic components. Both of these can be minimized or eliminated
thanks to communication via Skype and learning more from our client
about their knowledge of their products.

System Requirements
Projects requirements
There are several project requirements that our client wants us to
meet. In one of the documents that our client sent us, the following
requirements were stated:

To conduct a Feasibility Study & Design of a state-of-the-art

Automated Test System (ATS) for the Functional and Environmental
Stress Screening (ESS) of the AH-4500 Direction Finding Antenna
(DFA)

To provide documentation that discuss possible solutions and

design alternatives.

To

use

readily

available

Data

Acquisition/Switch

Systems,

measurement/test equipment and open source software platform

to design and develop a state-of-the-art ATS to replace the legacy
system using the same ESS chamber.

To maintain existing test requirements and logic as much as

possible.

To provide relevant engineering drawings and documentation.

To provide software source code and documentation.

To provide a bill of material.

Assessment of proposed solution

There are seven requirements that our client asked us to meet.
Starting with the first requirement: Our current proposed solution is to
obtain the National Instruments data acquisition system to receive the
signals from the antennas. A signal analyzer will then analyze the
signal output of the antennas and then compare the signals sent out to
reference signals of an antenna that is working within the specified

range of error. The set-up will be connected to a computer and National

LabVIEW software will be able to give the user information pertinent of
the antennas condition (pass or fail) during the test. Some of the
strengths of this solution will be: A large amount of documentation
and software instructions that we will be able to provide. A weakness
of this solution is the price tag that will come from acquiring some of
the components. However, the cost is within our budget. Since this is
the only option that our client gave us, then there is no trade of
between solutions.

Validation and Acceptance Test

There are several requirements that require testing to confirm that
they work. The feasibility test is one of them. With the help of our
advisors we will determine if it is even feasible if this is a reasonable
solution that can be accomplished. The other piece of work that we
need to confirm that works is the final product, which will be confirmed
that works.
Our project involves replacing some of the devices being used in the
testing of antennas in a test chamber. Our objective is to build a
system to replace the current control and receiver system that exists in
the companys current test system. The receiver that is currently used
is bought from a third party and the client would like us to initially
propose an alternative and the eventually build and test it. The
company that we are working for has claimed that they already have a
test plan in place but would like to hear from us to see what we come
up with incase what we have is better that what they have. In the case
that what we have is better than what they have, the test set-up plan
that we use is going to be the one that we design. We are currently
working on finishing our proposed plan to present it to the client.
The company is currently using is a system in which a signal is
generated and then sent to the antenna from where it is then
transmitted to the receiver and the job of the receiver is to compare
the two signals that are sent to it and see if the two systems match
with each other or if they dont. One or our aims for the replacement is
to create a system that does the exact same thing as the current
system but also tells the user what the error in the signals is. Such a
setup would enable the company to save a lot of time and increase the
efficiency of the company.

Interface/System Description
Technical Approach:
Our initial task was to understand the current receiver and signal
testing system and propose an alternative that would replace the
current system but include additional features. Currently we have
finished understanding the current system. We have a proposed
replacement. The client will look at it and compare it to their solution
and see which one is better. Once that is done we start implementing
the solution. We intend to propose a computer interface that will
enable the client to see the results of the tested antennas and the
errors, if any, on a computer.

Process Detail:
The current process of the test set-up that they have operated in the
way that a signal generator generates a signal that is then sent to an
antenna and that antenna then transmits that signal that is sent to it
and a receiver is that placed in the test system that then receives the
signal that is sent from the antenna and then compares that signal to
that signal that was sent to the antenna to transmit to the receiver.
The receiver comparing system that the company that we are currently
working for is called a black-box by the company. This black-box that
the company uses is currently bought from another company and the
company that we are working for would like to see it gone.
Our entire goal throughout this project is to build a system that does
the same job that this transmitter does and works as an alternative to
the black box. The system that we will replace the current system will
receive the signal that the antenna sends and then send it to a
computer on which we should have NI LabVIEW software running. The
software will have the job of comparing the signal sent and the signal
received and spot how much change has occurred in it. The software
will also have to be able to spot the error that has occurred. Essentially
what the software that we are writing will be doing is what the receiver
has been doing till now.

Test Plan:
Unit Testing
We plan to test all the components that we purchase, and test if there
is any malfunction or compatibility issue.
Integration Testing
Connect the equipment to the antenna circuit that we built and test the
signal that comes out of the antenna. We plan to how the signal is
processing analyzed.
System Testing
Hand the new testing system to our client and use it to conduct a test
with the 24 antennas.

Work Breakdown Structure

Project Schedule
This semester we analyzed the current system, built up a replica of
that system to obtain the signals out of it and built a feasibility report
about a potential replacement for the antenna test system. Next
semester we should have all the components that we need to purchase
and we will then build, program and test the system.

Risks/Feasibility Assessment
Risks are still being considered but nothing major has come up to the
table worth mentioning.
Feasibility assessment is a project we have finished. We will soon give
a feasibility report to the client.

Cost Considerations
The client has given us a budget of $20,000 to buy potential parts. our
total expected costs for the new system will be $18,000 including
maintenance budget.
Market/Literature Survey
Other manufacturers are sure to have their own proprietary system.
Being that it is a high profile system, we cannot go about hoping other
companies will disclose this information.

Conclusion
We feel confident in our team abilities to successfully deliver the
objective in a timely fashion. With communication and a well-designed
plan we can tackle issues as they appear as we move forward. We look
forward to making this project a success.