The assignment should be your own work and written in your own words (1500 words + relevant material in Appendices). It will be checked for plagiarism using Turnitin. Any plagiarism or copying from others will be dealt with through the university’s plagiarism procedures.
Your assignment must be submitted electronically via BlackBoard (Assignments tab) by the submission time. The report should be contained in a Word document, or PDF. No other means of submission will be accepted. The software code will be submitted independently. Any assignment submitted late but within 5 working days of the deadline will be given a maximum mark of 50%. Assignments submitted more than 5 working days after the deadline will not be marked, and a mark of 0% will be recorded.
Learning Outcome to be assessed:
1 Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of sensors and transducers typically encountered in engineering applications
2 Understand critically the practical aspects of sensor use and type
3 Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the principles of instrumentation and measurement systems
4 Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding in the devise of an appropriate and effective strategy for processing data; virtual instrumentation and virtual simulation
“Modern Car Technologies (ModTech)” is a system engineering company active in developing advanced systems for car manufacturing companies. You, as a “System Engineer” in ModTech, have been asked to design a “Vehicle Collision Avoidance System (VCAS)”. This system is a technology used to help drivers to avoid a crash. It can also help to reduce the intensity of an accident. By using various kinds of sensors including radar, laser (LIDAR), and cameras, a VCAS system can detect moving dangers in front and side, fixed dangers, and pedestrians to avoid a crash. VCAS includes several sub-systems including forward avoidance collision system, early approaches collision avoidance system, alarm system, autonomous emergency braking system, automated lane keeping system, etc.
Provide a technical report that contains the following:
1- A review of different VCAS systems currently in use or proposed in the literature. The review needs to be supported by good references including publications (journal and conference papers, books), data sheets, etc. The review should include the VCAS systems, sub-systems, advantages and disadvantages, technologies, and elements.
2- A design of a VCAS system that incorporates at least two main sub-systems. The system design should include the system controller, sensors, and any other elements required for the system operation. The design should be compatible with the data communication system used in automobiles and automotive standards.
3- A proof of concept of one of the subsystems discussed in (2).
4- Validation of the operation of the subsystem developed in (3) and comment on the results.
5- Proposal for the next phases of development to include:
A- The use of an advanced controller instead of the current one (Support your proposal with references).
B- The use of other methods of data transmissions such as wireless and Internet of Things
Assessment Criteria
The Department’s Principles of Assessment will be used to determine grading levels.
1 A review of different VCAS systems and sub-systems including their main elements.
2 A design of a typical VCAS system that incorporates at least two subsystems. The system design should include DAQ/ microcontroller and any other required elements for VCAS operation.
3 Select one of the subsystems discussed in (2) and develop a proof of concept.
4 Validate the operation of the subStudents have to choose a business topic to research, develop a proposal to explain why the project is of interest, and explain how they plan to conduct their research. The information below provides more details about the task.
The business environment in the UK and internationally is constantly changing. Factors such as globalisation, impact of Covid-19 global pandemic, advances in technology, innovation, emphasis on ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR), changing consumer behaviour, changes in the financial sector, new demands for renewable energy, limited resources, disruption in global value chains, BREXIT and geopolitical conflicts etc are fundamentally affecting how businesses operate. To understand how these factors affect business it is often necessary to do research. Your task in this assessment is to conduct research on an area of business and management context. Section 2.2 below identifies a number of areas you may wish to consider.
There are several broad areas from which you can choose a topic for your research project. This means that you will have to focus on a specific aspect of the business and/or management area you have chosen for your research. Your specific topic will have to be agreed by your tutor/supervisor. It is therefore important to do preliminary reading early on to identify a particular area of interest and choose a topic that you are confident you will be able to find sufficient secondary sources to conduct a literature review.
In choosing your topic you should bear in mind the following:
- Undergraduate students have different strengths and preferences in their approach to collating and evaluating research evidence. For the Business Research Project, you have an opportunity to choose from various primary and/or secondary data collection methods. Whichever method you opt for, a critical approach to the topic will be required.
- Conducting primary or secondary research both present challenges. You will opportunities to discuss the research process, including the strengths and challenges of both primary and secondary research design, approaches, methodologies and appropriate methods for data collection and data analysis in the lectures and seminars with your tutor/supervisor, and in group discussions.
- If you are planning to carry out primary research, you should choose a topic that will enable you to collect data from participants/respondents using methods such as questionnaire survey, interviews, document analyses, participant observation, focus groups etc. The chosen topic should be of interest to you and ensure that you can easily identify relevant literature from secondary (existing) sources to enable you to do a thorough literature review. You will get opportunities to discuss this researchrelated terminology in the module including some guidance on how to access sources of relevant information from books, journals, business reports and several online databases and library resources.
Business areas
Broad areas you could consider for the generation of a more specific topic are, for example:
- The financial services sector (e.g. discuss the dominance of the ‘Big Four’ retail banks in the UK and efforts to make account-switching easier)
- The changing face of retail (e.g. discuss the challenges faced by the major supermarkets from new entrants such as the discounters)
- Technology as a driver of change (e.g. how has technology disrupted industries such as accommodation (Airbnb), taxis (Uber) and others
- Ethics and the supply chain (e.g. are consumers influenced by Fairtrade groceries and sustainable businesses like the People’s Supermarket or companies known to pollute the environment and treat workers badly?)
You may have an alternative area in mind for your research. If you would like to research an area not covered above, please discuss this with your supervisor/tutor or your module leader.
Teaching contact hours
There is a total of 25 teaching contact hours for the Business Research Project. These are delivered through a number of ways:
Lectures - will provide a broad outline structure for each topic to be covered. Lectures offer a good way of covering a lot of information and, more importantly, of conveying ideas to many people at once.
Seminars - will enable students to solve problems within their private study time and present their solution to the seminar group. It will enable students to explore further the topics introduced in the
lecture.
Learning sets – will provide students with the opportunity to develop their own research ideas (initiated through the lecture and seminar input) in a group environment, thereby allowing peer input and review.
Individual supervision – will provide students with the opportunity to work on a one-to-one basis with their allocated supervisor.
This item of assessment covers the following learning outcomes. For the full list of learning outcomes for the module, please refer to the Module Specification.
- Understand the philosophical / theoretical concepts alongside practical issues of research method choice and design.
- Develop knowledge of data collection, synthesis, evaluation, critical analysis and representation of both qualitative and quantitative data.
- Produce a proposal on an identifiable business research problem based on a feasible research question.
- Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of alternative research designs and how best to execute a basic research project.
The rationale explains your reason for selecting the area of research and why you find it interesting and relevant. You may expand this by paying attention to some of these questions:
o What is the problem and why is it important to carry out research about the chosen topic?
o What specifically are you focusing on in your investigation? Why the chosen research area is of interest and what are the current issues, challenges or opportunities for research?
o What is already known about the topic, and any gaps?
o Some highlights of the research methods to be applied, sources of data and any other relevant background details can also be included in your introductory section.
The research aim and objectives are part of the key terms of reference to be included in this first chapter. These are normally linked to the research question as statements that should clearly explain what you want to achieve and how?
A research aim is a statement about the general intention of the research: what you intend to achieve or address in your research project. It is likely that you will have just one aim for a project of this size.
o What is the main purpose of the study?
o Clearly state what specifically will be done with clear link to your research question or topic
o For example, if your research question is ‘What factors affect X?’ Your research aim might be ‘to identify and critically analyse the factors that affect X’.
o The aim of this research is to critically analyse the influence of online banking platforms on consumers’ banking behaviour in London. system developed in (3) and comment on the result.
Proposal for the next phases of development to include the use of an advanced controller instead of the current one (Support your proposal with references).
Proposal for the next phases of development to include the use of industrial networks of data transmissions; wireless transmission and Internet of Things.
