ENPH 253 – Introduction to Instrument Design

ENPH 253 is a course that was designed by Engineering Physics (ENPH) director Dr. Andre Marziali and project lab director Dr. Jon Nakane for 2nd year ENPH students.  The goal was to give students an environment to be able to design and build a robot in a 6-week time-frame.  The bulk of the prototyping and fabrication knowledge comes from either personal experience or personal research during the term and the students are given access to the same equipment as a real engineering shop (laser cutter, water jet cutter, etc.).

From the ENPH 253 Website:

UBC Engineering Physics is an intense, five-year undergraduate engineering / physics / math combined major tailored for students who want to work at the new leading edge of science and engineering, whether in industry or academia. Part of this program is a series of project-based courses to educate students in the practice of engineering and applied physics. Introduction to Instrument Design is one of these courses, taken by our second-year (sophomore) students. Its goal is to train students in the practical aspects of intelligent instrument design and construction, including electrical and mechanical design, prototyping, microcontrollers, sensors, actuators, motion control, and control theory.

To offset the intensity and difficulty of the course, the engineering content to be tackled by the students has been framed in the context of an autonomous robot competition. Each year students spend six weeks in a series of labs and lectures to learn some basic elements of electromechanical design, and then form teams of four to embark on seven weeks of full-time robot design and construction. Time commitment during this phase is at the students’ discretion but often reaches 50 – 70 hrs/week. The course culminates in a publicly attended robot competition that also serves as the final exam. Past competitions have included one-on-one hockey, volleyball, and search and rescue challenges.