Assessment Information

Assessed Exercises

There are 9 assessed exercises, each building on the previous one. Six of these exercises are categorized as Basic; all groups are expected to complete these during the three laboratory classes, supplemented by independent study if required. These Basic account for 60% of the total module assessment mark.

The remaining three are categorized as Advanced. These serve as extension activities building upon the core exercises and will require additional work outside scheduled laboratory sessions; they account for the remaining 40% of the total assessment mark.

Note

You must complete all the Basic exercises before you can gain credit for any of the Advanced exercises.

The mark weighting for each exercise is provided in Table 1:

Marks Weighting for the Introduction to Arduino Exercises.

Exercise:	Weighting:
Basic: LED Pattern	15%
Basic: IR Sensor Measurement + Graph	10%
Basic: Externally Powered Servo	10%
Basic: DC Motor	10%
Basic: Encoders + Motor	15%
Advanced: PI Control – IR Sensor Distance	15%
Advanced: PI Control – Encoder Position	10%
Advanced: PI Control – IR with Sequence	15%
Total	100%

You will have three scheduled laboratory sessions to complete these exercises. Marking will conclude at the end of the third laboratory session; any exercises not marked before the end of this session will receive a score of zero.

To complete all Basic Exercises exercises, you will likely need to perform additional work outside of scheduled laboratory time. Completing the Advanced may require significant independent study and development outside of lab hours.

This activity is structured sequentially: each exercise builds directly on preceding hardware configurations and software routines. Consequently, you do not need to dismantle your circuits between exercises, enabling efficient, incremental development.

Building the Robot

When assembling the system, you may choose to build the complete circuit upfront or assemble the electrical hardware incrementally as you progress through each exercise module. Detailed instructions for the mechanical and electrical assemblies are provided in the Building the Robot guide.

Suggested Timeline for the Basic Exercises

While there is no rigid progression enforced for these exercises, the following schedule - summarized from the Introduction Timeline -

There is no rigid structure for your progress through these exercises, but the following time plan, (this is a summary of the time plan from the Introduction provides a recommended pace to ensure all Basic Exercises are completed and marked by the GTAs before the end of the third laboratory session.

Suggested timeline to complete the basic exercises, only.

When:	What:
End of session 1	Robot Assembled and LED Pattern Marked
Start of session 2	IR Sensor Measurement and Externally Powered Servo Exercises Prepared
End of session 2	IR Sensor Measurement and Externally Powered Servo completed
Start of session 3	DC Motor and Encoder Exercises Prepared
End of session 3 (Final Session)	All work completed and marked for the basic exercises

If you plan to complete the Advanced Exercises exercises, you will need to progress through the core material faster to ensure all completed advanced tasks are marked by the Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) before the conclusion of the third laboratory session. Any exercises not assessed by the end of this final session will not be evaluated and will forfeit their allotted marks.

Note

You must have completed all Basic Exercises before you can receive credit for any of the Advanced Exercises.

Peer Assessment (BuddyCheck)

There will be a BuddyCheck peer assessment for this module section, accessible via Blackboard. This assessment must be completed prior to the published deadline (details are available on Blackboard). Failure to submit the peer assessment by the deadline will result in an individual penalty: a 10% reduction of your final group mark (applicable only to non-submitting individuals).

All peer assessment submissions—including numerical scores and qualitative written feedback—are individually reviewed by teaching staff. Peer assessments are used solely to identify and address insufficient contribution to group work. Penalties are never applied based on quantitative peer scores alone; rather, scores are evaluated alongside written feedback and laboratory attendance records. (Written comments carry significantly more weight when determining whether a student should be penalized for lack of engagement and contribution.)