【正文】 develop a custom temperature control system to replace the Omega system. The motivation was that a custom controller targeted specifically for the application should be able to achieve the same functionality at a much lower cost, as the Omega system is unnecessarily versatile and equipped to handle a wide variety of applications.The mechanical layout of the slide dryer prototype is shown in Figure 1. The main element of the dryer is a large, insulated, airfilled chamber in which microscope slides, each with a tissue sample encased in paraffin, can be set on caddies. In order that the paraffin maintain the proper consistency, the temperature in the slide chamber must be maintained at a desired (constant) temperature. A second chamber (the electronics enclosure) houses a resistive heater and the temperature controller, and a fan mounted on the end of the dryer blows air across the heater, carrying heat into the slide chamber. This design project was carried out during academic year 1996–97 by four students under the author’s supervision as a Senior Design project in the Department of Engineering Science at Trinity University. The purpose of this paper isto describe the problem and the students’ solution in some detail, and to discuss some of the pedagogical opportunities offered by an interdisciplinary design project of this type. The students’ own report was presented at the 1997 National Conference on Undergraduate Research [1]. Section 2 gives a more detailed statement of the problem, including performance specifications, and Section 3 describes the students’ design. Section 4 makes up the bulk of the paper, and discusses in some detail several aspects of the design process which offer unique pedagogical opportunities. Finally, Section 5 offers some conclusions.2 Problem StatementThe basic idea of the project is to replace the relevant parts of the functionality of an Omega CN390 temperature controller using a customdesigned system. The application dictates that temperature settings are usually kept constant for long periods of time, but it’s nonetheless important that step changes be tracked in a “reasonable” manner. Thus the main requirements boil down toallowing a chamber temperature setpoint to be entered,tracking step changes in setpoint temperature with acceptable rise time, steadystate error, and overshoot.Although not explicitly a part of the specifications in Table 1, it was clear that the customer desired digital displays of setpoint and actual temperatures, and that setpoint temperature entry should be digital as well (as opposed to, say, through a potentiometer setting).3 System DesignThe requirements for digital temperature displays and setpoint entry alone are enough to dictate that a microcontrollerbased design is likely the most appropriate. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of the students’ design. The microcontroller, a MotorolaMC68HC705B16 (6805 for short), is the heart of the system. It accepts inputs from a simple fourkey keypad which allow specification of the setpoint temperature, and it displays both setpoint and measured chamber temperatures using twodigit sevensegment LED displays controlled by a display driver. All these inputs and outputs are acmodated by parallel ports on the 6805. Chamber temperature is sensed using a precalibrated thermistor and input via one of the 6805’s analogtodigital inputs. Finally, a pulsewidth modulation (PWM) output on the 6805 is used to drive a relay which switches line power to the resistive heater off and on.Figure 3 shows a more detailed schematic of the electronics and their interfacing to the 6805. The keypad, a Storm 3K041103, has four keys which are interfaced to pins PA0{ PA3 of Port A, configured as inputs. One key functions as a mode switch. Two modes are supported: set mode and run mode. In set mode two of the other keys are used to specify the setpoint temperature: one increments it and one decrements. The fourth key is unused at present. The LED displays are driven by a Harris Semiconductor ICM7212 display driver interfaced to pins PB0{PB6 of Port B, configured as outputs. The temperaturesensing thermistor drives, through a voltage divider, pin AN0 (one of eight analog inputs). Finally, pin PLMA (one of two PWM outputs) drives the heater relay.Software on the 6805 implements the temperature control algorithm, maintains the temperature displays, and alters the setpoint in response to keypad inputs. Because it is not plete at this writing, software will not be discussed in detail in this paper. The control algorithm in particular has not been determined, but it is likely to be a simple proportional controller and certainly not more plex than a PID. Some control design issues will be discu