AI‑Development Workflow

One of the goals of the project is to help you become comfortable with a modern AI‑augmented engineering workflow. AI tools excel at well‑defined, bounded tasks, but they can produce incorrect or incoherent designs when used without structure or when the problem is underspecified. The key is to treat AI as a collaborator, not an oracle — you provide the architecture and constraints, and the AI helps you refine, implement, and test your ideas.

We will follow a methodology that mirrors what is rapidly becoming standard practice in top hardware and systems companies:

• Plan with AI to explore functionality, clarify requirements, and outline the high‑level architecture.
  AI is especially good at helping you brainstorm design options, compare trade‑offs, and refine your initial concept into a coherent plan.

• Define submodules, interfaces, and the testbench in a structured way.
  This includes specifying message formats, control signals, memory interfaces, and verification strategy.
  AI can help you check for missing pieces, inconsistencies, or unclear assumptions.

• Create an incremental build plan with unit testing.
  Break the design into small, testable steps.
  AI can help you generate scaffolding code, test vectors, and sanity checks as you go.

• Iterate with feedback from the LLM grader.
  Each submission (initial plan, detailed plan, final submission) is evaluated by the LLM grader, which provides structured, rubric‑based feedback.
  This mirrors the iterative review cycles used in real engineering teams.

• Use AI to assist with implementation, not replace your understanding.
  You remain responsible for the correctness of your design.
  AI can help you write RTL, testbenches, and documentation — but only if you give it a clear, well‑structured plan.

This workflow is designed to make you faster, more organized, and more effective as a hardware designer.
By the end of the project, you should feel comfortable using AI as a powerful engineering tool — one that amplifies your abilities rather than substituting for them.

– Get started by going to planning