Electronic Instrumentation Course Information

Spring 2008


Last Updated January 2008
The syllabus for last semester offers a guide for what you can expect this term.


Topics | Activities | References | Graded Work | Weekly Schedule

 

EI Home Page | Calendar | Links by Experiment | Information about Quizzes


ENGR-4300
Electronic Instrumentation

Goals

Provide engineering and science students with practical, hands-on experience in the application of electronic instrumentation methodology (modeling, analysis and design) and tools (sensors, instruments, basic electronic hardware and simulation software). Course pedagogy is primarily discovery-based.

 

Background

 

Topics

 

Studio Activities

This is a studio course and, thus, it combines lectures, problem solving, simulation, laboratory experiments, and laboratory projects in the same classroom and timeslots. We meet for a total of 6 hours each week. Each class meeting will be divided up into activities (lecture, lab, etc.) that will last anywhere from 10 minutes to the entire class period. Homework problems, lab experiments, project reports, etc. will still have particular due dates, which will be listed in the calendar below.

 

Class Materials

Check Weekly Schedule For Suggested Reading

 

Graded Work

 

 

 

Weekly Schedule

Week One: Experiment 1 -- Signals, Instrumentation, Basic Circuits, and Capture/PSpice


Week Two: Experiment 2 -- Complex Impedance, Filters, and Steady State Analysis


Week Three: Experiment 3 -- Inductors and Transformers


Week Four: Project 1 -- Instrumented Beakman's Motor


Week Five: QUIZ 1 [Sp’08 room conflict-postponed 1 week] and Experiment 4 -- Operational Amplifiers


Week Six: Experiment 5 -- Harmonic Oscillators


Week Seven: Project 2 -- A Beam Model for Harmonic Oscillation


Week Eight: QUIZ 2


SPRING BREAK


Week Nine: Experiment 6 -- Electronic Switches


Week Ten: Experiment 7 -- Digital Logic and the 555-Timer


Week Eleven: Project 3 -- Digital Circuits Project


Week Twelve: QUIZ 3


Week Thirteen: Experiment 8 -- Using Diodes to Limit, Rectify and Regulate Signals


Week Fourteen: QUIZ 4


Week Fifteen: Project 4 -- Optical Communications Link


Week Sixteen:  (FINALS WEEK)

 

Academic Integrity

Academic dishonesty is a very serious matter, and we suggest that you read the remainder of this statement carefully:

Student-teacher relationships are built upon trust. For example, students must trust that teachers have made appropriate decisions about the structure and content of the courses they teach, and teachers must trust that the assignments, which students turn in, are their own. Acts which violate this trust undermine the educational process.

The Rensselaer Handbook defines various forms of Academic Dishonesty and procedures for responding to them. All forms are violations of the trust between students and teachers. Students should familiarize themselves with this portion of the Rensselaer Handbook and should note that the penalties for plagiarism and other forms of cheating can be quite harsh.

Any portion of work handed in that is not your own, should cite the author. Just as you would not write a history paper by copying text from the encyclopedia, you should not take credit for another person's engineering work. Reference should also be made to any personal communications you have had with anyone outside your group that contributed substantially to the successful completion of an assignment. (Please read the IEEE Code of Ethics, especially item number 7. http://www.ieee.org/web/membership/ethics/code_ethics.html The ASME has a similar code. http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Governance/3675.pdf)

Collaboration on assignments is encouraged, in fact essential, between lab partners. However, having one partner always work on hardware aspects and the other on the software or data analysis or report writing will be detrimental to all partners. All partners should understand and participate in all aspects of the lab exercises in order to learn the necessary topics addressed in lab write-ups and covered on the exams. While you may discuss your classwork with anyone, collaboration on assignments is not allowed between lab groups, either within or between lab sections. Turning in similar out-of-class assignments, which suggest that copying (in part or in total) has taken place, will be considered as academic dishonesty.

Cheating on an exam will be considered as academic dishonesty and will result in a failing grade for the course.

At all times, we reserve the right to take formal action against anyone engaging in academic dishonesty. This action may range from failing an assignment to failing the course, or to being reported to the Dean of Students. If you have any questions about these rules or how they apply to any specific assignment or exam, discuss it with one of the instructors or course administrators.

 


Printable Calendar


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