Electronic Instrumentation Course Information

Fall 2005

Last Updated 27 August 2005
The syllabus for last semester offers a guide for what you can expect this term.

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

MATH-2400: Differential Equations and PHYS-1200/1260: PHYSICS II are the formal prerequisites for this course.
We also use concepts from most required math courses, physics courses, and basic engineering courses.

Topics

Instrumentation Methodology
Analog Electronics
Sensors
Analog/Digital Transitional Electronics
Digital Electronics

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 in to 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

Standard Texts
The Essence of Analog Electronics by Colin Lunn of Southbank University (England).
Lunn is a smaller book intended for students studying electronics for the first time. It is available at the RPI bookstore or from several online stores for less than $25. It does a relatively good job with basic circuits and op-amps, but has no in formation on digital electronics.
Supplementary Material
1. Electronics class notes by D.M. Gingrich of the University of Alberta Physics Department
The class notes by Gingrich are an excellent source of online supplementary material.
2. Additional Online Supplementary Material
Additional links for each experiment and project are located on the links page.
Software
OrCad Capture/PSpice Student Version 9.1
One of the most important tools we will be using in this class is the circuit analysis software from OrCAD -- Capture for schematic capture and PSpice for analysis. Both programs are available for free download directly from OrCAD or you can order a free copy of the demo CD at the same site.
Electronics Kit
All students are required to purchase a kit consisting of electronic components, a protoboard, some tools and a storage box. These kits are available in the studio for a cost of around $50. Please check out the parts list to be sure your kit is complete when you receive it. You MUST buy at least one kit per group. You will find, however, that one kit may not be enough to complete all the experiments in a timely manner. Two kits are strongly recommended. After the first experiment, all groups that do not have a kit will no longer be given grades for experiments they hand in. You may use a kit from a previous semester as your second kit, provided it is well stocked. Your instructor can verify this for you.
Recommended text
The Art of Electronics by Horowitz and Hill.
This is an outstanding book on the practical use of electronics that we recommend as an additional reference. It is probably the best source available for practical electronics advice and information. It also has some good introductory material on circuit analysis, op-amps and digital electronics.
Additional texts
There are several additional books that cover many more subjects than we do, but do have most of the background information needed to do the homework, experiments and projects. They are available from online bookstores and are relatively expensive. If you want to order one, but would like to look them over first, copies are available.
(1) Electrical Concepts and Applications by Boctor, Ryff, Hiscocks, Ghorab and Holmes of Ryerson Polytechnic University (Toronto) is written for nonelectric al engineering students.
(2) Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering by Leonard Bobrow of UMass is intended for a first course in electrical engineering.

Check Weekly Schedule For Suggested Reading

Graded Work

4 Quizzes (30%) There will be one quiz on each of the four main topics of the course. All Quizzes will be closed book, but students will be given a 8.5" x 11" crib sheet. Specific topics to be addressed on each quiz will be announced at least one week before the quiz date. Check the syllabus for last semester to see the kind of questions you can expect to see on the quizzes.

8 Homeworks (10%) -- All homework assignments are on webct. There are eight homeworks graded out of 15 points each; one for each experiment. They are generally due a few days before the experiment is due. For the exact dates, check webct or your class schedule. You have three chances to take the homework. If you miss the due date, you will have two chances to get a maximum score of 12 points in three days time. If you miss this deadline, you will still be able to take the homework for a maximum score of 7.5 points. The answers will be posted on webct.

8 Experiments (30%) Experiment grades consists of 80 points for the group write up and 20 points for individual participation for a total of 100 points.

Experiment write up (80 points) Experiment write ups are not supposed to be a formal report. They should include the following:

Include the plots required for each section
Answer the questions for each section
Include a summary of key points
Discuss mistakes and problems
List member responsibilities

Participation (20 points) 20 out of 100 points of your grade will be based on class attendance and participation. You will earn 20 points for each experiment if you are in attendance and doing your share. You can make up class time missed during open shop and give the following form to your instructor: makeup.pdf.

Late Penalty -- For full credit,the write-up must be be turned in on the due date. This is the date listed below and on the course calendar unless you are informed otherwise in class. The late penalty for experiment write up is as follows: For each school day late (weekends and vacations are not counted): 1 point per day for the first two days, 2 points per day for the next three days, 3 points per day for the next four days, and so forth. Thus, if the report is handed in 5 days late, the penalty is 8 points. Please note that there are, at most, 5 school days per week.
4 Design Projects (25%) Please check each project write up for specific instructions.
- Project Reports (80 points) -- The general issues to be addressed in each report include (but are not necessarily limited to) the following. Please note that the guidelines and exact point breakdown are somewhat different for each project.
  - Introduction: Introduce and describe the goals of the project. Usually, you will be asked to list at least two issues from the course that have an impact on the project.
  - Background and Theory: Describe the theoretical background you need to understand the experiment.
  - Initial Design: Describe the initial project design. This is often given to you. Develop a plan for building and testing the design. Discuss implementation problems. Present initial design results.
  - Final Design: Describe the changes you made for your final design. Present final design results. Discuss implementation problems.
  - Conclusions: Compare results for initial and final designs.
  - Personal Responsibilities: Discuss how you divided up the tasks.
  - Appendices: Supporting graphs, data, calculations, simulations, etc. and a list of references.
  - Extra Credit: All projects have some opportunity to gain extra credit.
- Participation (20 points): Participation will be awarded in a similar manner to the experiments.
- Late Penalty -- The Design Project Reports are due on the dates indicated on the course calendar. If they are handed in late, a penalty will be applied in a similar manner to the experiments.
Overall Class Participation (5%) -- Five percent of your grade will be based on participation. This will include class attendance, your active participation during class, and a fair contribution to writeups. This assessment will be based on the observances of the TA's, the instructors and your fellow students. More information about attendance and participation is available here.

Weekly Schedule
Week One: Experiment 1 -- Signals, Instrumentation, Basic Circuits, and Capture/PSpice
- Experiment 1 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp1.
- Reading Assignment: Read Lunn Chapter 1 (all sections) and Chapter 2 (sections 2.3 and 2.4)
- Also practice simple electronic problems in unit 11 at: http://www.physics.cornell.edu/courses/p101-102/demo/
- Download Equipment Emulator and install on your laptop.
- Download Capture/PSpice and install on your laptop.
Week Two: Experiment 2 -- Complex Impedance, Filters, and Steady State Analysis
- Monday Holiday -- No Class
- Experiment 2 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp2.
- Homework 1 on WEBCT due Friday
- Reading Assignment: AC Steady State Handout
- Also read Gingrich Notes on AC Circuits : http://www.phys.ualberta.ca/~gingrich/phys395/notes/node20.html
Week Three: Experiment 3 -- Inductors and Transformers
- Experiment 3 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp3.
- Experiment 1 due Monday
- Homework 2 on WEBCT due Friday
- Reading Assignment: Lunn Chapter 2 (section 2.1) and Chapter 7 (section 7.15.1)
- Also look at Faraday Inductance Experiment 1 : http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/faraday/
  and Transformer Circuit Applet : http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/transformer/
Week Four: Project 1 -- Instrumented Beakman's Motor
- Project 1 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Proj1.
- Experiment 2 due Monday
- Homework 3 on WEBCT due Friday
Week Five: QUIZ 1 and Experiment 4 -- Harmonic Oscillators
- Review for Quiz 1 on Monday
- Quiz 1 on Wednesday
- Experiment 4 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp4.
- Experiment 3 due Monday
- No homework due this week
- Reading Assignment: Sections 3.8 and 3.9 in Boyce and DiPrima (differential equations text)
- Also review oscillation at : http://pathfinder.esu2.org/java/physics/physengl/pendulum.htm
- Read about bridge circuits at: http://civil.colorado.edu/courseware/struct_labs/wheatstone.html
Week Six: Experiment 5 -- Operational Amplifiers
- Experiment 5 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp5.
- Project 1 due Thursday
- Homework 4 on WEBCT due Friday
- Reading Assignment: Lunn Chapter 3 (all sections) and Chapter 4 (sections 4.3 to 4.6)
Week Seven: Project 2 -- A Beam Model for Harmonic Oscillation
- No Class on Monday
- MONDAY CLASS ON TUESDAY
- Project 2 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Proj2.
- Experiment 4 due TUESDAY
- Homework 5 on WEBCT due Friday
Week Eight: QUIZ 2
- Review for Quiz 2 on Monday
- Quiz 2 on Wednesday
- Experiment 5 due Monday
- No homework due this week
Week Nine: Experiment 6 -- Electronic Switches and the 555-Timer
- Experiment 6 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp6.
- No homework due this week
- Reading Assignment: Lunn Chapter 6 (sections 6.1 and 6.5) and Chapter 8 (sections 8.1 to 8.8)
- Read 555 Timer data sheet: http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LM555.pdf
Week Ten: Experiment 7 -- Digital Logic
- Experiment 7 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp7.
- Project 2 due Thursday
- Homework 6 on WEBCT due Friday
- Reading Assignment: Gingrich on Digital Electronics : http://www.phys.ualberta.ca/~gingrich/phys395/notes/node117.html
Week Eleven: Project 3 -- Digital Circuits Project
- Project 3 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Proj3.
- Experiment 6 due Monday
- Homework 7 on WEBCT due Friday
Week Twelve: QUIZ 3
- Review for Quiz 3 on Monday
- Quiz 3 on Wednesday
- Experiment 7 due Monday
- No homework due this week
Week Thirteen: Experiment 8 -- Using Diodes to Limit, Rectify and Regulate Signals
- Experiment 8 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Exp8.
- Project 3 due Monday
- Thanksgiving Break -- No Class Wednesday and Thursday
- Reading Assignment: Read Lunn Chapter7 (sections 7.1 to 7.10 and 7.13 to 7.16.6)
- Also look at LED's and Photodiodes
Week Fourteen: Project 4 -- Optical Communications Link
- Project 4 handout, power point notes, and other links: http://hibp.ecse.rpi.edu/~connor/education/EILinks.html#Proj4.
- Homework 8 on WEBCT due Friday
Week Fifteen: QUIZ 4
- Review for Quiz 4 on Wednesday
- Quiz 4 on Thursday
- Experiment 8 due Monday
- Project 4 due Thursday
- There is NO FINAL in this course
Printable Calendar

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