Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3220

Developing Computer-Based Laboratory Instruments in a New Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Program

David M. Beams University of Texas at Tyler

ABSTRACT: The Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Texas at Tyler has developed several computer-based laboratory instruments (CLIs) consisting of LabVIEW virtual- instrument programs coupled with custom external hardware and has integrated their use into the undergraduate curriculum. Semiconductor curve tracers for diodes, JFETs, MOSFETs, and bipolar transistors have been incorporated into EENG 3406 (Electronic Circuit Analysis I). Project TUNA (Texas Universal Network Analyzer), a CLI which characterizes the frequency response (magnitude and phase) of linear networks over a frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 kHz was designed as a class project in 1999 in EENG 4409 (Electronic Circuit Analysis II). A grant was received from the National Science Foundation in February, 2000, to support the development and curricular integration of additional CLIs, two of which are described in this paper. The first measures electrical characteristics of operational amplifiers (input-offset voltage, input-bias currents, dc open loop gain, and ac open- loop gain at 1 kHz and 10 kHz). It has been designed, constructed in prototype form, and integrated into EENG 4409. The second instrument under development is a general-purpose workbench for teaching about instrumentation systems. This paper presents developments to date, describes curricular use of the instruments, and gives an overview of the expected path of the second year of this project.

Prior developments in instructional computer-based laboratory instrumentation

The use of virtual instrumentation in the undergraduate curriculum is well-documented; the National Science Foundation has funded a number of efforts in this regard.1–5 Development of instructional computer-based laboratory instruments (CLIs) has taken place at the University of Texas at Tyler since its College of Engineering opened in 1997. A series of CLIs have been developed for tracing the I-V curves of semiconductor devices (p- n junction diodes, NPN and PNP small- signal bipolar transistors, and n-channel JFETs and MOSFETs). These have been previously described.6 Project TUNA, a CLI which measures sinusoidal steady-state response of linear networks, was designed, constructed in prototype form, and tested as a class project in the spring semester of 1999 in EENG 4409 (Electronic Circuit Analysis II). A description of Project TUNA has been published.7 On-line documentation of Project TUNA is available at http://www.eng.uttyl.edu/usr/dbeams/home/project_page.htm. Each of these CLIs has been incorporated into the curriculum. The curve tracers are used as primary teaching tools in EENG 3406 (Electronic Circuit Analysis I) and. Project TUNA is now incorporated into the laboratory of EENG 4409. They also provide instructional opportunities to explain their principles of operation.

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2001, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Beams, D. M. (2001, June), Developing Computer Based Laboratory Instruments In A New Undergraduate Electrical Engineering Program Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9107