Conference Session

Instrumentation and Controls Laboratories

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kayode P. Ayodele, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Olawale Akinwale, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Lawrence Kehinde, Texas Southern University; Oladipo O. Osasona, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; E.O.B. ajayi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; O.O. Akinwunmi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

the iLab batched architecture. The client through which theremote student interacts with the ADLab is implemented with Java, which allows for areasonable amount of platform independence.This paper discusses the software and hardware aspects of the ADLab architecture and givessome insight into some design decisions. The paper also reports that the system is beingtested at Obafemi Awolowo University and that student feedback so far indicates high studentsatisfaction with the remote laboratory.Keywords: iLab, ADLab, FPGA, remote laboratoryI. Experimentation and Remote LaboratoriesWhen applied within an engineering curriculum, experimentation is supposed to achievespecific goals. It allows students to develop skills in any combination of up

Conference Session

LABVIEW-Based Experiments and Robotics Laboratory

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Yao, East Carolina University; Edwin Bartlett, East Orthopedics

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

client’s needs into attackable engineering problems, designed instrument circuits,developed data acquisition software with LabVIEW, and tested the integrated prototype system.Although the students experienced frustrations, they were excited about the opportunity to be able to workon this real-world project partnered with their client, Dr. Bartlett (an experienced orthopedist in town),and the Office of Technology Transfer at East Carolina University. The overall outcome of the project Page 14.413.2was good.This paper first describes the technical aspects of the project (problem statement, material and methods,experiment results), presents

Conference Session

Experiments in Remote-access Laboratories

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Andrew Hyder, Georgia Institute of Technology; Brian Post, Georgia Institute of Technology; Dirk Schaefer, Georgia Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

, allowing simple assimilationwith computers. If there is a reason to avoid computer-equipment integration, cameras can beused to monitor a display. An experiment can be designed to give a student control, while fixingcertain parameters. Students can then take the data derived from their observations and crunchthe numbers. Take the example of measuring the speed of light. The setup has fixed distancesbetween signal origin and receiver, but allows the student control of the output. In this case, thestudents still need to apply critical reasoning skills, but most of the data is available on theircomputer screens [10]. Page 14.29.6Simple

Conference Session

Innovation in Laboratory Studies and Outreach Programs

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Gumaer, Central Washington University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

Teaching Microcontroller Applications Using Laptop ComputersAbstractThis paper presents an inexpensive technique of teaching an introductory microcontrollerapplications course to technology students in a laptop-based curriculum. The focus of the courseis learning to apply microcontrollers in various control applications. Related topics covered inthe course include assembly language programming and computer architecture. Students in thecourse are each equipped with a laptop computer. The microcontroller platform used in thiscourse is the Microchip PICKit1 development board. This development board features 8- and 14-pin microcontrollers with a 35 word instruction set. This is an ideal platform because the deviceshave enough resources to develop

Conference Session

DELOS Best Paper Nominations

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Guido Lopez, Old Dominion University; Anthony Seaber, Old Dominion University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

.: Integration of theory and practice at real-life race track facilities, and racecar competitions.INTRODUCTIONMotorsports Engineering is an innovative field of education that focuses on highperformance ground-vehicles, and motorcar racing. Car racing is commonly viewed bythe public as entertainment. In reality, motorsports is an intensely complex field thatrequires a significant level of engineering and high-end technology in order to achieve aclear objective: defeat the competition and win the race. 3,7,9,11Winning in motorsports brings considerable financial and technologic benefits topromoters, sponsors and automakers. As a result, motorsports has established itself as oneof the most rapidly-growing industries in the US and worldwide

Conference Session

Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Laboratories

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Frank Schreiber, California Polytechnic State University; Andrew Kean, California Polytechnic State University; Glen Thorncroft, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

assuming constant specific heatsThe goal of this work is to develop an experimental apparatus which can be used to generate datafor use by students in a Model Eliciting Activity. We believe this effort will provide valuabletools to promote thermodynamics learning for both students and faculty alike.MEA BasicsThe following is an introduction to a comprehensive four-year effort by a team of researchersfrom six universities that focuses on models and modeling as a foundation for undergraduateSTEM curriculum. This effort is focusing on improving engineering education, with the presentdiscussion focusing developing Model Eliciting Activities with a laboratory component. MEAresearch, which originated in the mathematics education community5, uses open

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Controls Laboratories

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shuju Wu, Southeast Missouri State University; Ragu Athinarayanan, Southeast Missouri State University; Xiaobing Hou, Southeast Missouri State University; Charlie Wallgren, Southeast Missouri State University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

, we describe the implementation of the integrated undergraduatetelecommunications laboratory at Southeast Missouri State University. The new laboratoryintegrates traditional telephone network, VOIP, data network and backbone fiber optic networkwhere data, voice and video traffic (to be added in) will coexist. Our goal for the lab is to allowstudents to see an integrated telecommunication system, rather than many isolated parts. Thehands-on experiences obtained through such a complete system will also enhance the theoryknowledge from our integrated curriculum, no matter what topic they are learning.Following the testing, we will interconnect the different networks. Additionally, we will developnew courses and lab activities to fully utilize

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Controls Laboratories

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Driss Benhaddou, University of Houston; Alan Rolf Mickelson, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

materialand thereby integrated into examinations and homework. We developed set of remotely controlled laboratories covering optical circuits concepts. Thelaboratories are currently implemented in the Engineering Technology Department at the Universityof Houston in an upper division undergraduate course, The experiments have also been used at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder. Formative assessment provides numerous benefits to measurestudent learning outcome. Other researchers have explored the use of formative assessment toguide online learning. To the best of our knowledge, embedded formative techniques have not beenpreviously used in online laboratories. This paper will present results of embedded assessmenttechniques conducted in this

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Controls Laboratories

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Oscar Ortiz, LeTourneau University; Paul Leiffer, LeTouneau University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

transistors, MOSFETs, SCR’s Diacs, Triacs, and optoelectronic devices.Project-based learning develops the ability of the students to work in interdisciplinaryteams. Projects carried out by interdisciplinary teams are not only an expectation ofindustry but also have become a required outcome of the ABET engineering criteria. Aseries of curriculum tools have been developed at our school to ensure that students willhave a measure of success in project team work [1] Project-based learning is aninstructional method that demands from the student acquisition of critical knowledge,problem solving proficiency, self-directed learning strategies, and team participationskills [2]During the 2007 fall semester the students studied and implemented FM transmitters

Conference Session

DELOS Best Paper Nominations

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Rogers, United States Military Academy; Robert Rabb, United States Military Academy; Christopher Korpela, United States Military Academy; Ryan Ebel, United States Military Academy

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

take an institution-wide core curriculum in liberal arts, math and sciencethat comprises the first three semesters. For engineering majors, the majority of the courses inthe remaining five semesters builds the foundations in math, science and discipline specificengineering. Upperclassmen majoring in electrical engineering or mechanical engineering take aseries of three courses that define a concentration for their studies. Mechatronics is the centralcourse taken by students in their senior year who are concentrating in robotics or mechatronics. Itis also offered as an elective to students of all other majors who have taken the two prerequisitecourses, Dynamic Modeling and Control and Digital Computer Logic.The Mechatronics course objectives

Conference Session

LABVIEW-Based Experiments and Robotics Laboratory

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yanfei Liu, Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

course. This course is required forstudents from three majors: computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanicalengineering. The course content includes introduction to microcontrollers (μCs), actuators,analog and digital sensors, electronics, and programmable logic controllers. The justification tohave this course in the curricula is twofold. First is to provide a basic knowledge aboutelectromechanical systems to students since nowadays there are very few systems that can becategorized as either pure electrical system or mechanical system. Second is to help student buildmultidisciplinary team skills.Robotics is an appropriate technical field for the integration of different engineering curriculatopics and therefore it has been

Conference Session

LABVIEW-Based Experiments and Robotics Laboratory

Collection

2009 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alejandra J. Magana; Sean Brophy; George Bodner, Purdue University

Tagged Divisions

Division Experimentation & Lab-Oriented Studies

for using simulations for learning and describing in detail a student’s perception of thismethod.Methods The goal of this research study is to describe an instructor’s and his students’ perceptionsand experiences with simulation tools as laboratory simulations in the context of an advancedgraduate elective course for electrical engineering students. These graduate students arespecializing in the area of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) and circuit design. The coursefocuses on examining advanced transistors and its physical principles. Considerations that enterinto the development of new integrated circuit technologies were also explored. This course hasas pre-requisite a course related to solid state devices only offered to master’s