Conference Session

Embedded Control and Instrumentation

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gerald Thomas Ruch, University of Saint Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

pieces of equipment communicate via USB, but thedistance between the control computer and the equipment is greater than the maximum distanceallowed for a standard USB cable. An engineering student was hired as a research assistant todevelop a communications solution. After researching variety of products including RS-232 to USB adapters, expansion cardsto provide the computer with additional RS-232 ports, and USB extenders, our student settled ona combination of RS-232 to USB adapters and a USB extender. The extender consists of a localunit that connects to the computer and a remote unit that presents several USB ports. The twounits communicate via a cat-5 cable. The plan was to have all communications travel on thesingle cat-5 cable. The

Conference Session

Projects in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Asad Yousuf, Savannah State University; Mohamad A. Mustafa, Savannah State University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

generalframework for project planning that can be used by students and faculty advisors to outline goalsand objectives of senior design Capstone projects that requires team members to organize anddesign/build the project with limited resources. This paper also describes a capstone projectwhich served as a pilot study for the capstone project course which will be implemented in theDepartment of Engineering Technology in spring 2012 for the Civil and Electronics EngineeringTechnology majors. Electronic Name Tag System project was carried out by the SummerUndergraduate Research Training (SURT) program student during the summer of 2011. Thebasic project requirement was to design and build an Electronic Name Tag using the PIC16C57microcontroller. The main

Conference Session

Instrumentation in Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yacob Astatke, Morgan State University; Craig J. Scott, Morgan State University; Kenneth A. Connor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Jumoke O. Ladeji-Osias, Morgan State University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

courses were asked to conduct two experiments remotely using the X-SeriesOscilloscopes. The students where then asked to come to the face-to-face class room and conductnew experiments using the same X-Series Oscilloscopes. The students were able to quicklyfigure out the different features of the laboratory instrument based on their experience from theuse of the same equipment from a remote location. We plan to conduct additional experimentswith more students to make sure that our approach can easily be scaled up to more users. Wealso intend to design laboratory experiments that can be remotely conducted by multiple studentsin different locations using the same oscilloscope. This implies that online students will be able

Conference Session

Projects in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Radian G. Belu, Drexel University; Irina Nicoleta Ciobanescu Husanu, Drexel University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

add a significant value to engineering curricula in a variety of cases.Whether it is a complement to a hands-on experience or a substitute when a traditional lab is notfeasible, virtual laboratories are a valuable educational resource. Virtual and remote-controlledexperiments are originated from the attractive opportunity of exploiting the Internet advantagesto control instrumentation and conduct measurement processes from any location and at anytime. This project intends to provide more efficient sharing of expensive measurementequipment. We are planning to develop a set of virtual and remote-controlled measurementexperiments, such as: transducer electronic data sheet creation and testing, mechanical materialcharacteristics, acceleration and

Conference Session

Computer-based Measurements

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bridget M. Smyser, Northeastern University; Kevin McCue, Northeastern University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

similar to what would be required in lab (i.e. calculating the theoretical flow rate, predicting heat transfer)  Several comprehension questions covering key theoretical concepts (i.e. explaining the laws of thermocouple behavior, identifying variables)  The development of a data table for the lab. Students were required to read the lab handout, decide what data should be collected and turn in a blank, labeled table indicating what data they planned to collect during lab.  In some cases, students were also asked to select the sensors they would use and justify their selection, or write a procedure for the lab.These pre-lab assignments were graded and returned prior to the related lab in order to

Conference Session

Instrumentation Applications

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lash B. Mapa, Purdue University, Calumet; Avanish Reddy Vancha, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

. Page 25.399.2IntroductionIncreasing the standards of quality and improving the productivity is every company's goal.Design of experiments (DOE) is a scientific and statistical way of improving system and processperformance. DOE is an efficient procedure for planning experiments so that the data obtainedcan be analyzed to yield valid and objective conclusions. Many industries conduct surveys andwith the passive observations yields conclusions in terms of process improvement, but DOE aimsat the understanding of the relationship among the input variables and the output variables in aprocess and ends with an improved model of relationship between the variables (figure 1). Figure1 Schematic Model of a ProcessThe

Conference Session

Computer-based Measurements

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farid Farahmand, Sonoma State University; Saeid Moslehpour, University of Hartford; Harika Kuppuru P.E., Sonoma State University; Swathi Matsa, Sonoma State University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

for the optical communications laboratory in the future will be enhancing thesetup to include more instruments. In this phase of the project we focused on development ofremote laboratory using a central server. In our future distributed design, we plan to supportmultiple seamless experiments from different sites. This is particularly useful when differentsimultaneous remote users would like to perform different experiments. Another area ofimprovement in the future is to develop and incorporate online simulation modules. Thus,students can carry out some pre-lab experiments using an online simulation software10 and thencomplete the remote laboratory assignments.10. ConclusionIn this paper we introduced a LabVIEW-based remote instrumentation

Conference Session

Computer-based Measurements

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mohammad Rafiq Muqri, DeVry University, Pomona; Shih Ek Chng, DeVry University, Pomona; Furqan Muqri, University of Texas; Aceela Muqri, VCU School of Medicine

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

. Page 25.980.9The main point is that every great iOS iPhone or Android app starts with a brilliant idea, buttranslating that idea into actions requires planning. So before you can write any code, you haveto take the time to explore the possible techniques and technologies. The core infrastructure of aniOS app is built from objects in the UIKit framework. There are some resources that must bepresent in all iOS apps. Most apps include images, sounds, and other types of resources forpresenting the app’s content, but the App store may also require some specific resources. Youmay like to refer to iOS App Programming Guide 11 for further details. 4Objective-C also provides a dot

Conference Session

Instrumentation Applications

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Masoud Fathizadeh P.E., Purdue University, Calumet; Joseph Edward Cody, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

University, Calumet Joseph Edward Cody is a graduate of the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Power School for Enlisted Personnel and a veteran of the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Submarine force. He is currently employed as a Electrical Com- munications Specialist with Novaspect, Inc. of Schaumburg, Ill., and specializes in industrial electrical communications and protocols. Cody remains engaged at Purdue University, Calumet, as a student and plans on staying educationally active for as long as possible Page 25.397.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2012 Design of a Mobile Robot and use of

Conference Session

Instrumentation in Education

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Wei Zhan, Texas A&M University; Joseph A. Morgan, Texas A&M University; Jay R. Porter, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

; desired temperature Then turn one light bulb on and turn the fan motor off; Else if temperature > desired temperature + 0.3 oC Then turn both light bulbs off and send a high PWM duty cycle to the fan motor; Else turn both light bulbs off and send a low PWM duty cycle to the fan motor.Some students also figured out how to avoid the flicking of the lights by adding a hysteresis tothe control logic. It is planned as a part of the curriculum integration effort that the temperatureor motor control systems be used in the laboratories of the subsequent Controls course, wherePID control can be applied to the controller to further improve the result.A software bug was identified for LabVIEW