Conference Session

Instrumentation and Measurement: Innovative Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gurinder Singh, Future Technology Devices International Ltd. (USA); Lakshmi Munukutla

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

at the Polytechnic campus and Future Technology DevicesInternational (FTDI) Ltd. are partnering to provide venues for both education and training classesfor ASU students and FTDI customers respectively. The classes will aim to provide adequateunderstanding of emerging technologies.1. IntroductionTraditionally connecting peripherals to PC required cumbersome process of setting jumpers,interrupt requests (IRQs), installing additional hardware and software. USB provides a fast, bi-directional, low-cost and dynamically attachable serial interface. The plug-n-play feature of USBand the support for different communication classes and speeds has led to growing popularity ofUSB to the extent that today USB is truly a universal connection

Conference Session

Contemporary Instrumentation Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Robertson, Arizona State University; Barbara Rampel, Arizona State University; James Edwards, Raytheon

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

Page 13.672.2number of case studies were undertaken. They are drawn from the activities of acombined industry-academic team that oversees the scope, content and outcomes of aseries of industry short courses on instrumentation 1. The purpose of this paper is topresent the outcomes of three use-cases, to infer skills and techniques that need furtherdevelopment and to show how the conclusions are being used to shape the content andpriorities of a degree program.To answer the question posed in the title of the paper, measurement productivity hasincreased by many orders of magnitude over the past two decades. The effort to make ameasurement can now be assessed in units of “nano-engineers”. There have been fewdramatic breakthroughs but each new

Conference Session

Contemporary Instrumentation Poster Session

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mustafa Guvench, University of Southern Maine; Joshua Ward, Fairchild Semiconductor; Robert N. MacKinnon, Yarmouth Water District

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

forinterfacing, communication, data acquisition and control between a personal computer andthe test setup via the GPIB bus and the USB and serial ports. The LabView programwritten controls the injection time of the gas to be sensed, monitors the flow rate, measuresand controls the temperature of the chip and monitors and records the frequency of theelectro-mechanical oscillations generated in the MEMS resonator. The development of thetest system was done by a team of students as a part of their undergraduate senior designprojects in electrical engineering at USM.1. IntroductionThe project reported here comprises the design and development of a computer-controlled testsystem to measure and characterize the responses of MEMS-based resonant sensors to

Conference Session

Instrumentation Division Business Meeting

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Kayode P. Ayodele, Obafemi Awolowo University; Olutola Jonah; Olusoji Ilori, Obafemi Awolowo University; E.O.B. ajayi, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; Oladipo O. Osasona, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

architecturesthat are suited to such low-bandwidth scenarios is the Batched version of the MIT iLabArchitecture 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The iLab Batched architecture is referred to as “iLab-B” in this paper todistinguish it from the iLab Interactive architecture. The iLab-B architecture separates thevarious parts of a VL in such a way that only a very small amount of data needed to configurethe remote system under test needs to go through the low-bandwidth uplink, while all other datalab-related activities are done locally. As a result, the MIT iLab-B architecture was an idealplatform upon which to base the development of a new Operational Amplifier virtual laboratory(“OpAmp Lab”) hosted at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.II. Architecture OverviewOpAmp Lab

Conference Session

Developing New Instrumentation

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Dadds, USNA; Svetlana Avramov-Zamurovic, U.S. Department of Defense

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

Conference Session

Novel Measurement Experiments

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Carlin Shaodong Song, USNA; Svetlana Avramov-Zamurovic, U.S. Department of Defense

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

is 1.30psi. Given this pressure range,we sourced for a pressure sensor available in our laboratory that was functional over asimilar range. A strain gage pressure sensor with a range of 0 – 13psi fit our needs best.This pressure sensor which requires a supply of 13 – 28VDC is internally conditioned togive an output range of 0 – 10 VDC. Page 13.579.2 Fig.2.1: Photo of Pressure Sensor. 1 Although this output range is large enough, the output will subsequently be attached to a signal conditioning circuit to improve the resolution of the sensor

Conference Session

Instrumentation and Measurement: Innovative Courses

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Marshall, University of Southern Maine

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

solvers and knowledgeable decisionmakers. “The activities of problem solving and decision making are closelyintertwined”,1 and both skills can effective be learned through project based capstonecourses. Industrial partnering has enabled the development of a state-of-the-art powerand automation curriculum and project based problem solving learning environment forour students and also for the communities beyond campus.The laboratory based problem solving learning environment is organized into clusters.These clusters are equipped with components such as computers, printers, programmablelogic controllers, sensors, pneumatic valves and actuators, mechanisms, rotary indextables, hydraulic cylinders, electric motors, and vibratory feeder bowls. In the

Conference Session

Developing New Instrumentation

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Liping Guo, Northern Illinois University; Recayi 'Reg' Pecen

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

solutions to real needs 8-10.Students were expected to complete an extensive PLC design project based on the topicscovered in the PLC course11-12. The project involves a proposed problem and solutionwith programming of ladder logic program. The final project technical report format andprofessional class presentation include the following contents:1) A brief description and purpose of the project.2) Plans, literature search, illustrations, schematic drawings and simulations3) A written summary of the activities performed to complete the project4) A power point based professional presentation and discussion in the class5) Results, conclusions, and recommendations.The design project started with a project proposal. The project proposal explains

Conference Session

Novel Measurement Experiments

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Byron Newberry, Oklahoma Christian University of Science and Arts

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

herein demonstrates the link between the inertia properties and the dynamicresponse of the rigid body; in as much as the dynamic response can actually be used to determineunknown inertia. The project is part of a junior-level course entitled Experimental Mechanicstaught at Oklahoma Christian University. The course focuses on experimental investigationsdirectly related to the theory learned in Strength of Materials and Dynamics (both prerequisites tothis course).Project OverviewThe students are assigned the simple objective of determining the inertia properties of a rigid bodyanalytically, computationally, and experimentally. Figure 1 shows a typical rigid body sampleused within the course. Each sample is fabricated from wooden building blocks

Conference Session

Modern Software Measurement Techniques

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dale Litwhiler, Pennsylvania State University-Berks

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

modifying the nosecone of the rocketitself. The shape of a model rocket nosecone is very near that of the ISO standard Pitot tubeprofiles.4 To determine airspeed from a Pitot-static probe, a differential pressure measurementmust be made.5 This differential pressure measurement was made using a Freescale sensor(MPVZ5004G). 6 Page 13.1404.2To test and calibrate the nosecone Pitot-static probes, a controlled flow of air is required. Thiscontrolled flow was obtained using a wind tunnel facility. Figure 1 shows a photograph of thewind tunnel test setup. The main body tube was rigidly mounted in the center of the wind tunnelflow area. Each nosecone

Conference Session

Modern Software Measurement Techniques

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Rafic Bachnak, Texas A&M International University; Ramya Chakinarapu, Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

to teach a microprocessor and microcontroller course wherestudents learn assembly language programming by carrying out hands-on experimentsby programming the 8051 microcontroller9. Ten exercises were developed and aredescribed below.Software-Only ExercisesExercise 1: The purpose of the exercise is to introduce students to the microcontrollerboard and software development tools by having them build a simple project, whichmoves a value into the registers r1 and r2, using the widely used instruction mov source,destination. Project development includes creating the project code, building theexecutable file and debugging it.Exercise 2: The main objective of this lab is to provide students with an in-depthknowledge of the build and debug process