Conference Session

Effective Projects and Experiments in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Asad Yousuf, Savannah State University; Tyler Schecklman, Savannah Technical College

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

sensors through the microcontrollers. Thesensor network environment is being applied in areas such as logistics, environmental controland controlling of devices at home [1]. As the use of the Internet has grown, businesses andhome applications have found that the Internet is a low-cost way for mobile users and permanentsites to connect to the business and home network. Clearly it is more cost-effective to connectover the Internet to a private network, than to pay for a leased line or lines to do so [2-[3].The home automation system as shown in Figure 1 consists of a home computer connected to theinternet that has an Ardunio Microcontroller attached to it. The home computer continuouslymonitors the Ardunio Microcontroller board interfaced to the

Conference Session

Great Ideas for Projects that Teach Instrumentation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Farid Farahmand, Sonoma State Univeristy; Saeid Moslehpour, University of Hartford

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

LEGO for creatingarms and other moving parts.In this paper we also show how interested and more advanced student teams can developmore involved projects. We conclude the paper by showing student responses to thequantitative and free-form questions concerning the integration of Roomba.2. BackgroundAlmost all engineering programs require students to take at least one course inmicrocontrollers or microprocessors. Most of the engineering students are also requiredto take one semester of programming in their first or second year. However, the studentsoften find programming classes uninspiring, criticizing assignments as being too abstractand unrelated.1 Consequently, by the time they take microcontroller classes, many of thestudents often have a

Conference Session

Great Ideas for Projects that Teach Instrumentation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Keller, University of Tulsa; Jeremy S. Daily, University of Tulsa

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

instrumentation and measurement typically have two objectives: 1)introducing the students to essential and modern engineering instrumentation and 2) developingthe ability of students to plan, execute, and analyze engineering experiments. The projectdescribed in this paper encompasses all of these objectives and introduces students to practicalaspects of control systems. The multi-week laboratory exercise requires the students to interfacewith laboratory hardware and modern instrumentation with only limited guidance from theinstructor. The self-guided problem solving approach to instrumentation gives students a deeperunderstanding of the nuances and complexity of developing and implementing multi-componentinstrumentation systems. Additionally, the

Conference Session

Effective Projects and Experiments in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Chao-Chia Cheng, National Central University; Lee king-lien, Department of Electro-Optic Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan 542, R.O.C.; Chih-Hsiung Ku, National Dong Hwa University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

one important optical property of materials. For liquid materials, it alsoprovides information to analyze liquids or mixed solutions, such as chemicals, foodstuffs, drinks,and pharmaceuticals. In general, the instruments to characterize the index of liquids weredeveloped according to the fundamental optical properties such as total internal reflection (Abberefractrometer)1, diffraction (grating)2, interference3, or deflection4,5, etc.Minimum deviation method (MDM) is one well-known and well-developed index measurementmethod since 1930.6-9 In this method, the index was deduced by the “minimum deviation angle”of the probe beam when it passed through the material under test. Such a material can be solid orliquid, but it has to be shaped as a

Conference Session

Effective Projects and Experiments in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Akram Hossain, Purdue University, Calumet; Md. Rasheduzzaman, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

sequence of four courses. The studentlearning outcomes related to the Mechatronics concepts that have been added to the existingcourses are as follows: Page 22.915.2Students will be able to:1. Model and analyze performance of mechanical components2. Model and perform response analysis of mechanical systems using software tools3. Perform Simulink analysis of the servomotor transfer function4. Size an induction motor for a given load and motion trajectory5. Size a servomotor for a given conveyor belt application6. Perform time-response analysis of a Mechatronics setup by varying motor, load, gearbox parameters.7. Model and analyze performance

Conference Session

Effective Projects and Experiments in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Bowker; Saleh M. Sbenaty, Middle Tennessee State University; Mark Newton Johnson, Equipass ID

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

information from the chip and a simple forminterface for filling in any required information. The interface is divided into "pages" to reflect thedifferent areas of information stored onto the device.The ACG R/W module provides a dynamic link library (DLL) that contains standard methods usedto make calls to the device in order to perform a number of functions such as reading and writing tothe RFID microchip. These methods are specific to the ACG module, but are standard calls thatcan easily be adapted to any read/write device.RFID TagThe RFID Tag device that is being used for the current implementation of the system is the HITAGS2048 Transponder IC. A block diagram of the chip is shown in Figure 1.The memory of the RFID tag has a total capacity of 2048

Conference Session

Effective Projects and Experiments in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

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

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

. The first stationwill usually be a benchmark. A benchmark is a permanent point published by federal, state, Page 22.1302.2provincial, and municipal agencies. These points are established, known elevations and are set toresist vertical movement.To determine the elevation at a station, first, the level needs to be placed at a location such that itcan sight the rod at both a previous and the next station, and should be as close to equidistant toboth as possible. The first reading is to determine the backsight (BS), found by recording the rodmeasurement at the benchmark, also called STA 1. All readings taken on a point of knownelevation are

Conference Session

Great Ideas for Projects that Teach Instrumentation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Meghan Marie Rock, Rochester Institute of Technology; Harry Marx, Rochester Institute of Technology; Seth M. Kane, Rochester Institute of Technology; Robert Garrick, Rochester Institute of Technology; Larry Villasmil, Rochester Institute of Technology, College of Applied Science and Technology; James H. Lee, Rochester Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

insight into this innovative learning experience.IntroductionAlthough remote laboratory experiments have been studied for educational applications since theearly 1990’s, they are still in their infancy, and are only recently becoming a reality. 1 Moore’sLaw proposes that computer technology development doubles every year, and completeddevelopmental stage can then be utilized the next year to continue these advancements. 2 Takinginto account this exponential growth in computer technology, remote laboratories are now at adevelopmental stage where their potential to become an essential tool for science education ispromising.It is not uncommon to see simulations of experiments used as supplementary educational tools.These virtual laboratories exist

Conference Session

Effective Projects and Experiments in Instrumentation and Control

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Herbert L. Hess, University of Idaho, Moscow

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

presented these commands to the charger forautomatic implementation. As required, a human operator verified the loop, comparingcommands to resulting voltage and current readings. Initial testing of the prototype showedcommunications were established with Charger #1. Subsequent designs, accomplished as afollow-on project for a graduate student, completed the interface for the remaining chargers.This paper describes the design process, including both hardware and software design, as wellimplementation and testing, performance results, and recommendations for further improvement.Introduction The US Navy operates an experimental quarter-scale submarine to test new concepts innaval architecture. This submarine is an all-electric ship, run by a

Conference Session

Great Ideas for Projects that Teach Instrumentation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David R. Loker, Pennsylvania State University, Erie; Robert Weissbach, Pennsylvania State University, Erie; Adam Henry, Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

time response characteristics for this system are sufficiently slowsuch that control theory for dynamic control applications is not needed4.Conveyor SimulatorThe conveyor simulator uses a 24V dc motor that draws approximately 300mA, Plexiglas sidewalls, sandpaper for the track, and three OR500-ND infrared proximity sensors5. A pre-made partgets placed in front of the first infrared sensor which will start the dc motor. The part will continuedown the conveyor at an approximate speed of 1 inch/second until a second infrared sensor isreached and the conveyor will stop. The part will be stamped by the user, and then the part willcontinue down the conveyor until the third and final infrared sensor. Then the conveyor will stopoperation and wait for

Conference Session

Great Ideas for Projects that Teach Instrumentation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Saeed B. Niku, California Polytechnic State University; Ross James Miller

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

AC 2011-2535: DESIGNING DEVICES TO HELP THE DISABLEDSaeed B. Niku, California Polytechnic State University Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cal Poly since 1983, author of many papers in robotics, design, engineering eduaction and others, author of two textbooks, 1) Introduction to Robotics: Analysis, Control, Applications”, Second Edition, Joh Wiley and Sons, 2011, 2) Creative Design of Products and Systems”, John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Two patents on Flexible Fasteners.Ross James Miller Page 22.443.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Designing Devices

Conference Session

Great Ideas for Projects that Teach Instrumentation

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

El-Sayed Aziz, Stevens Institute of Technology; Zengqian Wang, Stevens Institute of Technology; Sven K. Esche, Stevens Institute of Technology; Constantin Chassapis, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Instrumentation

across many of the major engineering disciplines around the world. Severalsoftware architectures and technologies for remote laboratories have been proposed andimplemented over the last years.1 Organizations usually choose and adopt one solution based ontheir needs, previous experience, available software and software development tools as well asthe skills and expertise of the developers. Each solution has its advantages and disadvantages. Inthis context, there is an increasing need for a unified method for developing and presenting suchremote-access laboratory resources in order to allow potential users to easily and efficiently usethem.The aim of this paper is to present a modularized and scalable system architecture for remoteexperimentation