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Automatic Compartment Temperature Control Project In Electronics Laboratory

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Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

Experimentation and Laboratory-Oriented Studies Division Technical Session 3

Tagged Division

Experimentation and Laboratory-Oriented Studies

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--32136

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/32136

Download Count

547

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Paper Authors

biography

Wei Yu Massachusetts Maritime Academy

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Dr. Wei Yu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering at Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He received the Ph.D degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florida State University in 2010. From 2014 to 2016, he was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Southern University. From 2010 to 2014, he was a software automation engineer for Teradyne and Shell Techworks, developing intelligent robotic system for semiconductor and energy industries.

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Diane D. DiMassa Massachusetts Maritime Academy

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Abstract

The engineering programs at our university are designed to achieve student learning outcomes in maritime engineering knowledge and hands-on experience imposed by the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. After completing the topic of electronics, students are expected to (1) understand the characteristics of basic electronic circuit elements, (2) configure and operate principles of electronic equipment, and (3) interpret electrical and simple electronic diagrams.

Recently, an automatic compartment temperature control project was designed and added in the Electronics Laboratory course to evaluate student learning outcomes in electronics. Different from previous isolated lab experiments, the new project requires students to integrate multiple experiments to design and build complex integrated circuits to solve a practical problem. Students first designed multiple electronic circuit modules to separately implement temperature measurement, temperature comparison and actuator control and then integrated all electronic circuit modules as complete electronic diagrams. Second, they used electronic circuit elements in lab to build integrated circuits on breadboards according to the complete electronic diagrams. Further, they tested the integrated circuits on breadboards to observe whether the integrated circuits can activate or deactivate an actuator in response to temperature change. They could use electronic equipment, such as multimeter, oscilloscope, etc, to diagnose the integrated circuits if necessary. After the completion of the project, all students’ integrated circuits were assessed by the instructor on whether they can measure indoor temperature, compare it with the desired temperature and invoke actuator control to automatically maintain indoor temperature. Additionally, an optional student questionnaire survey was conducted among the students who were participating in the project to assess student learning outcomes. The assessment results show a strong positive effectiveness of the project on understanding, configuration, operation and interpretation of electronics. Student narratives also imply the project led to interest and fun of electronics to them.

Yu, W., & DiMassa, D. D. (2019, June), Automatic Compartment Temperature Control Project In Electronics Laboratory Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32136

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