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Building and Testing an Economic Faraday Cage for Wireless, IoT Computing Education and Research

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Computing and Information Technology Division (CIT) Technical Session 4

Tagged Division

Computing and Information Technology Division (CIT)

Page Count

15

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43076

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43076

Download Count

176

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Paper Authors

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Colton Hotchkiss

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Stu Steiner

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Daniel Conte de Leon

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Herbert L. Hess University of Idaho

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Herb Hess is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Idaho. He received the PhD Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993. His research and teaching interests are in power electronics, electric machines and drives, electric

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Brian K. Johnson P.E. University of Idaho Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-0747-2794

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Brian K. Johnson received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992. Currently, he is a Distinguished Professor and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Endowed Chair in Power Engineering in the Department of Elec

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Abstract

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have been proliferating in the last decade. Societal reliance on IoT technologies has been increasing in the last 5 years and is projected to increase exponentially. Wireless communication is a core component of the IoT ecosystem. Cellular and wireless technologies are also foundational topics in the NICE (National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education) framework. Educational institutions have been increasingly adding IoT, cellular, and wireless courses to their curricula, to keep in line with societal and regulatory trends.

Faraday cages are instrumental in understanding and testing several aspects of the wireless paradigm. Faraday cages are also indispensable for wireless signal isolation, which is an important aspect of any IoT/Cellular/Wireless technology course. Commercially available Faraday cages that are suitable for use in teaching or research environments are priced in the range of $3,300 and beyond. Such pricing may disincentivize institutions from deploying Faraday Cages in their classrooms. Unavailability of Faraday cages in classrooms can in-turn lead to deficiencies in curricular effectiveness and assessment for IoT/Cellular/Wireless courses. Lower cost alternatives are needed.

We constructed a custom-made, low-cost Faraday cage using materials that are available over the counter at a local hardware store or an online superstore. We list materials and their approximate costs required to build a Faraday Cage from scratch. We present a step-by-step guide with visual aids to walk readers through the process of constructing a Faraday cage suitable for classroom use. We discuss the challenges faced in our construction and curricular integration efforts. We discuss the suitability of our custom-built Faraday Cage in teaching and research environments. We present signal transmission efficiency testing results of our custom-built Faraday Cage. We present a case study where our custom-built Faraday Cage is utilized in a senior/graduate level course at a public research university in the US. We present results of an informal user experience survey for the students who participated in the case study course.

Hotchkiss, C., & Jillepalli, A., & Steiner, S., & Conte de Leon, D., & Hess, H. L., & Johnson, B. K. (2023, June), Building and Testing an Economic Faraday Cage for Wireless, IoT Computing Education and Research Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43076

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