Instrumentation And Data Acquisition Projects By Sophomore Level Eet Students

Student-initiated projects as part of an instrumentation and data acquisition course for sophomore-level electronics engineering technology students are presented. The three instrumentation projects reported in this paper are a dc motor drive system, a liquid level control system, and an environmental automation system. All three projects focused on instrumentation system development incorporating multiple sensors/actuators, GPIB-interfaced instrument control, data acquisition hardware, LabVIEW software, and implementation of hysteresis or on/off control scheme. These projects were carried out during the final four weeks of the semester after eleven weeks of lecture/lab sessions. Success of the student project experience was assessed based on defined learning and teaching objectives. Introduction The ability to conduct and design experiments is rated as one of the most desirable technical skills of engineering and engineering technology graduates 1 . Specifically, the referenced survey indicates that employers want graduates with a working knowledge of data acquisition, analysis and interpretation; an ability to formulate a range of alternative problem solutions; and computer literacy specific to their profession. Additionally, potential employers of our EET graduates are in the automated manufacturing and testing sector of the industry; and that motivated the creation of an instrumentation and data acquisition course 2 based on a thorough review of experimentbased data acquisition-supported instrumentation courses at other institutions 3-6 . This threecredit course meets for two one-hour lectures and one three-hour laboratory per week. The distinction between lecture and laboratory hours is blurred in this exploration and project driven course since the lab/lecture hours are used interchangeably based on students’ need. The first three weeks of the fifteen-week semester are primarily devoted to LabVIEW 7 programming. During the next eight weeks, the concepts and integration of sensors and actuators, interface electronics, data acquisition and instrument control hardware/software are covered. The final four weeks are reserved for student-initiated laboratory design projects 8-10 . This paper focuses on some of the instrumentation projects implemented by students in the spring-2003 semester. Early in the semester students develop project topics with appropriate feedback/guidance from the instructor. A feasibility report is required of each group by the eighth week of the fifteenweek semester. The feasibility study is quite detailed as it requires preliminary ideas supported by circuit schematics, parts list, LabVIEW program flow chart, and project completion schedule. Students are in charge of selecting the necessary sensors and actuators. If a part needs to be P ge 947.1