An Audio Test Bed Design For Lab Testing And High School Recruiting

This paper presents a student-built tool that is used for audio electronics testing in the lab portion of our power electronics course. It is also sometimes used for an exhibit at our open house and high school recruiting events. Among several other topics, our power electronics course covers the calculation of audio parameters and the design/construction of linear audio amplifiers. The instructor wanted a tool to allow direct comparison between a commercial amplifier and the amplifiers designed and built by students in the lab. Moreover, a set of good quality speakers was needed for sound level measurements. The subject of this paper, the Audio Test Bed, meets both of those requirements. The article describes how the project got started, how the parts were acquired, and pursuant interaction with local industry donors. It then provides a technical description of what we call the Audio Test Bed, plus how it was designed and constructed by the student. Next is a discussion of the challenges encountered, how we overcame them, and lessons learned during the development and early usage of the Test Bed. Finally, we present a few ideas for possible application of the Audio Test Bed in other courses, along with some corresponding modifications.