ELEC 242 Lab

Chapter 1 Introduction

Welcome to the ELEC 242 Lab, the eagerly awaited sequel to the ELEC 241 Lab. Our major project for this semester will be to build a closed circuit television system. To build this system, we will need a variety of components: electrooptical transducers to convert the light from an image to an electrical signal (and the decoded, received signal back to light), electromechanical transducers to control the scanning of the image, amplifiers to boost weak signals, and other signal processing functions to encode the signal into a form suitable for transmission and decode it when received. The Labs leading up to our final project will explore and develop the components and techniques we will need.

The Laboratory Schedule

Here's what we have to do:

Date	Laboratory
Jan 20-21	Lab 1: Transducers I: Motors, Tachometers, Potentiometers
Jan 27-28	Lab 2: Transducers II: Optoelectronic Devices
Feb. 3-4	Lab 3: Linear Electronics I: Transistor Amplifiers
Feb. 10-11	Lab 4: Linear Electronics II: Op Amp Circuits
Feb. 17-18	Lab 5: Dynamics I: First Order Systems
Feb. 24-25	Lab 6: Dynamics II: Second Order Systems and the Transfer Function
Mar. 3-4	Spring Break
Mar. 10-11	Lab 7: Control I: A Position Control System
Mar. 17-18	Lab 8: Control II: System Performance
Mar. 25-26	Spring Recess
Mar. 31 - Apr. 1	Lab 9: Television System I: Camera and Receiver
Apr. 7-8	Lab 10: Television System II: Synchronization
Apr. 14-15	Lab 10 continued

The Lab Cycle

As you can see from the schedule, the Laboratory Experience will begin the second week of class and proceed in an unrelenting cycle until we reach Lab 9, the Culmination of our Efforts. Since there will be a new Lab every week (except during recesses) it behooves you to establish an effective rhythm as quickly as possible.

The cycle has the following phases:

Before Lab.: Before your come to lab, you should carefully read the lab handout, formulate a plan of action, and do any calculations, design, or construction that you can do before coming to lab.
During Lab.: In lab you will be wiring (and rewiring) circuits, making measurements, making sure you have answers to the questions posed in the lab handout, and writing it all down in your Lab Notebook. Your lab notebook is so important that it has a whole chapter to itself, so more about it later.
After Lab.: Lab work isn't over when you leave the lab. The contents of your lab notebook should describe what happened in the lab, but won't have much to say about what it means. To help extract order from the chaos of your lab experience you will prepare a brief lab report summarizing your work, analyzing its meaning, and answering a few questions. The lab report also gets its own chapter where you'll find all of the important details.
Grading.: You will receive a weekly lab grade based on your lab report. Your report is due one week from the scheduled date of the corresponding lab, and should be turned in to your labbie.

Lab Groups

In lab (and outside lab as well) you will work in a team of two or three people. Since lab grades will be given on a per group basis, rather than individually, you should choose your fellow team member(s) with care. If possible, responsibilities should be shared among all members rather than one person always taking the same job. In particular, the task of making entries in the notebook during lab and writing the report afterward should alternate from week to week.