Digital technique

Signals and systems

Electronics

Measurement technique

Control Engineering

The primary aim of this subject is to further enhance the professional skillset of the students and to provide intense technical experience on the field of electrical analyses, measurements. The subject is based on and strongly relies on the Laboratory Exercises 1 subject.

The students are to carry out advanced measurement tasks in the following steps:

• They gain further knowledge about important technical materials, such as electronic components and equipment, systems, development and measurement systems.
• They improve their skills at planning, assembling and executing measurements,
• They practice the analysis, evaluation and documentation of measurement results.

Each measurement occasion is finished by the proper documentation of the results and the experience gained, in the form of a written measurement report.

Measurement 1: Building and testing simple electrical circuits

The students build simple electrical circuits from standalone components and verify the circuit's operation and main parameters.

Measurement 2: Designing printed circuit boards

Students get acquainted with a basic PCB design software and meet with the first steps of PCB design, such as schematics, simulation, routing and generation of production files.

Measurement 3: Measurement of EMC phenomena

Analysis of the mutual effect of electronic devices on each other, transient behavior. Different modes of electrical coupling and their approximation.

Measurement 4: Linear and switch mode power supplies

Voltage (power) converter topologies, linear regulators and high frequency switching power regulators. Analysis of circuit operation and unique effects, measurement of parameters (load rejection, ripple, etc.).

Measurement 5: Transistor based amplifiers

Analysis of simple transistor based amplifier configurations, characterization, evaluation of their performance and parameters.

Measurement 6: Instrumentation amplifiers

Analysis of simple, operational amplifiers based amplifier circuits (inverting, non-inverting, symmetric instrumentational). Evaluation of their parameters and performance.

Measurement 7: Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog Converters

Analysis of A/D and D/A converters, basic evaluation, measurement of static and dynamic errors, special features.

Measurement 8: System identification and control

Model fitting and development on a real dynamic system, system identification, controller design based on state estimation and feedback.

Measurement 9: Analog phase locked loop (PLL)

Basic operation of an analog PLL circuit, building blocks and their characterization, typical applications.

Measurement 10: 900 MHz FSK transceiver/receiver

Radio frequency spectral analyses, FSK modulation and demodulation, measurement on an experimental FSK system.

Measurement 11: Logic controllers (PLC)

Computer based control of a simple physical system using a PLC. Design and implementation of the experimental system, evaluation of control performance.

(1) All of the measurements should be accomplished with success. In order to accomplish a measurement:

• Students should prepare to the measurement according to the laboratory guides that are found on the homepage. The instructor will check at the beginning of each measurement (in the form of a short oral or written test) whether the students have prepared for the measurement correctly. If somebody fails this test, he/she should repeat the whole measurement (both theoretical and practical part). 
• Students should take part on each laboratory and arrive on time.
• The measurement tasks should be performed and documented. 
• Measurement 1-3. are introductory measurements, so students don't get any marks for these measurements. However, if somebody misses any of the measurements, or it turns out during the measurement that somebody haven't prepared for the measurement correctly, the measurement should be repeated. 
• Measurement 4-11 are thematic measurements. Every student will get his/her own mark for each measurement. The mark is formed by considering the following aspects:
• result of the test at the beginning of the measurement;
• the quality of the work of the student during the measurement;
• the quality of the measurement report;
• Cross-check questions: at the end of the measurements, the instructors ask questions to the students in order to verify whether the students could understand the specific measurement in the required depth.

(2) At the end of the semester a practical test should be accomplished:

• Practical final test (PT): The students must solve one part of a randomly selected measurement. The length of the test measurement is 45 minutes. The students should be able to solve any of the measurements which were performed during the semester. Students can prepare for the practical test according to the measurement reports and laboratory guides. In the practical test only the instruments and measurement boards can be used. It is not allowed to use any books, mobile phone, lecture notes or hand-written/printed/electronic materials. The students must solve the measurement alone. No skeleton file will be available during the measurement.

The final mark is calculated as follows:

mark = 0.6*M + 0.2*CC+ 0.2*PT

where M is the mean of the marks of measurements 4-11., CC is the mean of the results for the Cross-check questions and PT is the result of the practical test. The final mark is one (i.e. the subject is not accepted) if the mark of any of the measurement 1-11. is one or any of the measurement is not accomplished or repeated with success, or PT is one.

During the semester, two measurements can be repeated irrespectively of the reason why these measurements were not accomplished. One measurement can be repeated only once. If somebody fails the repetition, he/she fails the whole subject.  Measurements 1-3 will be repeated at the beginning of the semester, since they are useful during the other measurements.

In case of long illness or any other acceptable reason, the course coordinator decides about the possibilities and details of additional occasions for repeating a measurement.

The practical final test can be repeated only once irrespectively of the reason of the failure.