Labs
Do not forget your pre-lab (completed PSpice simulations of all circuits). Each student must bring this to the lab. You will not be allowed to do the experimental work without it.
Lab Teams
Lab work is done by teams of two students. You are free to choose your own partners, who must be in the same lab section as you. Teams should be formed before the second lab exercise. It is expected that both lab partners will contribute equally to the completion of a lab exercise. Take turn to be the leader and follower in each exercise. Get together to complete the lab report so that both lab partners fully understand the material.
Attendance
Attending the lab is mandatory. If you cannot attend for any reason, you must inform the lab instructor in advance. Failure to attend the lab without prior permission will result in a zero grade for that specific lab. Missing a lab is extremely serious since the labs exercises build upon previous labs. No team will be allowed to start a new lab exercise until they have completed and demonstrated a working setup of the current exercise (even if the student had got a zero for that specific lab because of the lack of attendance.) The student(s) who had not attended the lab should complete the exercise in the agreed upon time with the instructor and submit a separate lab report (also see, lab reports, below).
Lab Preparation
You have one lab exercise per week. Student should be throughly familiar with the lab exercise before coming to the lab (or it will take you much longer to complete the lab). Each students should bring to the lab a complete circuit analysis or PSpice simulation of the lab exercise as outlined in the lab description. If an student does not bring a complete circuit analysis of the lab exercise to the lab, he or she will not be allowed to do the lab exercise with all of the ramifications of not attending the lab without prior approval.
Lab Reports
After completeing the lab exercise, each team should prepare a lab report. It is expected that both members of the team cooperate to complete the lab report (rather taking turns preapring the lab reports). The lab report should include (for each lab experiment):
- The motivation,
- Circuit analysis/PSpice simulations (which you have done before coming to the lab),
- Experimental procedure (only if you had to do something special to get your data),
- Data (in tables and plots),
- Comparison of data with circuit analysis and simulation,
- Your conclusions and speculations.
Clear presentation of the information is essential. The lab report should be a complete description of what you did in the lab and what you learned from it. It should be readable and understable by an ECE professional who does not know about your lab. Equations and results materializing out of thin air without explanation are useless even if they were correct. Make sure that you explain what you are doing. At the same time, do not write long essays. Technical reports are an essential element of an engineer life. That is how you communicate with your peers and people working above you. The report should be coherent and understable so they convey to others that you fully understand what you are doing at the same time they should not be so long that come across as boring and stating the obvious.
Lab Reports Page Limit
Lab reports should be maximum of 7 pages EXCLUDING PSpice simulation results and plots of experimental data.
More on Lab Reports
- Lab report should be in order specified in the web site (i.e., all material relevant to an experiment should be together).
- Put your section day/time on the front page of the report.
- Make sure to draw the circuit and mark curernts and voltages!
- All numbers should have units. (i=2 is unacceptable, it should be i=2mA).
- Don't attach the lab description from the web site to the lab report.
- Don't directly copy and paste the PSpice simulations to a Word document. Attach the hard copy print out so the "time stamp" is there and/or print PSpice simulation to a file and paste the file (with date stamp) to Word.
- Suggestion: Box or clearly mark answers to the questions posed in the lab description.
- Lab reports should be maximum of 7 pages EXCLUDING PSpice simulation results and Plots of experimental data.
Due Dates and Late Reports
The lab reports are due the following week after each lab exercise in the laboratory. They will be graded and returned to you a week later. Late reports will not be accepted.
Lab Instructions
Lab 0 - Introduction & Orientation
Lab 1 - Introduction to PSpice Simulations
Lab 2 - Diode IV Characteristics, Zener Diode
Lab 3 - Diode Waveform Shaping Circuits
Lab 4 - Transistor as a Switch
Lab 5 - Logic Gates
Lab 6 - Transistor Biasing & Current Mirror
Lab 7 - BJT Amplifiers
Lab Re-Grade Requests
If you want to have your lab report re-graded, please attach a note explaining the issue. Note that you only have two weeks after the return of the report to ask for a re-grade.