Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories

Dr. Fred Esenwein, Faculty Associate fesenwei@uncc.edu  Woodward 207    Fall 2009 Office Hours: MTWRF 10-11AM & 2-3PM

Mr. Eddie Hill, ECE Technician ehill27@uncc.edu   Woodward 233

Safety Glasses must be worn at all times in labs 203, 204, 231 & 232

Students must read and acknowledge these Lab Safety Rules

 

NEW LAB KIT PURCHASE PROCEDURE

In an effort to simplify the purchase process, while providing a quality product at lower cost, a new procedure for purchasing lab kits will be adopted beginning in Spring 2010.  Students will order lab kits directly from the vendor's website.  Lab kits will no longer be available through the ECE Department.  BE SURE TO PLACE ORDERS WELL BEFORE THE START OF CLASSES TO ASSURE SUFFICIENT TIME FOR ORDER PROCESSING AND SHIPPING.  See the "Student-Supplied Materials" section below for details.

 

Introduction

Your ECE laboratory experience at UNC Charlotte has been designed to provide you with the basic laboratory skills needed in your engineering profession. The ability to build and evaluate electrical and electronics equipment is essential for the majority of jobs in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Your laboratory assignments will require a methodical approach to the collection and analysis of data and will emphasize the appropriate presentation of your results.

In order to gain the most from your laboratory experience you must study each experiment and answer the pre-lab questions in advance of the laboratory meeting.  Although a diligent effort to synchronize experiments with lecture topics has been made, you may be required at times to perform experiments on topics that have not been fully covered in class.  It is therefore important to be well prepared for each lab session by starting the pre-lab exercise early and asking questions as necessary.  See your TA or visit my office for help or reference materials if you are having difficulty understanding a pre-lab exercise or experimental procedure.

We hope your laboratory experience will be a valuable part of your engineering education.  Questions, concerns and suggestions are always welcome.

 

Student-Supplied Materials

Text books are not required for laboratory courses.  Instead, students must provide hand tools, test leads, breadboards, and other items that are used to set-up and perform experiments.  One set of tools is required for each lab working group – usually two students.  A complete "Lab Kit" may be purchased online: 

Lab Kit Purchase

Lab kits are available from Electronix Express through their UNC Charlotte website at http://elexp.com/unc.htm.  Two pre-packaged kits are available: 1) Standard -- $132.00, and 2) Deluxe -- $217.00.  To view the contents of a kit, click "More Info" beside the line item on the Electronix Express web page.  Individual kit items are described in the Electronix Express online catalog http://www.elexp.com/.  A sample kit is available for examination in Mr. Hill's office at 233 Woodward.

The same tools are required for every lab course, and tools need to be purchased only once.

 

 Lab Experiments

ECGR 2155 Instrumentation and Networks Syllabus
  1. Measurements
  2. Basic Circuit Elements
  3. DC Voltage and Current Sources
  4. Series Circuit Characteristics
  5. Parallel and Series-Parallel Circuit Characteristics
  6. Use of the Wheatstone Bridge for Resistance Measurement
  7. Lamps
  8. Network Analysis
  9. Thevenin and Norton Circuits
  10. Time Constant of an RC Network

ECGR 2156 Logic and Networks Syllabus

  1. Switch Debouncing
  2. Seven Segment Decoder
  3. Counting Circuits
  4. Impedance
  5. AC Operation of RLC Networks
  6. Magnetic Properties of a Small Transformer
  7. Maximum Power Transfer
  8. Balanced Three-Phase Networks
  9. Filter Networks
  10. Resonance in Series and Parallel RLC Networks

ECGR 2255 Digital Design Syllabus

  1. Understanding Counters
  2. BCD to Seven Segment Display
  3. Half and Full Adders
  4. Magnitude Comparators
  5. Understanding Decoders
  6. Latches Flip-Flops and Shift Registers
  7. Understanding Registers
  8. Parity Generator and Detector Circuit
  9. Design Project
  10. Design Project

ECGR 3155 Systems and Electronics Syllabus

  1. Operational Amplifiers
  2. Semiconductor Diodes
  3. Diodes and Bridge Rectifiers
  4. Zener Diode Voltage Regulator; Diode Clippers and Clampers
  5. MOSFET Basics
  6. MOSFET Amplifier Configurations
  7. MOSFET Amplifier Input/Output Impedances
  8. BJT Basics
  9. BJT Amplifier Configurations
  10. BJT Amplifier Input/Output Impedances

ECGR 3156 Electromagnetic and Electronic Devices Syllabus

  1. BJT Differential Pair Amplifier with BJT Current Mirror
  2. Operational Amplifiers
  3. The Summing Amplifier and Applications
  4. Comparators and Schmitt Triggers
  5. Gain-Bandwidth Product and Slew Rate
  6. Active Filters
  7. Phase Locked Loops
  8. Amplitude Modulation and Demodulation
  9. The Wein-Bridge Oscillator
  10. Analog-to-Digital and Digital-to-Analog Conversion

Lab Documents

Equipment Manuals

Links

Teaching Assistants, Fall 2009

ECE Lab Schedule, Fall 2009

Laboratory Classes are not scheduled for the first week of the term, or during any week that the university is open for fewer than five full days.  (When unscheduled university closings occur, e.g., for inclement weather or emergencies, lab classes will meet at their regular times for the remainder of the week.  Lab TA's will arrange make-up sessions for labs canceled due to the unscheduled university closing.  Check the UNC Charlotte website for emergency closings.  If the university is closed, lab classes are cancelled.)

Fall 2009 ECE labs will begin the week of August 31st.  Fall 2009 labs will not be held August 24-28, September 7-11, October 12-16, November 23-27, or December 7- 9... with the following exceptions:

ECGR 2155 Students:  Tutorial sessions will be held at your regular class meeting times during the week of August 24-28 to familiarize you with the operation of essential laboratory test equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators, meters, etc.).

ECGR 2255 Students:  You will be using Mentor Graphics on Sun or Linux workstations.  Your TA will conduct MG workshops prior to the first official class meeting for those who are unfamiliar with the software or operating systems.

Pre-Lab exercises must be completed and turned in at the beginning of each lab class.    If you think that you will need to reference pre-lab information to perform experiments or to do post-lab work, make copies.   The pre-lab for Experiment #1 is due the week of August 31st at your regular class meeting time.

Fall 2009 laboratory comprehensive examinations will be administered the week of November 30th.