The following is a detailed explaination of the lab format for this semester in ENEE 302 and CMPE 306.

Each student will be responsible for their own lab report. Lab reports must be typed. Written corrections to the report are allowed, however, they must be in black ink. Each lab report should contain a title page, purpose, equipment used, procedure, circuit diagram, data section, graphical interpretation, calculations, and conclusion. The prelab circuit simulation, with results and with the TA initials indicating that it was observed before lab, should be included in the lab. Do not at any time in the report use the word you.The remainder of this presentation will be an example of the format for the lab.

ENEE 302 or CMPE 306 Spring 2009

Lab Title

<Your Name> <Your partners name(s)> <Lab section/ Date and time> <The TA teaching the lab>

Purpose: In 1 to 3 complete sentences explain the object of the lab and the theory supporting it. The theory should be expressed as a mathematical expression, and all variables should be defined.

i.e.

The purpose of this lab is to learn how to measure DC voltage and current. The theory supporting this lab is Ohms law which states, I=V/R (I current, V- voltage, R- resistance).

[Dr. LaBerge comment: Right from the start, its a good idea to use the Word equation editor (or LaTex, if youre using a unix/Linux machine) for the equations. Get in the habit: it makes your work look more professional (a good thing to employers), and then, when you have to do a formal project/presentation such as Capstone, youll already know how to use the tools. The MathType add-on to Word its basically the full featured version of the Equation Editor is worth its weight in gold, is available for $57 at http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/. At this point, however, this is a recommendation, not a requirement. You can laboriously type the equations in Word if you want, or you can write them in black pen. ]

Equipment: -This should be a simple list i.e.

DC power supply Digital multimeter Breadboard 20k potentiometer

1k resistor

Procedure: The procedure can be expressed in either complete sentences or in a chronologically numbered format. You can refer to the diagrams in the next section. Make sure any diagrams you refer to are labeled correctly. i.e.

1. Construct the circuit in Fig 1 2. Use the multimeter in series to R to measure the current I 3. Use the multimeter to measure the voltage V 4. Record I and V for five settings of the potentiometer (one being the maximum, one being the minimum) 5. Calculate R for each measurement using Ohms law for each measurement 6. Plot the I-V curve and determine the mean value of the resistor

Circuit diagram: -This should include any circuit you constructed i.e.

R= 1k, 2k

[Dr. LaBerge comment: Drawing circuits is a pain. Once we introduce LTSPICE, you can use that. Personally. Its acceptable to draw these using Visio, Powerpoint, Word Graphics, or to draw by hand. I dont have a solid preference and dont have a good recommended solution, either.] Data: Your data section should be the data you collected during the experiment. You will not be graded on the correctness of you data collection only how the data is interpreted to make sure you have developed an understanding of the circuit works. i.e.

Graph 1 Trial 1 2 3 4 5 Voltage (V) Current (A) 1 0.05 3 0.1 5 0.15 7 0.2 12 0.3

Graphs: This should be a well labeled graph section. Using programs like Microsoft excel or similar programs will be helpful i.e.

[Dr. LaBerge comments: For relatively simple chart drawing, Excel is probably the most available and easiest method. But it just isnt sufficient for serious technical work. It would be good practice to learn to do your charts in MATLAB. MATLAB is invaluable for all sorts of reasons, and will eventually be required in many of your 300 and 400 level courses. You can access it from UMBC.]

Calculations: This section will include any derivations, or mathematical expressions used in this experiment. Make sure that any new expression not mentioned in the purpose have defined variables. i.e.

Ohms Law R = V/I Trial 1 1V/0.05A = 20 Trial 2 3V/.1A= 30 Trial 3

5V/.15A= 33.3 Trial 4 7V/.2A= 35 Trial 5 12V/.3A= 40

CMPE306 Students Only! For Lab 4 and beyond, all CMPE 306 students must provide PSPICE analyses of their results in the computation section. You need not use the Capture capability to draw the schematic, but if you do not, you do need to include the net list. You should show the PSPICE results that support your measurements. If the measurements are incremental (as in Lab 1, for example), it is fine to use the looping capability of PSPICE.

Conclusion and questions: In a few sentences (3-10) explain what you learned, why the experiment results turned out the way it did, and how this experiment can be used in real life situations. If you can think of ways this experiment can be use then you are free to look up uses of the circuit. If there were major problem hindering your team from completing the lab correctly, explain why you were not able to complete the lab and write about how the results should have turned out and why. Also any questions asked in the lab worksheet should be answered directly after the conclusion section.

i.e.

I learned how to use a multimeter to measure DC voltage and current. The voltage was directly proportional to the resistance and the current was indirectly proportional to the resistance in agreement with Ohms law. This experiment is used as the basis for most DC electrical circuits. In any electrical circuit experiment the current and/or voltage measurements are of interest.

Questions (For your convenience you can write the question) : 1. Answer 2. Answer

[Dr. LaBerge comments: Sometimes your experiment wont turn out as expected. If that happens, dont panic! You havent failed the lab. But in this case it is very important that you try to guess why things didnt go well. Think about possible causes and discuss, at least briefly, what the effect might have been and why that effect would or would not explain what you observed. Some of the greatest discoveries came from failed experiments (Alexander Fleming and penicillin, Pensias and Wilsons discovery of the 4K cosmic background radiation, etc.) Theres nothing that earth-shaking in this lab, but, again, trying to figure out what went wrong is an important engineering skill.]