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Spring 05/06 Prof. Greg Kovacs

EE122 GENERAL INFORMATION

Lectures: Mondays only, 12:40 - 2:30 pm

Thornton Center (Terman Annex) 110

Professor: Name Telephone E-Mail Office Greg Kovacs 725-3637 kovacs@cis CISX-202

Additional Leturer: Hollis Whittington TBA [email protected]

Special Advisor: Bob Ricks 604-6785 [email protected]

Office Hours: Meetings by appointment. Office hours typically after class for coffee, starting mid-quarter.

Greg will be able to make appointments Mondays and Wednesdays in general.

EMAIL is the best way to set up an appointment.

Administrative Name Telephone E-Mail Office Hours

Contact: Sandy Plewa 723-0720 splewa@leland CISX205 9:00am-5:00pm

Teaching Assistants:

Name Telephone E-Mail Office Hours Chris Lee [email protected] TBD Roxana Trofin (650) 380-8633 [email protected] TBD

Optional Textbook:

Horowitz, P., and Hill, W., “The Art of Electronics,” Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. Latest edition is preferred, but not necessary. At the instructor’s discretion, a copy will be provided for students with genuine economic hardship who desire one, after they have looked through the book beforehand.

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IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF EE122

• “Curiosity-driven” laboratories with a far less rigid structure than is typical – students must take personal responsibility for working on their projects all during the quarter.

• A team-based approach to learning.

• Practical, rather than theory-driven content.

• Preparation for laboratories will involve team research and analysis, rather than lengthy write-ups.

• Lab-book-based approach to taking data. The intent is to build good habits for recording the pertinent details so that one can go back and reproduce or analyze work done. Lab books are graded.

• In most quarters, a full three weeks is provided for full-time design and construction of the final project, culminating in presentation to the class.

• No formal examinations (midterms or final), with grading based on laboratory notebooks, teamwork, and final project.

OBJECTIVES (Why am I taking this course?) The purpose of EE122 is to introduce you to practical, hands-on aspects of basic electronics. We hope to leave you with an intuitive understanding of how the circuits discussed function, how to design such circuits, and how to use modern electronic instruments to simulate, test, and de-bug circuits.

TOOLS Throughout this course, you will be using both physical and virtual instruments. Physical instruments are the type you are probably already familiar with, such as meters, oscilloscopes, etc. Virtual instruments are programs running on computers that let you simulate circuits and their operation - some of you are probably familiar with some version of SPICE. It is a circuit simulator that will allow you to test your designs, or to



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simply do experiments on circuits without having to build them physically. While we do not explicitly recommend nor support a particular variant of spice, most students download and use the student version of PSpice, which can be obtained from the following link: http://www.orcad.com/downloads/demo/default.asp This program allows you to run your simulations entirely on the computer. They also allow you to obtain high-quality graphics output that can be “cut and pasted” into your write-ups. Each and every student is responsible for gaining access to and learning to use a SPICE-type circuit simulator. Please see your TA with any questions.

PRELAB PREPARATION The purpose of prelab preparation is to make sure that you and your lab partners are ready for the material to be covered in each laboratory. The nature of the preparation for each lab will vary, so please pay careful attention to the handouts and instructions given in class. Typically, a prelab will involve designing some circuits, simulating them, and doing any necessary background research (looking at data sheets, obtaining any special parts you might need, etc.). Sometimes, your team may be assigned some research in the library or some reading in the textbook.

Prelabs will not entail large, formal write-ups. What we do want you to do is prove that you have accomplished the assigned prelab tasks by showing the TA (at the beginning of your weekly lab) whatever is called for in the prelab assignment. He or she will record that fact for your team, and this will count toward your grade.

We do not need each one of you to individually prepare a prelab writeup. The idea is that each team submits one prelab packet to the TA and all team members share the same grade for the packet. You need to fairly share the workload and all

collaborate on each and every prelab. Rotations, where one person in the team

does an entire prelab, will not be permitted. We absolutely want to prevent any of you from blowing off the prelab tasks. Not having them done beforehand will severely impair the learning process for you and your team members.


http://www.orcad.com/downloads/demo/default.asp


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Note Regarding “Slacker” Lab Partners In the past, there have been occasional “slacker” lab partners, who pull down the grades of their assigned partners, but also greatly deteriorate the learning experience for them. The TA’s are asked to be vigilant about this and we work hard to weed out slackers. Partners who do not show up to lab, who do not share equally in prelab and project work, and who generally display a poor attitude will

be dealt with promptly and appropriately. Varsity athletes and others with

significant extracurricular activities please take note.



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LABS Every effort has been made to enhance the learning content of the labs and to simplify your lab write-ups. The idea is to record the essential information from the laboratory itself in a way that conveys the essentials to a reader (e.g., grader) in a concise way. The raw data and observations will be recorded by each team in a bound notebook

(only one notebook per team). These will be graded at the end of the quarter and will serve as a record of the work you have done in the laboratory. This will be particularly important when you are working on your final project.

The formal write-ups will be done by each team, and only one copy will be

handed in per team.

Guidelines for Lab Write-Ups (Hint - this is how they will be graded.)

• Neat and readable - they should be prepared on a computer.

• Easy to understand and follow explanations.

• As short and to-the-point as possible.

• Demonstrating creativity and cleverness.

• Conclusions are supported by the necessary data.

• Absolutely not more than ten pages long, including all plots, schematics, etc.

LABS WRITE-UPS ARE DUE AT 5PM, ONE WEEK AFTER THE LAB

SESSION YOU ARE ASSIGNED TO. LAB WRITE-UPS ARE TO BE

DROPPED OFF AS ARRANGED WITH YOUR TA.

UNLESS PRE-APPROVED BY THE PROFESSOR, NO EXCEPTIONS

WILL BE MADE.

LABORATORY NOTEBOOKS WILL ONLY BE DUE AT THE END OF

THE QUARTER FOR FINAL GRADING.



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TYPOS, ERRORS AND THE LIKE Due to the fact that the course notes and other handouts were generated by humans, there will be unavoidable mistakes. For the sake of yourselves and future classmates, please report typos to Greg Kovacs as soon as you discover them so that corrections can be made. Thank you very much in advance for your help with this!

GRADING Grades for each student will be derived as follows: • Laboratory notebooks - 20% • Formal laboratory write-ups - 30% • Final project (team) demonstration/presentation and write-up - 40% • TA evaluation of laboratory skills (individual) - 10% Please be aware that the TA evaluation can be quite different for two people on a team, so you are NOT guaranteed to get the same grade as your partner.

LABORATORY CLEANLINESS AND MAINTENANCE Students are responsible for helping maintain the cleanliness and useability of the laboratory. Each team will be assigned a set of equipment, probes, cables, and accessories that they are responsible for. Any loss or breakage must be reported immediately to your TA (and to Keith Gaul by the TA).



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THE FINAL PROJECT

The final project will entail the design, construction, and testing of a project of your choosing. Early in the course, you will be asked for proposals for project ideas. Each team will submit two proposals, all of which should be fairly well through-through in terms of the design approach. Proposals will be evaluated by the professor and the TA’s, who will choose one for you.

It is CRITICAL that you start thinking about projects early in the course. Think about a nifty project you'd like to build. Radio and “mainly digital” projects are strongly discouraged. This is an analog circuits lab. However, the judicious use of digital circuits in combination with the analog stuff is perfectly fine. For example, a simple microcontroller such as a Basic Stamp™ may be incorporated into a circuit that has a substantial analog component. Your team will have to produce a brief application document (how to use the thing you design, how it works, its specifications, etc.) and your team will have to give a demonstration/presentation.

RF-based projects are not allowed in EE122. Projects drawing power directly from the household line (115V) are not allowed – power must come from an approved “AC adapter” (details in lecture), a bench power supply already in the lab, or batteries. Any projects that could potentially be dangerous or in poor taste are not allowed.

The write-ups will be strictly limited to ten pages total, so be careful to make them high-quality (since you can’t make them high-quantity!).



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EE122 CALENDAR – SPRING 2005-2006

(Weeks are listed by the date of Monday of each week.)

Week of Apr. 4 - Instrumentation - Physical and Virtual (SPICE)

First class is: 4/4/04

Notes: Lab assignments, course organization will be discussed. Kovacs, Ricks, Whittington, and

TAs will introduce themselves in class and schedule laboratory times. If time permits, a brief

laboratory tour will take place..

Students should purchase textbooks and laboratory books.

Lecture Topics:

Review of basic instruments (physical and virtual).

Review of electronic components.

Introduction to the design process.

Week of Apr. 11 - Basic Op-Amp Concepts

Students will learn how to operate the electronic instruments in the laboratory and familiarize

themselves with the necessary software, as required.

Lecture Topics:

Power sources such as basic power supply circuits, batteries, etc.

Operational amplifier circuits (inverting and non-inverting amplifiers, summers, etc.).

Limitations and strengths of integrated circuit opertional amplifiers.

Week of Apr. 18 - Frequency Concepts and Nonlinear Circuits

Students will experiment with simple operational amplifier circuits and get a feel for what these

chips can and cannot do.

Lecture Topics:

Analog filter circuits.

Nonlinear operational amplifier circuits.

Simple oscillators.

Week of Apr. 25 - Interface Circuits

Students will learn to use filters, nonlinear circuits with op-amps, and how to generate a basic set

of useful signals. Experimenting with the circuits will be encouraged.

Lecture Topics:

Interface circuits to motors, relays, lamps, etc., using discrete transistors (bipolar and MOSFET).

Digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital concepts.

Basic sensor concepts - how circuits see, feel, hear, etc.



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Project proposals due in class on Monday Apr. 18. TA’s will contact students regarding

approval or changes by Wednesday, Apr 20. Turning them in early is highly encouraged!

Week of May 2 - Optoelectronics

Students will use simple circuits to interface to a variety of “real-world” devices.

Lecture Topics:

LED’s, lasers, phototransistors, and other interesting optoelectronic devices.

Simple circuits to move information with light.

Week of May 9 - Additional Circuit Concepts, Final Project Construction

Students will gain hands-on experience with optoelectronic components and demonstrate an

optical signal transmitter and receiver.

Lecture Topics:

A variety of useful circuit building blocks.

Week of May 16 – Additional Circuit Concepts, Final Project Construction

Students will be exposed to a variety of interesting circuit concepts that might come in handy

when working on the details of their projects.

Lecture Topics:

More interesting circuit tricks.

Brief student project presentations in class.

Week of May 23 - Final Project Construction

Students should have already begun construction of projects, obtain any special components, and

team member responsibilities should be clarified and assigned by now.

Lecture Topics:

How to build prototype circuits.

How to debug analog circuits.

Brief student project presentations in class.

Week of May 30 – Final Project Construction and Final Project Demonstrations

Office hours in lab, no formal lecture. Kovacs, Ricks , TA’s will have Q&A at lab.



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Demonstrations will take place Wednesday, June 1 in the class laboratory, with exact times for

each group to be scheduled by the TA’s.

Demonstrations must take place on the scheduled day and time.

Final project write-ups are due at 5 pm, Thursday, June 2nd, at CISX-205. Please give them

to Ms. Sandy Plewa.

PLEASE NOTE: The final project demonstrations are

scheduled for Wednesday, June 1st, and the final reports are

due Thursday, June 2nd by 5 pm (please turn them in to Ms.

Sandy Plewa).

This is not flexible. All students must attend.

Please block out the demo date on your calendar.

This is how the final grade is derived.

There are no incompletes given in this course unless there is

a valid medical or other personal reason and it is arranged

with G. Kovacs well in advance of the due date (as is

feasible).

If you cannot participate in the demo day, please do not take

EE122 this quarter.



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