Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi

MIE402 Lab 1: Test Equipment Workshop

MIE 402: WORKSHOP ON TEST EQUIPMENT

Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi Fall 2012

OBJECTIVE
To become familiar with frequently-used electronic test instruments in the MIE lab.

BACKGROUND REQUIRED
Relevant lecture and class discussions Equipment manuals (at each experimental station in the Lab)

EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE
Digital storage oscilloscope Function generator/Frequency Counter Digital Multimeter (DMM) DC voltage supply Equipment manuals Resistance/capacitance decade box, Double-Pole/Double-Throw (DPDT) switch box, miscellaneous cables.

PROCEDURE
The oscilloscope is one of the most widely used measuring instruments. Every engineer should know how an oscilloscope works, what it can and cannot do, and how to use it. In particular, an engineer should know how to record a signal on the scope screen and describe it quantitatively. The proper way to do this is indicated in Figure 1 below, where it is assumed that the scope screen has 8 major vertical divisions and 10 major horizontal divisions (as is the case with our oscilloscopes).
sketch in observed wave shape 0.0 volts DC mode vertical: 0.01 volts/div horizontal: 1.0 sec/div

Figure 1: Example of how to sketch in the notes the waveform seen on the scope (Show all pertinent values such as ground level (0.0 volts), AC/DC mode, and vertical/horizontal gains).

Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi

MIE402 Lab 1: Test Equipment Workshop

The DC voltage supply and function generator are used to provide voltage signals for test purposes. The scope and the DMM are used to measure these (and other) voltage signals. 1. Oscilloscope, Signal Generator, and DMM/Counter Enter the manufacturer, model number, type, and serial number (s/n) of the particular instruments you will be using in your notes. In general, this should be done at the beginning of every lab. Set the Generator control to produce a 1 Volt peak 1,000 Hz sinusoid, using OFFSET and AMPL and FREQUENCY control, and get the waveform to stand still on the scope. Use the Autoset button for the initial scope setting. Investigate the vertical (VOLTS/DIV) and horizontal controls (SEC/DIV) of the scope, the related menu options, signal triggering options, and cursor control buttons. Use the 2nd button on the DMM to display both AC and DC values. 2. Observe the Known Signals Use the signal generator to produce the three signals described in the Pre-Lab Work problem #1. Use both the DMM and the oscilloscope to measure the AC and DC components of the signals, and compare the instrument reading to your Homework results. Are they similar? 3. RC Transients Turn off the DC voltage supply first. Then, set up the circuit shown in Figure 2 below, using the DC voltage supply, the R/C decade box, and one side of the DPDT switch. Have the TA check your circuit before you throw the switch!
A C B

DMM

DC volt supply 1.0 volt

1 F
-

scope

Figure 2: DC transient capture circuit

Here, you will observe the change in voltage across the capacitor when it is charging and discharging. Use the storage mode on the scope to capture the capacitor voltage transient when the switch is thrown from position B to position A (charge). The procedure to store a signal in the storage mode is as follows:
2

Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi

MIE402 Lab 1: Test Equipment Workshop

1) Use the AUTO trigger mode (trigger menu, mode auto); 2) Use a Sweep Rate slow enough to capture the entire transient on one sweep across the screen; 3) Use the Run/Stop button to store one transient on the oscilloscope screen; 4) Use the Save/Recall menu to store a transient as either Ref. A or B for comparison to other wafeforms. We are ready to start the experiment now. With the power on, switch from position B to position A, and observe the waveform. (a) (b) (c) (d) Record your procedure, circuit diagram, and observed transient waveform in your notes. What time constant does the measured transient exhibit? What should the time constant be for this circuit? Note the voltage across the capacitor: is it 1 Volt? Why?

Next, capture the voltage transient when the switch is thrown from position A back to position B (discharge). (e) What is the measured time constant? What should it be? Now, without erasing the screen and with the capacitor charged (switch in position A), capture the discharging transient. However, do NOT use the switch this time. Instead, pull out the positive lead from the voltage supply to initiate the discharge transient. (f) Note the observed time constant, and compare with the calculations you made in the PreLab Work problem #2. What conclusions can you draw? Comment in your notes.

Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi

MIE402 Lab 1: Test Equipment Workshop

Pre-Lab Work (Due at the start of your Lab)

1. Use Matlab and plot two cycles of the following y(t) waveforms. Then, to replicate the expected lab scopes screen, sketch the three waveforms using an appropriate vertical scale (magnitude; volt/div, 8 total divisions) and an appropriate horizontal scale (time base; msec/div, 10 total divisions) to capture 2 full cycles of the following signals: a. v(t) = sin(1000t) volts b. v(t) = -1.0 + cos(2000t) volts c. v(t) = 2.0 to 4.0 volt square wave at 1,000 Hz Then, you will have a plotted version of each of these waveforms and a sketched version next to it. Compute the frequency, period, peak-to-peak, max, min, average, and rms values for each of signals listed above. 2. Compute the time constants for the DC transient circuit as shown below, when the switch is at the A and B positions, respectively (show circuit modeling details), and when you pull out the positive lead from the voltage supply.

A C B

DMM

DC volt supply 1.0 volt

1 F
-

scope

Yahya Modarres-Sadeghi

MIE402 Lab 1: Test Equipment Workshop

Appendix: RMS Values The RMS (Root-Mean-Square) value of a time-varying signal y(t) is defined as:
yrms 1 T
T

y
0

(t ) dt

where T is the period of time spent on signal integration (note that T is always chosen to be greater than the greatest period of time contained in the signal to ensure correct measurement). If y(t) is a voltage, then its RMS value yrms will have the unit of Volts. Similar to the average (or mean) value of a signal, the RMS value is a measure that quantifies the strength of a timevarying signal. However, the RMS value takes into account the fluctuations of the signal about its average value. Physically, the RMS value consists of the square root of the average (or mean) of the square of the signal. Thus, the notation RMS indicates exactly the operations performed by a measurement instrument on a signal y(t), in order to obtain its RMS value.