Syllabus: ELET 3132L Digital Systems Lab TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction Required laboratory procedures Laboratory report guidelines Laboratory report format Laboratory grading policy Oral presentation critique form Page i ii ii iii iv vi

INTRODUCTION
These laboratory exercises are designed with a dual purpose: (1) to provide the student with hands-on experience in the application of electronic principles through the design, construction, and implementation of several electronic circuits, and (2) to provide an atmosphere where the student will be required to communicate, both in written and oral form, the experimental problem and results in a formal, peer-reviewed form. Typically, Freshman and Sophomore lab experiences emphasize the first of these purposes. Junior and Senior E.T. electronic experiments at UNC Charlotte emphasize the second purpose. It has been found that career advancement in the field of engineering is directly related to ones ability to communicate clearly in a formal manner. It is the primary purpose of these experiments to provide an opportunity for both written and oral communication, and the largest portion of the grading is weighted in favor of this communication component. These experiments are an extension of the material being covered in ELET3132, Digital Systems, a junior-level digital systems class. They are not synchronized to specific class lectures. The foundation for these experiments have been covered in freshman and sophomore electronics courses that are a prerequisite for this program. It is the responsibility of the student to perform required preparation for lab work. These labs will require some preparation prior to arriving in the lab. Students are expected to behave and report their findings in a professional manner, both orally and in writing, as well as to demonstrate technical competence. It is the students responsibility to know and understand the report writing guidelines. If the guidelines are not followed, the report will be returned with a grade of 0.

REQUIRED LABORATORY PROCEDURES

The implementation and measurement required of any experiments should be completed during the scheduled laboratory period for which you are registered. The use of laboratory trainers will allow some students to complete portions of the experiment outside of the scheduled laboratory hours. Always come to the lab fully prepared. This includes but is not limited to reading the experiment in advance, researching the topics covered, completing a design sketch, if required, and completing pre-lab calculations for the circuits of the experiment or simulations and circuit design if needed. All of this should be done prior to entering the lab to begin the experiment. Failure to be prepared will result in a reduced grade. UNC Charlotte labs. All equipment necessary for the completion of a lab should be set up by the Electronics Shop personnel in the laboratories by the time the lab is scheduled to begin provided that the instructor has given them ample notice. In addition, the manuals for most equipment are available through the Electronics Shop. If additional equipment is to be obtained, the student is Page - i

responsible for the procurement, the operation, and the return of the equipment (Student must have a current UNCC ID to check out equipment). If any equipment is presumed to be defective, the student should return it to the shop for a replacement.

ATTENDANCE
A students grade for a class has been found to be directly related to his or her attendance in the class. Therefore, students are expected to attend every lab class. Of course, situations arise for which the student must miss class, so students may miss 1 lab class without penalty. On the 2nd missed lab class, the students final grade for the class will lowered by one letter grade. For every lab day missed after the 2nd class, the students final grade will be lowered another letter grade. When a student arrives late to class (or falls asleep in class) they disturb everyone around them, impacting their classmates grades. Therefore, each time a student arrives late to lab will be counted as day missed. The 2nd time a student arrives to lab class late (or falls asleep in class), the students final grade will be lowered another letter grade.

LABORATORY REPORT GUIDELINES

A written, formal, lab report is required for each experiment. Professionalism, engineering discipline, and attention to detail will be considered in report grading. Late submissions will not be accepted. Students should read the UNC Charlotte Academic Integrity Guidelines carefully. While lab partners are encouraged to work together, distinctive or original reports are expected for each partner. Design efforts and data collection should be a joint effort, but a sincere effort must be made by each individual to create a report showing originality and uniqueness. Analysis of test data and resulting conclusions should also be individual efforts. Each partner is expected to develop an individual report.

LABORATORY REPORT FORMAT

All lab reports will be prepared with Microsoft Word. The format should be single-columned, single-sided and double-spaced. Reports should be printed on 8 by 11 paper with 1 inch margins all around. Reports should be stapled at the upper left corner. Please do not use binders. Text characters should be no larger than 12 points, and no smaller than 10 points. Use either Times New Roman or Arial fonts throughout the report. In cases for which a program listing is required, use Courier New font. Schematic drawings must be made computer generated using a CAD system. The format and content of laboratory reports will include the following clearly identified sections: 1. 2. 3. 4. Title page Abstract Introduction Main Body a. Objective b. Equipment List c. Procedure d. Results e. Analysis or Discussion of Results 5. Conclusion 6. Appendix Page - ii

Title Page. A single page, indicating the lab experiment number and title, the course and section numbers, the name of the author, the names of all lab partners, the lab instructor's name, the date the experiment was performed, the due date, and the date submitted. An editable title page using the correct format is available at: Abstract: the abstract should be the very last thing you write, but the very first thing in your report. To write an abstract, take a key sentence from each section of your report: the introduction, the objective, the procedure, the results, the discussion, and the conclusion. You should then edit these sentences to make one cohesive paragraph of about 500 words. The abstract should appear on a page by itself. Introduction: This is a discussion of background information about the topics under test in this assignment. You must do some research to complete this section, so you must have citations and references. The introduction should be a minimum of one full page in length, and a maximum of two full pages in length. Main Body. This section includes the objectives, equipment list, procedures, results, data tables, etc, to describe in detail the experiment. Its length is dependent upon the amount of material covered, usually several pages. It includes, but is not limited to: Objective: The objective is usually a one or two sentence statement describing the reason for performing this experiment. Equipment List: A complete list of the equipment used to perform the experiment. Procedure: The procedure is a detailed explanation of the steps required to complete the experiment. The detail should be sufficient for someone else to duplicate the experiment and achieve the same results. All circuit diagrams, block diagrams, flowcharts, etc. should be completed with a drawing package and embedded in the report document. Acceptable drawing packages for schematic diagrams are OrCAD (PSpice schematic capture) or Multisims Electronic Workbench (EWB), or Xilinx. Microsoft Visio or Microsoft Word Drawings should be used for line drawings, block diagrams or flowcharts. Note: If a Gantt Chart (Microsoft Project) or an Excel Spreadsheet or graph is required for the lab report, it must be inserted into the Word document as an image. All images must be scanned or screen shots and inserted into the report. All hand-written information (even scanned images) must be in the appendices. All images should be identified below the image (figure #), and have a title. All tables must be identified above the table (Table #) and have a title. Results: The results section should include all data measured in the lab and placed in neat and readable tables. Sometimes it is preferable to include the results and discussion in the same section. If so, the results and the discussion should fall under the Results heading. Analysis or Discussion of Results: The analysis (or discussion, whichever heading seems appropriate) should include a commentary of the results of the experiment. This section should explain all the results in detail. This is the most important section of your report. Also, any unexpected results should be explained in a satisfactory manner. Simply blaming unexpected results on tolerance (or some other typical parameter) is not acceptable unless the tolerances in components were measured and the explanation makes sense (i.e.; a resistor whose actual value is Page - iii

10% over the nominal value, but has a reported measured voltage that is 10% less than expected could not be attributed to resistor tolerance. Note: Measurement error or human error is never acceptable. Conclusion. The significance of the results of the experiment should be summarized. For example, if the data gathered does not agree with the analysis of the problem, an explanation should be presented for the reason for the bad data and those steps which would eliminate the problem the next time the experiment would be conducted. Questions that might be of assistance when writing the conclusion ... Did the data support the expected results? Why or why not? Do the results support the theory or background information? Were there any outstanding problems that were not anticipated and could have been circumvented? How does advance design assist in obtaining results in a shorter time? How could computers be used more to assist in design and analysis of circuits and logic systems? Where might the concepts covered be applied? Such statements as I learned a lot are not applicable to the conclusion. Include information that is specific to the laboratory assignment and its results. Appendix. All information that could be used to support the report but is not required. Original data sheets, etc. should be included here. No data taken in lab should be destroyed, and all such information can be attached here (ask your instructor). The structure, layout, or content of the appendix will not affect the lab grade, though it should be organized and neat. If one is looking for a rule-of-thumb for successful reports, identify the intended audience and write the report for them. If the intended audience is not known, design the report to accommodate a busy executive and a peer. The busy executive, with little time for reading the details of the report, expects all pertinent results, conclusions and problems to be listed in the summary or conclusion. A peer might be more concerned with the main body since it should contain all of the information required to duplicate the experiment and obtain identical results if necessary. Note: Occasionally, raw data gathered during the experiment is to be initialed by the instructor at the time the experiment is being conducted. This is intended to identify any significant errors that can be corrected before expiration of the lab period.

LABORATORY GRADING POLICY

Individual Laboratory Reports Grades for the individual laboratory reports will be determined in the following manner. Laboratory report component Lab preparation, conduct, and participation English composition and grammar (Technical writing) Technical content, competence and accuracy Note: No Late Submissions will be accepted. W Goal: This is an Intensive Writing Class. You must score a minimum of a 30 (of 40) points for the Technical Writing of your report. If the grade falls below 30 points, you must re-write the report until you reach 30 points. Each submission of the same report will have a reduction in grade. Page - iv Percentage of report grade 20 % 40 % 40 %

LAST SESSION, ORAL PRESENTATIONS

All components and equipment must be turned in at the last laboratory session. Only the last written laboratory report will be accepted after the beginning of this session. In this last session each student will present a 10-12 minute oral presentation on a subject related to a selected experiment and assigned by the instructor in a previous lab session. The report will be critiqued using Speakers Checklist. Students will be critiquing each other, and the instructor reserves the privilege of including the student critiques in ascertaining a grade for the presentation. Dress for the presentations will be semi formal, that is, men will be expected to wear a dress shirt, tie, and appropriate jacket, slacks, shoes, etc. Women will be expected to dress in a fashion that is similar in formality. All presenters will be expected to prepare a multi-media production including a minimum of transparencies or computer projected slides and handouts in addition to their oral presentation. The grade for the presentation will be treated as an additional laboratory grade. Specific guidelines and suggestions for the presentation will be provided at least one week prior to the presentation.

LABORATORY SAFETY POLICY

The University Of North Carolina Department Of Engineering Technology has established a Laboratory Health and Safety program which has been incorporated into all laboratory activities within the department. The program consists of a Laboratory Health and Safety Plan (LHASP) and Laboratory Safety Analyses (LSAs). The LHASP and related LSAs must be followed when conducting all laboratory testing related to course work and research. The LSAs have been developed to provide the specific safe operating procedures for all of the individual types of laboratory equipment which have potential safety hazardous associated with their operation. It is the responsibility of each student to be aware of and understand the policies and procedures stated within the LHASP and related LSAs. The LHASP and LSAs are located on the Department of Engineering Technology web site at the following web address http://et.uncc.edu/laboratory-health-asafety.html. This information is also available within each laboratory in hard copy form, on a standalone computer workstation with direct electronic access to the above web address and may be provided on Moodle, the online course communication system of UNC Charlotte. Students are required to purchase safety glasses meeting ANSI Z87.1 and ANSI Z136.1 standards (available at the various campus bookstores or local hardware stores) and must be worn while conducting all laboratory functions in all non-computer laboratories. Safety glasses must be worn at all times during experiments. Failure to do so could result penalties which could affect your grade for the course as outlined in the LHASP. Closed-toed shoes should also be worn to every laboratory class. Students should also be aware of potential thermal, chemical, and electric hazards and take necessary precautions to protect themselves and others from injury. It is important to keep Safety First when conducting all aspects of laboratory activities.

Page - v