A Project Based Electronics Manufacturing Laboratory Course For Lower Division Engineering Students

Pan, Jianbiao; Liddicoat, Albert A.; Harris, James G.; Bello, Dominic Dal

doi:10.18260/1-2--3714

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…In other studies [4], [5] there are passing mentions of students building guitar effects pedals as a part of analog design courses, but no further context is provided. Pan, et al [6] used the hands-on experience of designing and building guitar effects pedals in an electronics manufacturing course to expose students to PCB layout and manufacturing techniques.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Guitar Pedals to Introduce Amplifier Design and Printed Circuit Board Layout in an Electronics Course

McPheron

Parson²

2021 Illinois-Indiana Regional Conference Proceedings

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One of the foundational learning outcomes of upper level engineering electronics courses is the analysis and implementation of discrete amplifier design. While it is relatively straight-forward to implement these designs in the lab, the application of amplifiers in practice may be difficult for students to understand.A simple application of discrete amplifier circuits is the analysis and design of guitar effects pedals. Effects pedals, and in particular overdrive, fuzz, and distortion circuits, demonstrate keystone concepts of electronics, including single stage amplifier design, multistage amplifier design, clipping, biasing, and variable parameter control. In addition, the implementation of these amplifiers in a small package size (within a metal enclosure) provides an excellent avenue for exposing students to printed circuit board (PCB) layout and prototyping. One benefit of these circuits is that they can be used with an input device (guitar) and an output device (audio amplifier) and students can physically observe (and hear) the results of their design. One particular benefit of this approach is a greater understanding of frequency response characteristics, as students are able to hear the results.In this work, several lab projects were developed for an upper level engineering electronics course to leverage guitar pedal design for teaching discrete amplifier design and PCB layout. This paper presents these projects, resources for implementing the projects, as well as assessment results from the initial offering of this course. In addition to direct assessment of the amplifier design course objectives, qualitative student survey results are presented. Both the direct assessment and student survey results suggest that this approach was effective in helping students better understand amplifier analysis and design.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Guitar Pedals to Introduce Amplifier Design and Printed Circuit Board Layout in an Electronics Course

McPheron

Parson²

2021 Illinois-Indiana Regional Conference Proceedings

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Work in progress - enhancing student-learning through state-of-the-art systems level design and implementation

Liddicoat

Pan

Harris

et al. 2008

2008 38th Annual Frontiers in Education Conference

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-The curriculum for undergraduate engineering programs is often partitioned into several courses that are taught in isolation followed by a single culminating senior design or capstone project experience. In the senior design class students begin to synthesize the knowledge and skills that they acquired through the engineering curriculum. This paper presents lower and upper division course and curricular changes made to accommodate learning objectives that better prepare students for project-based learning. These learning experiences and skills include: systems level design, experience with state-of-the art Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools, printed circuit board (PBC) design, design for manufacturability, electronics assembly, project management, engineering ethics, and communication skills. Three upper division project based learning courses have been developed and are being offered this year.In addition, the development of laboratory tutorials and learning modules for the lower division engineering curriculum will introduce all engineering majors to current electronic manufacturing technology, and allow them to design electronic systems using PCBs. The courses and tutorial learning modules are currently being classroom tested and assessed.

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A Project Based Electronics Manufacturing Laboratory Course For Lower Division Engineering Students

Cited by 2 publications

References 17 publications

Using Guitar Pedals to Introduce Amplifier Design and Printed Circuit Board Layout in an Electronics Course

Using Guitar Pedals to Introduce Amplifier Design and Printed Circuit Board Layout in an Electronics Course

Work in progress - enhancing student-learning through state-of-the-art systems level design and implementation

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