Instrumentation Training Material

The Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering is equipped with a variety of basic laboratory equipment that is used in a range of laboratory exercises and project work. It has generally been assumed that students will be familiar with the use of basic instrumentation when they arrive having used them in school, or college, however, this assumption was probably never completely valid. Exercises are in place in Part A that expose students to a range of laboratory environments and allow them to use a range of real and virtual instruments, however, in many cases these exercises have less value than intended because of the almost total lack of previous experience amongst some of the intake. The formal teaching of laboratory technique and the use of instruments is never entirely satisfactory since the exercise is best undertaken by practice and is a somewhat personal experience. However, the Department is now equipped with a suite of National Instruments virtual instrumentation that could allow large groups of students to undertake simple training exercises individually. A set of visual training material is required to guide individual students through a range of exercises in the use of basic laboratory equipment. The material should be capable of running on the same computers as the instrumentation software and should be suitable for students with a wide range of previous experience.