This course Web page is not actively maintained. Up-to-date information can be found on the eLC course page.

Description
Lab-based design and realization of electronic devices with a biomedical emphasis. Multidisciplinary teams select a biomedical application as semester project and plan, design, then build a prototype that typically combines elements of sensors, controls, and mechatronics with embedded software. A lecture component complements this problem-based learning course.
Prerequisites: ENGR 2170 (Electric Circuits)
In addition, major-specific prerequisites are:

• EE: ENGR 4230 (Sensors & transducers)
• CSE: CSEE 4230 (Embedded systems)
• BE: ENGR 3720 (Engineering physiology)
• ME: ENGR 4220 (Feedback controls)
• ... or permission of major

Class schedule Spring 2020:
Lecture: Monday 11:40 -- 12:55 (double period)
Lab: Friday 11:40 -- 12:55 (double period)
Driftmier, Room 1275 (formerly 314).

• Introduction
• Syllabus
• Books
• Lab Facilities
• Grading
• Office hours
• Homeworks
• Links & Resources

So you have had Circuits and Linear Systems. You have had Sensors & Transducers and Feedback Controls. Perhaps you also had Electronics I/II or Mechatronics. But... how do you actually build a device?

This will be the focus of this lab-based course on Instrumentation. This course is open to BSBE, BSCSE, BSEE, and MCHE, and your expertise will be combined to realize in practice a device with biomedical focus, for example, a blood pressure cuff, a ECG monitor, or a pulse oxymeter. Teams will be composed of students from the different disciplines, and each team can select their own project (approval required). The two-hour lecture covers practical aspects of electronic device development, and during the lab session, you receive assistence in building the prototype device.

By the end of this course, you will have:

• gained understanding of the interaction of discrete electronics with microcontrollers
• gained understanding how to sense and influence the environment (sensors and actuators)
• obtained the ability to translate design goals into a circuit schematic
• obtained understanding of the interaction of hardware and software
• understood the design-for-safety concept and the impact of design failures on the safety of the product
• built a working prototype of an electronic device with a biomedical application

Photocopies of selected sections from several books will be provided.

Suggested reading:

• Tietze U, Schenk Ch. Electronic Circuits - Handbook for Design and Application. Springer, 2011.
• Mancini R, Carter B. Op-Amps For Everyone. Elsevier Science and Technology, 2017. This book used to be available as free e-book resource from Texas Instruments, but is apparently now officially published. A Web search for "op-amps for everyone" yields numerous sites where the PDF can still be accessed.

Labs take place in Driftmier 1275.

The grade will be based about equally on the homeworks, the midterm exam, the final exam, and the semester project. You will receive score points based on the fill-the-bucket principle, i.e. for each homework assignment and for each test, you accrue score points. Your final grade will be determined from the score you achieved relative to the maximum score achievable.

We use a fixed grading system. There will be no adjustment based on the overall class performance. To get a passing grade, you will have to achieve an overall score of at least 45%. The following table shows the percentage of your score you need to reach for a specific grade:

• Office hours: Tentatively M/F 1:15 - 2:30 in RBN 155F
• Alternatively, contact me by e-mail (delays are possible when I have to deal with a large volume of messages)

Homework assignments