Electrical Engineering Laboratories

Table of Contents

Electrical Engineering Laboratories:Introduction

At East Texas A&M, our Electrical Engineering Laboratories are equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and simulation software. Facilitate experimental work for teaching and research with hands-on access to software such as LabVIEW, MATLAB, PSPICE, GNU Radio, LVSIM-EMS software, Multisim and more.

The following teaching and research laboratories help to support the electrical engineering program.

Electric Circuits Lab

This lab provides students with hands-on experience with circuit implementation using simulation software (e.g., Multisim and PSpice) and hardware equipment. Associated experiments include:

  • electrical circuit laws
  • network theorems
  • operational amplifiers
  • RLC networks
  • topology of electrical networks
  • sinusoidal steady-state analysis.

Students will practice developing hands-on skills by building electric circuits that contain discrete components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors etc. This lab also aims to provide students with experience using basic measurement devices and equipment available in the electric circuit laboratory.

Digital Circuit Lab

In this lab, students are tasked with solving digital logic design problems by building breadboard digital circuits, testing with oscilloscopes and other standard test equipment and modeling using Multisim. For example, in one popular lab experiment, students design and implement vending machine logic to deliver a particular item and tender appropriate change.

Electronics I Lab

Students will perform simulations and experiments of electronic circuits to study the main characteristics and practical applications of semiconductor electronic devices such as diodes and transistors. They will practice on diode characteristic curves, rectifiers and regulated power supplies, regulators, clipping and clamping circuits, BJT characteristics and biasing, and analog amplifiers. The work will be supported by software simulation using Multisim and/or PSpice. There will be six lab assignments distributed over the semester. Students will work in teams.

Selected experiments include:

  • Semiconductor Diodes: Diode Characteristic Curves: Semiconductor Diode, LED and Zener
  • Diode Applications (Part I): Diode Rectifiers and Regulated Power Supply
  • Diode Applications (Part II): Zener Diode Regulation and Design
  • Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT): BJT Characteristic Curves
  • BJT Biasing: Fixed-Bias, Voltage Divider Bias, Operating Point Stability
  • Transistor Analog Applications: Common-Emitter Transistor Amplifiers

Electronics II Lab

Students will perform simulations and experiments of electronic circuits to study the main characteristics and practical applications of semiconductor electronic devices. They will learn about the JFETs and MOSFETS, and their characteristics and biasing conditions. They will also learn about the design and interpretation of electronic circuits, such as amplifiers, that use JFETs and MOSFETs in their design. Students will conduct experimental work to assess the frequency response analysis of BJT and FET amplifiers, and practice various applications of operational amplifiers as well as feedback electronic circuits, such as the design of active filters. Hardware work will be supported by software simulation using Multisim or PSpice.

Selected experiments include:

  • FET Characteristics (Meas. + Sim.)
  • FET DC Biasing (Meas. + Sim.)
  • FET Amplifiers (Meas. + Sim.)
  • Frequency Response of Analog Amplifiers (Meas. + Sim.)
  • Operational Amplifiers (Meas. + Sim.)
  • Active Filers (Meas. + Sim.)

Digital Systems/Embedded Control Lab

These laboratory exercises provide students with hands-on opportunities to apply the concepts and knowledge covered in the lecture portion of the class. Through laboratory experiments, students apply 8-bit AVR microcontroller hardware and software, specifically ATmega328 via Arduino Uno, to solve technical problems. Students will practice developing practical skills through experiments using Arduino Microcontroller, I/O devices, sensors, motors, wireless communication devices etc. This lab will also provide students with hands-on experience in implementing real world applications using the AVR ATmega328 microcontroller, assembly and C language.

Communication System Lab

This lab covers a wide range of topics and experiments in both analog and digital communication systems. These experiments emphasize design aspects and performance analysis of different systems, techniques and methods. Experiments include signal analysis using Fourier Series and Fourier Transform, Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM), AM and FM demodulation, Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), effects of noise on analog and digital communication system performance and digital modulation/demodulation techniques. This lab is based on Digital Analog Telecommunications Experimenter DATEx™ for NI ELVIS, NI ELVIS III, LABVIEW, and MATLAB.

Power Electronics Lab

Students will perform simulations and experiments of power electronic circuits to study the main characteristics and practical applications of power semiconductors and electronics converters. Topics include power computations, dc-dc converters: Buck, Boost, Buck-Boost, transformer models, flyback converters, inverters: square-wave inverter, and multilevel inverters. The work will be supported by software simulation using Multisim and/or PSpice. Throughout the semester, students will work in teams to complete lab assignments.

Select experiments include:

  • Power semiconductors: Performance and features
  • Uncontrolled ac-dc rectifiers using regular Si
  • Controlled ac-dc rectifiers using thyristors
  • Design and analysis of ac-ac voltage regulators
  • Design and analysis of dc-dc buck converters
  • Design and analysis of dc-dc buck-boost converters
  • Design and analysis of dc power supplies
  • Design and analysis of dc-ac inverters

Electric Machinery Lab

The Electrical Machinery Laboratory covers a wide range of hands-on experience using industrial machines. It provides students with a sound knowledge of basic electric power technology, including the operation of the permanent magnet dc motor, three-phase induction machine, and three-phase synchronous machine, three rotating machines that are commonly used in numerous applications today. Some of the experiments include single and three phase power systems, power factor correction, single phase and three phase transformers, dc and ac machines.

Control Systems Lab

In this lab, students conduct laboratory experiments that treat control systems for various applications using simulation software tools (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink, LabVIEW) and hardware equipment. This lab utilizes state-of-the-art equipment from National Instruments, including LabVIEW Control Design and Simulation Modules, NI ELVIS III, DC Motor Controls Board for NI ELVIS, and Rotary Inverted Pendulum Controls Board for NI ELVIS. Some of the experiments include:

  • DC Motor Modeling
  • Speed Control using a Proportional-Integral (PI) Control System
  • Position Control using a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) Controller
  • Stability
  • Inverted Pendulum Control
  • Digital Control
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