Project #2 Circuit Design #1

Objectives

The ultimate goal of the project is to design circuits that meet certain design requirements.

Tools

• Lab Equipment
• Circuit Simulator
• Hantek 3-in-1 Digital Equipment
• Powered Breadboard

Assessment

The overall weighted grading scheme is as follows:

Table 1     Overall Weighted Grading Scheme

I. Circuit Design

This project consists of multiple design problems. Each problem has its own design requirements and constraints. For each problem, the goal is to design a circuit that meets all design requirements while satisfying all design constraints.

The multiple design problems in this project are grouped into the following 3 parts.

• Circuit Design Part A
• Circuit Design Part B
• Circuit Design Part C

For each and every of your designed circuits, verify its functionality using both of the following inputs.

• DC voltage with a reasonable voltage value
• 1 kHz square wave voltage with reasonable positive and negative peak values

The grades earned in this first category of assessment depend highly on the functionality of all your designed circuits. The weighted grading scheme is as follows:

Table 4     Weighted Grading Scheme for Circuit Design

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• DO NOT blindly play around with component values using a circuit simulator in the hope that you will discover a working design. Even if you somehow manage to discover a working design magically, you will still lose substantial points in this project since you won’t be able to dissect your circuit design in your report using circuit theory, calculations, etc.
• Collaborations between any groups are strictly prohibited in this project.

TECHNICAL NOTES:

• WARNING: All resistors in the lab have a maximum power rating of 0.25 Watt. To prevent undesirable incident, you need to ensure that none of the resistors in all your designed circuits will absorb more than 0.25 Watt.
• If you use an inductor, you ought to measure its resistance using a DMM. Record down the measured value and incorporate this non-ideal factor, specifically the DC resistance (DCR) value of an inductor into your analysis. Welcome to the real world!
• TL084 is the quad op-amp integrated circuit (IC) chip that students can use in the lab. The pin configuration of the IC chip can be found in APPENDIX I.
• WARNING: If you use an op-amp, you must ensure that the following operating conditions are met to avoid causing permanent damage to the device.
  • Supply voltage applied to the op-amp does not exceed $\pm 18V$. In fact, the manufacturer recommends a supply voltage between $\pm 5V$ and $\pm 15V$.
  • Input voltage to the op-amp does not exceed $\pm 15V$.

II. Demo

Perform the following tasks.

• Demonstrate both simulation and experimental results of all your designed circuits on the spot to your Lab TA. Provide detailed explanations and reasonings on how you have obtained the results during your demo.
• Record down your results for the writing of your report.

The weighted grading scheme for Demo is as follows:

Table 5     Weighted Grading Scheme for Demo

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• All project demonstrations must be performed during a lab session. No project demonstration can be performed outside lab session.
• All groups will be given only ONE lab session to demonstrate all working designs on the spot.
• HEADS UP: It is impossible to complete all the required tasks in this project in a 2-hour lab session. To prepare fully for your project execution and demonstration, you are highly encouraged to perform circuit simulations and experiments at home so that you can figure out a working design for your project. To perform experiments outside of the laboratory, you can loan out a Hantek 3-in-1 digital equipment and a powered breadboard. You can also acquire circuit components from the laboratory, and they are not required to be returned.
• SUGGESTION: You are strongly encouraged to complete the following tasks prior to your lab session.
  • Perform all simulation work.
  • Build, test and verify the functionality of all your designed circuits using the Hantek 3-in-1 digital equipment and powered breadboard you have loaned out.

  If you have completed all of the above tasks in advance, all you have to do during your lab session is to connect the instruments in the laboratory to the constructed circuit on the loaned breadboard and perform your demo. In this case, you can literally walk out of your lab session with a great sense of accomplishment in 30 minutes.

III. Report

Document all your analysis, results and findings in a report. The content of your report should include, but not limited to, the following sections.

• Objectives and Tasks – define and outline explicitly the objectives and tasks
• Dissection of Design – present your circuit design in a detailed, part-by-part analysis
  – explain the reasonings behind your circuit design using circuit theory
  – provide detailed circuit analysis and calculation to justify the circuit topology,
  component type and component value used in your design
• Simulation Results – present your simulation results with clarity
  – include screenshots of simulated circuits, results, etc.
• Experimental Results – present your experimental results with clarity
  – include oscilloscope figures, screenshots of DMM measurements, etc.
• Results Comparison – compare simulation and experimental results
  – explain discrepancies pertaining to concepts
• Conclusions

The weighted grading scheme is as follows:

Table 6     Weighted Grading Scheme for Report

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• The dissection of design is a very critical part in your report. You will lose substantial points if you fail to provide detailed circuit analysis and calculation to explain the reasonings behind your circuit design.