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ELEC_ENG 202: Intro to Electrical Engineering


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Description

Introduction to fundamental concepts and applications of electrical engineering. Topics include: circuit analysis from dc resistive networks to networks of impedances operating in the sinusoidal steady-state; circuit simplification and the Thevenin equivalent circuit; complex numbers and phasors; series and parallel inductor-capacitor resonance; simple analog filters; power transfer and impedance matching; op amps realizing active filters; signal spectra and the Fourier transform; signal sampling and aliasing; bandwidth and channel capacity; simple feedback and control systems; semiconductor electronics and devices including diodes, transistors, light-emitting diodes, and lasers.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK: None. Relevant class materials are placed on the Canvas website of the course.

REFERENCE TEXTBOOKS:

1. James H. McClellan, R. W. Schafer, and M. A. Yoder, DSP First: a Multimedia Approach, Prentice Hall, 1998.

2. M. Plonus, Electronics and Communications for Scientists and Engineers, Harcourt/Academic Press, 2001.

COURSE INSTRUCTORS: Prof. Ilya Mikhelson

COURSE GOALS: This course is aimed at anyone who wants to understand electronics and gain hands-on experience building devices.  The goal of the course is to empower students to pursue their own electronics projects.  Electronics are at the heart of most modern devices, so having a good understanding opens the door to countless possibilities.  By the end of the course, students will feel comfortable analyzing and creating their own complex projects.

PREREQUISITES: none

DETAILED COURSE TOPICS:

Week 1: Introduction to the course and overview of electrical engineering. Introduction to electric circuits: voltage, current, resistors, Ohmʼs Law, sign convention, power, Kirchhoffʼs current and voltage laws.

Week 2: Node and loop equations, circuit simplification, capacitors and inductors.

Week 3: P-N junctions, current-voltage characteristics, diodes, bipolar junction transistors. field-effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, DC motors.

Week 4: Microcontrollers, embedded programming, embedded system design considerations.

Week 5: Complex numbers and arithmetic, phasors, impedances, basic passive analog filters.

Week 6: Fourier series and Fourier transform, sampling, aliasing, reconstruction.

Week 7: Operational amplifier theory, practical op-amp circuits, non-ideal op-amp effects.

Week 8: Analog and digital communications.

Week 9: Machine learning intuition, regression, logistic regression, neural networks, reinforcement learning.

Week 10: Quantization, compression, control theory.

 

COMPUTER USAGE: Some MATLAB

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS: Biweekly homeworks assignments reinforce concepts taught in class.

LABORATORY PROJECTS:

  1. Introduction: Become familiar with electronic instrumentation. Practice breadboarding and soldering.
  2. Build a useless box.
  3. Build a discrete 3x3 LED matrix.
  4. Modify the useless box from Lab 2 to be controlled by a microcontroller.
  5. Automate the LED matrix from Lab 3 using a microcontroller.
  6. Prepare to make an audio spectrum visualization by creating an analog filter bank along with a microphone.
  7. Create an 8x8 LED matrix and show an audio spectrum visualization.
  8. Modify Lab 7 to use a professional LED matrix and better instrumentation.
  9. Create a keyword spotting system using machine learning.

GRADES:

  • Homeworks – 20%
  • Labs – 50%
  • Midterm Exam – 10% (take-home)
  • Final Exam - 20% (take-home)

COURSE OBJECTIVES: When a student completes this course, s/he should:

  1. Be aware of key physical principles and mathematical concepts forming the foundation of electrical engineering in the areas of circuit analysis, signals and systems, and semiconductor technology.
  2. Have a basic understanding of means to analyze linear passive circuits including their analog and digital signal representations and filtering characteristics.
  3. Be able to construct a variety of circuits, get them working, and understand their operation.
  4. Be comfortable using a microcontroller to create complex projects.

ABET CONTENT CATEGORY: 100% Engineering.