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ME30295: Electronics, signals and drives

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2017/8
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Mechanical Engineering
Further information on credits Credits: 6      [equivalent to 12 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 120
Further information on unit levels Level: Honours (FHEQ level 6)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 40%, EX 60%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Drives (CW 20%)
  • Electronics (CW 20%)
  • Examination (EX 60%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
ME30295 Re-Assessment Examination (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Further information on descriptions Description: Aims:
To provide a practical understanding of microcontrollers, logic and signal processing and introduce related design methods; to introduce the concept of signals and describe methods for their processing and recording.
To provide an understanding of various electrical devices and methods for their selection in a variety of engineering applications, and to introduce the concepts of performance of electro-mechanical systems.

Learning Outcomes:
After taking this unit the student should be able to:
* Describe the elements of information coding and simple signal conversion.
* Understand the basics of micro-controllers and their use.
* Specify and select suitable instrumentation equipment for a variety of control and data collection purposes.
* Describe the principles of various electrical drives and their selection criteria for practical application in product design.
* Apply drive selection techniques and evaluate performance for particular applications.
* Make use of appropriate manufacturers' catalogues.

Skills:
Problem solving; numeracy; written communication; working independently.

Content:
Microcontroller fundamentals: registers, RAM, ROM, input/output. Assembly code. Applications: a selection from: display driving, motion control, data logging, serial communications to a PC. Operational amplifiers, non-ideal characteristics and circuit applications; noise sources, interference, shielding and grounding techniques, filtering; signal conversion, modulation and multiplexing; examples of transducer families including strain gauges, piezo and digital devices; signal conditioning circuits; transducer and system performance, and selection criteria.
Stepper motors and servo motors: types, operational characteristics and models; control techniques for stepper and servo motors; modern drives for stepper and servo motors; determination and characterisation of load cycles; drive selection criteria for various product applications; auxiliary elements of an electro-mechanical drive system; safety, reliability, performance, cost, size/weight and efficiency; design of drive systems for classical applications; manufacturers' catalogues and their use in product design.
Topics for self study that may be examined.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

ME30295 is Compulsory on the following programmes:

Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • UEME-AFB41 : BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Advanced Design and Innovation (Year 3)
  • UEME-AKB41 : BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Advanced Design and Innovation with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UEME-AFM41 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Advanced Design and Innovation (Year 3)
  • UEME-AKM41 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Advanced Design and Innovation with Year long work placement (Year 4)

ME30295 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • UEME-AFB48 : BEng(Hons) Integrated Design Engineering (Year 3)
  • UEME-AKB48 : BEng(Hons) Integrated Design Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UEME-AFM48 : MEng(Hons) Integrated Design Engineering (Year 3)
  • UEME-AKM48 : MEng(Hons) Integrated Design Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 4)
  • UEME-AFM16 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering (Year 4)
  • UEME-AKM16 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Year long work placement (Year 5)
  • UEME-AFM38 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing and Management (Year 4)
  • UEME-AKM38 : MEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering with Manufacturing and Management with Year long work placement (Year 5)

Notes: