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ME50295: Electronics, signals and drives

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2014/5
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Mechanical Engineering
Further information on credits Credits: 6
Further information on unit levels Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Further information on teaching periods Period: Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 50%, EX 50%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Drives (CW 25%)
  • Electronics (CW 25%)
  • Examination (EX 50%)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment: Mandatory extra work (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.
* Undertake individual independent study of relevant topic.

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:

ME50295 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Mechanical Engineering
Notes:
* This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2014/15 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2015/16 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2014/15.
* Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.
* Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.