MICROPROCESSOR LABORATORY

Physics 303 (2 credits),  Spring 2008

 

Laboratory:  Upham Hall, Room 053, MW 4:50 - 6:50 PM

Office Hours:  MTWR 11:00 – 11:50 AM

or By Appointment

 

                           Lecturer:  Dr. Paul M. Rybski, Associate Professor and Chair, Physics, and

Director, Whitewater Observatory

 

Mailing Address:  Department of Physics, Upham Hall

Email Address:  rybskip@uww.edu

Office:  Upham 151 (T#: 5766)

Lab.:  Upham 063 (T#: 3372)

Whitewater Observatory (T#: 5731)

 

I.                      Introduction

 

                           Welcome to Microprocessor Laboratory.  You are a student who has taken the following courses or has equivalent experience approved by the instructor:  (a)  PHYSCS 174 (Introductory Physics III) or PHYSCS 162 (General Physics II);   PHYSCS 330 (Analog/Digital Electronics Lecture), PHYSCS 331 (Analog/Digital Electronics Laboratory);  and COMPSCI 171 (Introduction to Programming) or an equivalent course in JAVA, C, C++ or assembly language programming;  or  (b)  previous or concurrent registration in COMPSCI 302 (Computer Logic and Microprocessors) and experience in a physical science laboratory either in high school or college;  or  (c)  you are a graduate student with a physical science laboratory experience in college and some digital electronics and computer programming experience;  or you are a student to whom I have granted absolute entry after talking with you about the course. 

 

                           The purpose of this course is to introduce you to digital electronics, microprocessors and computer programming as well as how they are integrated together to produce "smart" instruments and machines that can sense their environment and react accordingly.  Sensors and actuators will be discussed from both a theoretical and practical point of view.  The course emphasis will be on fusing these sensors and actuators to a specific microcontroller to make environmentally aware and responsive instruments, machines or robots.

 

 

II.                   Texts

 

                           A.                    Rental

 

                                                      Robert E. Simpson.  ÒIntroductory Electronics for Scientists and EngineersÓ, 2nd ed.

                                                      (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice-Hall), 1987.  ISBN 0-205-08377-3.

 

                                                      Richard J. Higgins.  "Experiments with Integrated Circuits" (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:                                                                                                     Prentice-Hall), 1983.  ISBN 0-13-295527-X.

 

                                                      Thomas C. Hayes and Paul Horowitz.  "Student Manual for The Art of Electronics"

                                                      (Cambridge, MA:  Cambridge University Press), 1989.  ISBN 0-521-37709-9.

 

                           B.                    Purchased

 

                                                      A purchased text may be required later in the semester.  Every effort will be made to

                                                      keep its cost as low as possible.

 

 

III.                Course Catalog Description

 

                           "Laboratory experience in microprocessor addressing, digital logic circuits, microcomputer input and output techniques, digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital interfacing and device control by microcomputers.  This course will not satisfy the laboratory work requirements of the physics major;  the credit will count toward the major (as an elective)."

 

 

IV.                 Course Activities and Goals

 

                           A.                    Lecture and laboratory time

 

                                                      Some of our time together will involve my lecturing.  Most of our time will be spent in the laboratory working with the hardware and software tools you will learn to use to construct working computer interfaces.  All textual readings will have to be done outside of laboratory on your own time:  remember you should expect to spend at least one hour outside of class for every hour you will spend in the lab.

 

                           Laboratory experiments prepared by the instructor will be distributed at the beginning of each lab period.  Our time together as listed in the Class Schedule is from 4:50 to 6:50 PM. Your peers at other universities are taking a similar course that requires two four-hour labs per week.  If you wish to do more laboratory work than the assigned two hours, please contact me to make arrangements to spend this additional time with the equipment.  When you leave Whitewater, I want you to succeed in competition with your peers.  Do you?

 

                           B.                    Course goals

 

                                                      The course hopes to achieve two goals.  The first is to give you a working knowledge of digital logic and microprocessors in general.  You will learn the fundamentals of specialized integrated circuits that permit computers to monitor real physical processes and to alter the state variables of these processes.  You will learn about the sensors necessary to measure real physical quantities and about the actuators computers must use to control the rates at which these processes proceed.  The second goal is to give you sufficient practical knowledge of how to fuse these functional components together to create working, microprocessor-based instruments, including robots.  You will choose a robot to design, construct and program which will bring together all of what you have learned above.  Given the texts I have chosen and diligent effort on your part, you should be able to accomplish these goals in 15 weeks.

 

V.                    Course Expectations of the Student  

 

                           A.                    Laboratory reports

 

                                                      Data taken as part of regular laboratory sessions will be entered in pen into conventional laboratory notebooks available for purchase in the University Book Store.  All formal write-ups of this material will be typed or word-processed and submitted the week following completion of a given laboratory.  The actual data you took and that you recorded in your lab notebook must be Xeroxed and appended to the typed report.  At our first laboratory session, I will discuss in detail with you both the form -- and the motivation for the form -- of your laboratory notebook.

 

                                                     

 

                           B.                    Submission of Written Work

 

                                                      All assigned reports that are to be completed outside the laboratory will be typed or word-processed.  Work submitted in any other form will be returned to you ungraded.  Problems assigned in the lab that are separate from the laboratory activities will be typed or written in ink.

 

                           C.                   Grade Policy

 

                                                      Your grade will be made up of several parts:  the laboratory reports (75%), take-home quizzes (10%), a mid-term activity (5%) and a final activity (10%).  The mid-term activity -- completed individually and outside of class -- will consist of a plan for a semester's end project.  The final examination will be two-part:  the take-home part consists of the satisfactory completion of written documentation of the hardware and software making up your project;  the in-class part will consist of a presentation of the working project to the assembled class. 

 

                           D.                    Extra Credit Work

 

                                                      You are encouraged to undertake independent study outside of that required in the course outline.  Should you be interested in doing extra credit work, please obtain your instructor's approval before you begin any concrete study or effort

 

 

VI.                 Attendance

 

                           Attendance is expected at all class sessions, since these periods will involve both laboratory work and lecture.  You will be responsible for making up any work you miss do to an absence.  Check with your teammate for discussion notes taken or assignments made. 

 

                           If you must be absent, you must call me in advance to inform me of the reason and to make arrangements for making up assignments.  If you miss turning in an assignment because of an unexcused absence, the grade on that assignment will be reduced progressively until it is submitted.

 

 

VII.              Classroom Etiquette

 

                           I expect your attention and polite cooperation during all class functions:  courtesy given results in courtesy returned.  Talking amongst yourselves during lectures will not be tolerated, since it disrupts the progress of the class and diminishes the value of the class for those who sincerely wish to learn the material.  If you have a question about the material or the lecture in progress, ask me, not your neighbor.  Those who exhibit uncivil behavior will be warned.  Persistently disruptive students will be dropped from this class.

 

 

VIII.           Question-and-Answer Sessions and Office Hours

 

                           Questions will be answered at any time so long as they are relevant to the work at hand.  Otherwise, questions will be answered before or after class, by appointment or during my regularly scheduled office hours.

 

 

IX.                 Required Policy Statements

 

                           A.                    University Policy Statements

 

                           The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is dedicated to a safe, supportive and non-discriminatory learning environment.  It is the responsibility of all undergraduate and graduate students to familiarize themselves with University policies regarding Special Accommodations, Misconduct, Religious Beliefs Accommodation, Discrimination and Absence due to University-sponsored Events.  (For details, please refer to the Undergraduate and Graduate Timetables;  the Rights and Responsibilities section of the Undergraduate Bulletin;  the Academic Requirements and Policies and the Facilities and Services sections of the Graduate Bulletin;  the Student Academic Disciplinary Procedures [UWS Chapter 14];  and the Student Nonacademic Disciplinary Procedures [UWS Chapter 17].)

 

                           B.                    Special Needs Statement

 

                                                      "Students with special needs should contact their instructor" within the first week of class so that their needs can be met either within the department or with the assistance of staff from elsewhere on campus.