A test and measurement system for electrical engineering education

The increasing complexity of material presented to undergraduate electrical engineering students has made it essential that their limited laboratory exercise time be effectively and efficiently used. Research at the United States Military Academy has been directed at identifying and designing a laboratory position that would most enhance a student´s efficiency. A prototype has been developed and is currently being implemented. The final design consists of three parts: a protoboard on which a student constructs his or her circuit, a manual workstation at which the student performs preliminary data collection, and an automated workstation where data acquisition is automated under computer control. The authors describe each of these parts and explain how their integration, together with smart design of laboratory exercises, improves the instructional laboratory environment. Emphasis is placed on the features of each part that most improve efficiency and on how automated testing encourages interactive engineering design