• Safety Information

• Lab Facilities and Equipment

• Laboratory Exercises

• Software Downloads

Safety Information

Please read the following Safety Information before
 proceeding to laboratory exercises! 
 

New Mexico Tech, Mechanical Engineering Department
 Electrical Safety Manual.
                                                                                      

National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health
 Safety Manual
                                                                                      

• 1600 sq ft. laboratory room with three whiteboards, projector setup, and internet connection for all laboratory PCs.

• 16 state-of-the-art PC workstations with dedicated software applications including a C compiler and MRK board terminal program.

• NMT-built MRK controller boards featuring on-board hardware components to drive high current motors. The board has a prototyping area interfaced with the  MC9S12DP256B microcontroller and an expansion slot for a wireless communication module.

• Oscilloscopes, power supplies, signal generators, multimeters.

• PC-based data acquisition components (both software and hardware) including several USB DAQ modules and National Instruments PCI cards.

• Sensors and actuators including DC motors with encoders, stepper motors, hydraulic actuators,  LVDTs, infrared sensors, MEMS accelerometers, temperature sensors, magnetic and piezoelectric sensors, strain gauges.

• Assorted electronic components: prototyping boards, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, transistors, op-amps and etc. A variety of cables, connectors, wiring kits.

• Hardware tools for prototyping electrical and mechanical components of a mechatronic system, soldering stations and supplies, sensor installation kits, adhesives.

• The Mechatronics Lab activities are supported by the Department of Mechanical Engineering Machineshop.

Lab reports Template

Lab1. Electrical Measurements

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to introduce basic concepts in electrical measurements. The topics include electrical elements, voltage sources and meters, Ohm’s and Kirchhoff’s laws, circuit analysis and voltage dividers. The goal is to become familiar with electrical elements, operation of the measurement equipment and principles of circuit design.

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to introduce principles of signal conditioning and displaying. Several types of electronic signals are studied: harmonic, triangular, and square waves. The laboratory activities are designed to familiarize students with test equipment and the use of semiconductor integrated circuits for conditioning of AC signals.

Lab3. MRK Board and C Programming

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to introduce the MRK microcontroller board and the C programming language.  Topics will include hardware setup, digital input/output ports, bitwise operations, and C language control statements.

Handout

Lab4. Serial Communication

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to provide an overview of serial communication and demonstrate how it applies to the MRK board. The concept of an interrupt is introduced.

Handout

Lab5. Timer Function

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to explore the timer system of the MRK board.

Handout

Lab6. Data Acquisition

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to introduce fundamental concepts in data acquisition and familiarize students with data acquisition procedures supported by the MRK controller board. The key topics include introduction to analog to digital conversion, resolution and sampling. Theoretical discussion is illustrated with a practical example of distance measurements using the infrared sensor.

Handout

Lab7. Signal Analysis

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to explore basic signal analysis procedures such as the spectral analysis and the peak detection. A particular emphasis is put on studying the effect of the sampling rate on the acquisition of the time-varying signals. The exercises include data acquisition and processing of audible harmonic signals, noise, and measurement of the sound speed in air using a pair of microphones.

Handout

Lab8. Light Intensity and Temperature Sensors

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to familiarize students with light intensity and temperature sensing. Two types of sensors are employed in the experiments: optical transistors and integrated circuit temperature sensor. The sensor data is acquired via the MRK controller board and a signal is processed using the on-board mathematics and the external software environments such as Matlab and Excel.

Handout

Lab9. Vibration and Tilt Measurements

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to explore various applications of the accelerometer sensor. In particular, vibration measurements are performed and a frequency response function of a metallic rectangular plate is calculated. The same accelerometer is used in the tilt measurements allowing for comparison of the analog and digital data.

Handout

Lab10. Stepper Motors

Objective: The objective of this laboratory exercise is to familiarize students with principles and control algorithms governing the operation of a stepper motor. A two-phase stepper motor is discussed with the associated driving circuitry and the step control sequences. Performance of a motor under the high-current condition and fast revolution rates is explored. A practical example of application of a stepper motor in the light intensity measurements is presented.

Handout

Lab11. DC Motors

Objective: The objectives of this laboratory exercise are to introduce the pulse-width-modulation method of controlling the speed of a DC motor and to explore the operation of an optical encoder. The relationship between PWM and RPM will be investigated for one particular motor.

Handout