ME 4053 MECHANICAL SYSTEMS LABORATORY
General Purpose Equipment
The following equipment is useful for a variety of experiments and is available at all lab sessions.
1. Oscilloscope. This is a programmable, digital scope that is extremely versatile.
Because it records voltages digitally and can remember that data over a long
period of time, it is possible to see data well before or after a trigger event, average
over a number of scans, find the maximum and minimum of an unlimited number of
scans, and output the data to a PC.
2. A PC
3. Function Generator
4. Various hand tools
5. A volt-ohm-current digital multimeter.
Manufacturer literature and expanded descriptions are available in the laboratory.
Tools
Each experiment performed in the laboratory may require modification or adjustments by the student to
increase the performance or adjust system parameters. Some of the basic tools supplied include:
Tape Measure, meterstick, calipers
Crescent Wrenches
Various Phillips and Regular Screwdrivers
An Allen Wrench Set
Pliers
Two chemistry stand
Each student is encouraged to perform any adjustments or modifications (within reason) to the
experimental setup with the supplied tools. The students should consult with the T.A. if confused about
how to get the system working properly. Remember to optimize your time by asking questions first and
then if you cannot figure out how to get something to work, ask the T.A.'s for further assistance.
A Power Supply/Amplifier is also included with each workstation. It includes three (3) 100-gain amplifiers.
One amplifier is configured for the microphone and the other two amplifiers are configured with BNC
connectors on the input and output.
Cables
A variety of cables are included in the cables drawer. Fittings are included which convert from BNC to
alligator. These cables are utilized in each experiment involving the Digital Oscilloscope.
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Function Generator
The HP 33220A Function Generator is used for the acoustics and vibrations labs. The device can produce
continuous sine, triangular, noise or square waveforms. It also has an arbitrary function capability. Another
important feature of the function generator is its capacity to produce periodic bursts of sine waveforms.
This feature will be used in the acoustics lab. The figure below was taken from the HP 33220A Operation
Manual provides brief descriptions of the knobs and switches on the generator. A complete description of
the HP33220 function generator and a complete copy of the manual can be found at HP 33220A
Information.
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Digital Oscilloscope
The Tektronix TDS 340A Digital Oscilloscope is also used for the acoustics and vibrations labs. Its primary
purpose is to display and measure certain signal or waveform characteristics. Some of the basic functions
and settings of the TDS 340A are described in the following based on the oscilloscope manual. The reader
is referred to the lab copy of the TDS 340A User Manual for more detailed information.
Some of the key features of the oscilloscope relevant to the lab include:
Two input channels with simultaneous waveform acquisition capacity up to record lengths of 1000
samples on each channel
Two Megasamples/second maximum sample rate
100 MHz analog bandwidth and fastest time base setting of 5ns/div
Automated waveform averaging, measurement of frequency, time, voltage, and FFTs
Floppy disk drive for storage of waveforms and acquisition setups
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The MEASURE button in the figure above allows various automated measurements to be taken including
the period, frequency, Peak to Peak, and RMS voltage of the active waveform. Measurements over user
specified regions of the waveform can be obtained by activating the vertical and horizontal cursors using
the CURSOR button.
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The display map in the above figure coincidentally highlights the TRIGGER menu, an important
requirement in viewing input waveforms from for example, the function generator. A triggering signal is a
stable signal that the scope uses as a reference; it essentially tells the scope when to start acquiring signals.
The trigger control panel shown below is used to set the key triggering parameters. To trigger the scope
using the function generator, the SYNC output on the function generator should be connected to the EXT
TRIG input on the oscilloscope.
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Computer
Each computer has a 333 MHz Pentium processor with the Microsoft office suite of programs (Word,
Excel and Powerpoint 97) and Matlab 5.3 installed. You are encouraged to use these machines for this
lab or any other work you may have during this quarter. You can also create your own directory and
store your files on the hard drive but be sure to back up all of your data on a floppy to ensure that if
someone erases your data, you're not left out in the cold. Also, in consideration of others, remove your
data and directories when you are finished with them.
One of the features of these software packages is the ease in integrating plots and information from each
package together. You can produce plots in Matlab and easily import them into Word. If you have any
difficulties using any of the software, contact your T.A. or Sterling Skinner.
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ME 4053 MECHANICAL SYSTEMS LABORATORY
Quanser MultiQ-3TM Board
Photo of MuItIQ-2. The MultiQ-3TM has 8 encoder connectors on the terminal board
1.0 General description
The MultiQ-3TM is a general purpose data acquisition and control board which has 8 single ended
analog inputs, 8 analog outputs, 16 bits of digital input, 16 bits of digital output, 3 programmable timers
and up to 8 encoder inputs decoded in quadrature (option 2E to 8E). Interrupts can be generated by any
of the three clocks, one digital input line and the end of conversion from the AID.
The system is accessed through the PC bus and is addressable via 16 consecutive memory mapped
locations which are selected through a DIPswitch located on the board.
2.0 Principles of operation
2.0.1 Terminal board
Turn off the PC. Guide the flat ribbon cables carefully out through the back plane and then insert the
MAC) board into the ISA slot. Tighten the screw. Insert the two flat ribbon cables into the terminal board.
Make sure you insert them in the correct orientations.
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Turn on the PC. The LED on the terminal board should light up. K not, then the FUSE on the terminal
board may be blown.
Check your connections first. If they seem fine, then turn off the computer and check the fuse. which is a
1 ampere field replaceable fuse similar to those used in a PC keyboard. Any computer repair shop should
have them.
2.1 Analog to digital conversion
The AID of the MultiQ-3TM is a single ended bipolar signed 13 bit binary (12 bit plus sign) AID. You
can perform a conversion on one of 8 channels by selecting the channel and starting a conversion. The
EOC_I (end of conversion interrupt) bit in the STATUS REGISTER Indicates that the data is ready and
can be read. The data is read by issuing 2 consecutive 8 bit reads from the AD_DATA register.
The data returned is two 8 bit words which must be combined to result in an 18 bit signed word. 5 volts
input maps to OxFFF while 0 volts maps to 0x0 and -5 Volts, maps to OxFFFF000.
2.1.1 Wiring to the AID
All Inputs to the AlD multiplexer are single ended. In the range +/--5 Volts and should be wired to the
RCA jacks labeled analog inputs.
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