MECH455: Instrumentation
Territory Acknowledgement

We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt) Peoples on whose territory the university stands, and the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Course Dates
CRN(s): Section A01 CRN: 30611
Term: 2022
Course Start: 2022-05-04
Course End: 2022-08-17
Withdrawal with 100% reduction of tuition fees: 2022-05-16
Withdrawal with 50% reduction of tuition fees: 2022-06-05
Last day for withdrawal (no fees returned): 2022-06-29
Scheduled Meeting Times (M=Mon, T=Tue, W=Wed, R=Thu, F=Fri)
Section: Location: Classes Start: Classes End: Days of week: Hours of day: Instructor:
A01CLE A3122022-05-042022-07-29MR08:30-09:50Paris Vakiel
B01ELW B2322022-05-042022-07-29T08:30-11:20
B02ELW B2322022-05-042022-07-29W11:30-14:20
B03ELW B2322022-05-042022-07-29F11:30-14:20
Instructor(s)

Name: Paris Vakiel
Office:
Phone:
Email: pvakiel at uvic dot ca

Office Hours:Comments
Tue03:00pm-04:00pmOr by appointment

Learning, Teaching, and Tools

Description Overview of fundamental issues associated with measurement systems; components in a measurement system, effects of digitization, sampling, aliasing, noise, quantization error, response of 0th, 1st, and 2nd order systems, Frequency Response Function, voltage conversion, loading effects and filtering. Sensors and transducers for common physical measurements, including Optical techniques and sensors. Laboratories incorporate all elements of the lectures, with students designing and building complete measurement systems with digital acquisition.

Lectures lectures will be held in person. Mondays 8:30-9:50 Thursdays 8:30-9:50

Clearhue Building Room: A312

Labratories B01: Tuesdays 8:30-9:50 B02: Wednesdays 11:30-14:20

Office Hours Tuesdays: 3-4pm or by appointment (via zoom or in person)

Prerequisites & Co-requisites

Complete all of: MECH285 - Properties of Engineering Materials (1.5) MECH320 - Mechanics of Solids II (1.5) MECH330 - Introduction to Mechanical Vibrations (1.5) MECH380 - Automatic Control Engineering (1.5) MECH395 - Heat Transfer (1.5)

Complete 1 of: ECE365 - Applied Electronics and Electrical Machines (1.5) ELEC365 - Applied Electronics and Electrical Machines (1.5)

TA Information
TA Name E-mail
Aaron Brice aaronbrice@uvic.ca
Reza Mortezapour rezamortezapour@uvic.ca
Textbook
Optional Text
Title: Theory and Design for Mechanical Measurements
Author: R. S. Figliola and D. E. Beasley
Course Objectives

The ability to design and control mechanical systems, evaluate performance, and prevent failures relies on our ability to obtain and analyze data. This course provides students with the basic tools required to gather information about physical systems and processes with a variety of instrumentation systems. Various measuring techniques using electronic transducers coupled tomicroprocessors are examined. The integration of sensors, with filtering, amplification, noise suppression and data sampling is a major focus of the course. Typical properties measured in mechanical systems will be addressed such as temperature, pressure, strain, velocity and acceleration. The laboratory experiments constitute a large portion of the work in the course and require students to design and implement complete measurement systems. The goal of the course is to provide sufficient background so that students will be comfortable designing measurement systems for use in industrial and research applications.

Learning Outcomes
  1. Use basic tools required to gather information about physical systems and processes with a variety of instrumentation systems (industrial and research applications)
  2. Describe various measuring techniques using electronic transducers coupled to microprocessor
  3. Explain integration of sensors, filtering, amplification, noise suppression, data sampling
  4. Gain knowledge about typical properties measured in mechanical systems such as temperature, force, pressure, strain, velocity and acceleration
  5. Design and implement complete measurement systems
  6. Learn how to evaluate errors that accompany a measurement and conduct experimental uncertainty analysis
  7. Identify dynamic measurement systems and analyze their behaviour.
Assessment
Assessment Weight
Exam1 20%
Exam2 20%
Project Presentation 5%
Labs 55%

Lab 1 is worth 5% and labs 2-5 are worth 12.5% each (includes the Pre-lab grade)

Notes

NOTE: Failure to complete all laboratory requirements will result in a grade of F being awarded for the course. The final grade obtained from the above marking scheme for the purpose of GPA calculation will be based on the percentage-to-grade point conversion table as listed in the current Undergraduate Calendar.

COURSE LECTURE NOTES Unless otherwise noted, all course materials supplied to students in this course are intended for use in this course only. These materials are NOT to be re-circulated digitally, whether by email or by uploading or copying to websites, or to others not enrolled in this course. Violation of this policy may in some cases constitute a breach of academic integrity as defined in the UVic Calendar.

SUPPLEMENTAL EXAM There will be no supplemental examination for this course.

LABS Prelabs are to be submitted individually at the beginning of the lab session. Labs are performed in groups of three and each group will submit one report for each lab.

Lab 1:Measurement System Simulation -In this lab, a virtual instrumentation system with different characteristics will be tested. The objective of the lab is to understand how the system affects our ability to draw conclusions about the original input waveform, a 10 Hz sine wave. Lab 2:Instrumentation Amplifier -This lab exercise requires you to build an instrumentation amplifier using four operational amplifiers (opamps) and to write a program using Labview to communicate with the instrumentation amplifier Lab 3: Strain Measurement -This lab exercise allows you to gain experience installing a strain gage and measuring strain. Lab 4:Temperature measurement -In this lab you will work with three different temperature transducers to produce a system that controls the speed of a fan motor to regulate the air temperature above a hot plate. The three transducers include a semiconductor junction device, a thermistor and a thermocouple. Lab 5: Velocity Measurement -In this lab you will perform velocity measurement using both displacement and acceleration measurements and examine the advantages and limitations of these transducers. A significant amount of post-processing to convert the recorded data into velocity is required by the student.

Grading System

The University of Victoria follows a percentage grading system in which the instructor will submit grades in percentages. The University will use the following Senate approved standardized grading scale to assign letter grades. Both the percentage mark and the letter grade will be recorded on the academic record and transcripts.

F D C C+ B- B B+ A- A A+
0-49 50-59 60-64 65-69 70-72 73-76 77-79 80-84 85-89 90-100
Grades GPA Description
A+, A, A- 9, 8, 7 Exceptional, outstanding or excellent performance. Normally achieved by a minority of students. These grades indicate a student who is self-initiating, exceeds expectation and has an insightful grasp of the subject matter.
B+, B, B- 6, 5, 4 Very good, good or solid performance. Normally achieved by the largest number of students. These grades indicate a good grasp of the subject matter or excellent grasp in one area balanced with satisfactory grasp in the other areas.
C+, C 3, 2 Satisfactory, or minimally satisfactory. These grades indicate a satisfactory performance and knowledge of the subject matter.
D 1 Marginal Performance. A student receiving this grade demonstrated a superficial grasp of the subject matter.
F 0 Unsatisfactory performance. Wrote final examination and completed course requirements;
Course Experience Survey (CES)

I value your feedback on this course. Towards the end of term you will have the opportunity to complete a confidential course experience survey (CES) regarding your learning experience. The survey is vital to providing feedback to me regarding the course and my teaching, as well as to help the department improve the overall program for students in the future. When it is time for you to complete the survey, you will receive an email inviting you to do so. If you do not receive an email invitation, you can go directly to the CES site

You will need to use your UVic NetLink ID to access the survey, which can be done on your laptop, tablet or mobile device. I will remind you closer to the time, but please be thinking about this important activity, especially the following three questions, during the course.

  • What strengths did your instructor demonstrate that helped you learn in this course?
  • Please provide specific suggestions as to how the instructor could have helped you learn more effectively.
  • Please provide specific suggestions as to how this course could be improved.
General Information

Note to Students: Students who have issues with the conduct of the course should discuss them with the instructor first. If these discussions do not resolve the issue, then students should feel free to contact the Chair of the Department by email or the Assistant to the Chair to set up an appointment.

Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL)

Accommodation of Religious Observance (AC1210)

Discrimination and Harassment Policy (GV0205)

Sexualized Violence Prevention and Response at UVic: UVic takes sexualized violence seriously, and has raised the bar for what is considered acceptable behaviour. We encourage students to learn more about how the university defines sexualized violence and its overall approach by visiting https://www.uvic.ca/sexualizedviolence/. If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexualized violence and needs information, advice, and/or support please contact the sexualized violence resource office in Equity and Human Rights (EQHR). Whether or not you have been directly impacted, if you want to take part in the important prevention work taking place on campus, you can also reach out: Where: Sexualized violence resource office in EQHR; Sedgewick C119 Phone: 250.721.8021 Email: svpcoordinator@uvic.ca Web: https://www.uvic.ca/sexualizedviolence/

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Electronic devices in labs and lectures: No unauthorized audio or video recording of lectures is permitted.

Electronic devices in midterms and exams: Calculators are only permitted for examinations and tests if explicitly authorized and the type of calculator permitted may be restricted. No other electronic devices (e.g. cell phones, pagers, PDA, etc.) may be used during examinations or tests unless explicitly authorized.

Faculty of Engineering, University of Victoria Standards for Professional Behavior It is the responsibility of all members of the Faculty of Engineering, students, staff, and faculty, to adhere to and promote standards of professional behavior that support an effective learning environment that prepares graduates for careers as professionals... You are advised to read the Faculty of Engineering document Standards for Professional Behavior which contains important information regarding conduct in courses, labs, and in the general use of facilities.

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Attendance

Students are expected to attend all classes in which they are enrolled. An academic unit may require a student to withdraw from a course if the student is registered in another course that occurs at the same time...

An Instructor may refuse a student admission to a lecture, laboratory, online course discussion or learning activity, tutorial or other learning activity set out in the course outline because of lateness, misconduct, inattention or failure to meet the responsibilities of the course set out in the course outline. Students who neglect their academic work may be assigned a final grade of N or debarred from final examinations.

Students who do not attend classes must not assume that they have been dropped from the course by an academic unit or an instructor. Courses that are not formally dropped will be given a failing grade, students may be required to withdraw and will be required to pay the tution fee for the course. Read the policy here

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is intellectual honesty and responsibility for academic work that you submit individual or group work. It involves commitment to the values of honesty, trust, and responsibility. It is expected that students will respect these ethical values in all activities related to learning, teaching, research, and service. Therefore, plagiarism and other acts against academic integrity are serious academic offences.

The responsibility of the institution Instructors and academic units have the responsibility to ensure that standards of academic honesty are met. By doing so, the institution recognizes students for their hard work and assures them that other students do not have an unfair advantage through cheating on essays, exams, and projects.

The responsibility of the student Plagiarism sometimes occurs due to a misunderstanding regarding the rules of academic integrity, but it is the responsibility of the student to know them. If you are unsure about the standards for citations or for referencing your sources, ask your instructor. Depending on the severity of the case, penalties include a warning, a failing grade, a record on the student's transcript, or a suspension.

It is your responsibility to understand the University's policy on Academic Integrity

Equality

This course aims to provide equal opportunities and access for all students to enjoy the benefits and privileges of the class and its curriculum and to meet the syllabus requirements. Reasonable and appropriate accommodation will be made available to students with documented disabilities (physical, mental, learning) in order to give them the opportunity to successfully meet the essential requirements of the course. The accommodation will not alter academic standards or learning outcomes, although the student may be allowed to demonstrate knowledge and skills in a different way. It is not necessary for you to reveal your disability and/or confidential medical information to the course instructor. If you believe that you may require accommodation, the course instructor can provide you with information about confidential resources on campus that can assist you in arranging for appropriate accommodation. Alternatively, you may want to contact the Centre for Accessible Learning (formerly the Resource Centre for Students with a Disability) located in the Campus Services Building.

The University of Victoria is committed to promoting, providing, and protecting a positive, and supportive and safe learning and working environment for all its members.