Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Washington
Fall 2019

(update 10/10/19: added notes/textbook policy for exams)

Class Meets
M(T)WF 2:30 – 3:20 PM, MGH 271 (Mary Gates Hall)

Course Description
Principles and practice of industrial and laboratory measurement. Dynamics of instrument response; generalized performance analysis of sensor systems; theory of transducers for motion, force, pressure, flow, and other measurements. Lecture and laboratory.

Prerequisite        
ME374

Textbook            
Clarence W. de Silva – Sensors and Actuators 2^nd Ed.

Online Resources

• Pdf's of lecture slides for each chapter are posted below in Topics Covered.
• This page contains other online resources including documents and videos.

Homework
Weekly homework assignments.  Solutions are due in PDF format at 5:00 pm on the due date (Fridays).   Solutions submitted with parts not entirely legible will be ignored. It is highly recommended that handwritten work be scanned rather than photographed in order to avoid such penalties. Solutions submitted late will receive, at most, 3/4 credit. Homework solutions will be posted to the class website.

Project
Five hands-on-with-hardware projects. Each will require the use of LabVIEW running on her/his own Windows laptop, or Mac laptop running Windows under Bootcamp or Parallels Desktop. If you do not have a laptop, you may be able to borrow a laptop from the Mechanical Engineering Department (email Nick Paradis mehelp@uw.edu).

Exams
Exams expect you to have an on-paper copy of the assigned textbook, and no other book, with you to make use of. Digital copies, viewed on a digital device, are not allowed. You are also permitted to bring ten sheets of your own notes (e.g. printouts from class handouts, course presentation slides, and your own notes) on letter-sized paper (both sides). Scientific calculators are encouraged (graphing calculators OK).

Midterm Quiz: Tuesday October 29, 2:30--3:20 MGH271

Final: Tuesday, December 10 2:30--4:20 pm, MGH271

Evaluation
For each assignment, your score will be based upon the extent that your solution demonstrates understanding of the subject matter of this course.  +/- 10% of the assignment grade will be issued at the discretion of the grader for the degree of professional organization, attention to detail, and cleanliness of homework and project submissions. Your lowest homework grade will be ignored in calculating your final grade (This does not hold for your lab or exam grades.)

Homework 20+/-10%             Project 25+/-10%          Midterm 20+/-10%                 Final 35+/-10%

Standards for submitted work

• Please be neat and organized.
• Label all graphs.
• Specify units.
• Box answers.

Collaboration with your fellow students is encouraged, but each homework solution or project report you turn in must be solely your creation. Cheating and plagiarism (copying another's work without acknowledgement) will not be tolerated. Please see the University of Washington's Policy on Academic Misconduct for more information.

Disability Accommodations 
If you have a disability, contact Disability Resources Center (011 Mary Gates Hall, 206-543-8924 , uwdrs@uw.edu) and discuss with them whether your disability requires academic accommodations.  If DRS determines that it does, bring this to the attention of your instructor, so that he can discuss, with you, how to best accommodate your needs in this course.

Topics Covered    
Chapter 1            Introduction. (pdf of slides)

Chapter 2            Component Interconnection and Signal Conditioning (impedance matching, amplifiers, filters, signal modulation, analog to digital and digital to analog conversions, bridge circuits). (impedance review, chap2_part1.pdf, chap2_part2.pdf (uploaded 10/3), chap2_part3_dac_and_bridge.pdf (uploaded 10/10))

Chapter 3            Performance Specification and Instrument Rating Parameters (time and frequency-domain specifications, bandwidth, sampling theorem). (chap3_part1.pdf (uploaded 10/21), chap3_part2.pdf (uploaded 11/4 11/6))

Chapter 5            Analog Sensors and Transducers (potentiometer, variable-inductance transducers, permanent magnet transducers, variable-capacitance transducers, piezoelectric sensor, strain gauges, torque sensors). chap5_part1.pdf (uploaded 11/8), chap5_part2.pdf (uploaded 11/15), chap5_part3.pdf (uploaded 11/18), chap5_part4.pdf (uploaded 11/22)

Chapter 6            Digital Sensors (optical encoder). chap6_2019.pdf (uploaded 11/25)

Chapter 8            Stepper Motors.chap8_2019.pdf (uploaded 11/26)

Chapter 9            Continuous-Drive Actuators (DC motors, induction motors, synchronous motors).chap9_2019_part1.pdf (uploaded 11/26) chap9_2019_part2.pdf (uploaded 12/2), chap9_2019_part3.pdf (uploaded 12/4)