Abstract:

The Electronic Circuits Laboratory (ECL) is one of the fundamental laboratories in the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology at the Warsaw University of Technology. This is a final laboratory in education process in such disciplines as: electronic engineering and computer-aided design of electronic circuits. The knowledge learned by students in ECL basis on a knowledge learned in its predecessors: Laboratory of Measurements, Elementary Circuit Laboratory, and on whole knowledge learned at lectures concerned with an electricity and electronics. So this laboratory has a unique task: it has to gather whole previous knowledge and learn students how to implement it in a practice. It is, what we can observe daily, a great difficulty. It is because almost always we have not only one solution of a task, but there is infinite number of solutions instead. Student, and an engineer in a future, have to choose only one of them. The best or nearly the best. Often it means, that he has to define his own criteria, based on all own knowledge. Laboratory described in a paper is aimed to help him in this case.

The ECL laboratory is not a hot novelty. Originally it was developed in early 80s. But, for its unique structure, it works great till today and still fly high. The essence is that this laboratory is modular. It contains of a frame with power supplies, typical electronic measurement equipment, and of a lot of modules, which can be instantly developed to cover the state of the art of electronic knowledge. Thanks to this, year by year, laboratory instantly changes. But in last two years it was completely reinforced i.a. towards to be more open. This means, that students are now able to design their circuits to be under the test just from fundamentals or to modify them.

In a laboratory there are three kinds of modules. First are basic and very simple. Using them students can build different kinds of elementary circuits, e.g. containing only one transistor and several basic components: resistors and capacitors. These components are soldered on a little board, which next can be mounted into a laboratory module using special clamps. What is important, student can see all the investigated circuit and used elements, touch them, sometimes hear them (e.g. in pulse power supplies), smell (when element heats, or simply fires, which is also a part of knowledge) and, if they want, even taste them. Because in this laboratory one basic principle was taken: all, of course safe, senses can used to obtain a portion of knowledge.

A second kind of modules are more complicated and bases on a previously investigated circuits. Now students can learn how to use them in more advanced equipment. This kind of modules has also clamps which allows to modify the investigated circuit or its parameters.
Third kind of modules are advanced electronic systems, built from just known basic electronic circuits. For example, now students can learn about FM radio detection or about amplifying of acoustic signals. Of course these modules can be personalized too.

Previous to each laboratory exercise student has to prepare a personalized design. He obtains individual parameters and/or suggested structure of a circuit. There is no obligatory method of designing. Student can use only paper and a pencil, he can use a specialized simulator of electronic circuits, or can use both of them. The main aim is always one: understanding of the principles of operation of a designed structure.

Keywords:

Electronic circuit, electronic laboratory, electronic design.