Back to Course List

EECS 314: Electrical Circuits, Systems, and Applications

Instructor: Professor Alexander Ganago

Coverage
EECS 314 Electric circuits, Systems, and Applications covers topics in electric circuits, electronics, and control systems for non-EE majors.

In EECS 314 you will:
• Learn the concepts and principles of Electrical Engineering (EE), which are at the heart of today's analog and digital electronic devices
• Understand, build, and analyze electronic circuits such as amplifiers, filters, temperature controller, etc.
• Learn the language of EE colleagues, which will enable you to work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams.

Lab
Engineering is a practical profession; new learning becomes valuable when you apply it to building things: this is what you do in the lab. EECS 314 Labs include computer-controlled experiments based on LabVIEW - software very popular in industry; experience in using it may be advantageous for your job search. The new Temperature Controller Lab introduces you to Analog/Digital, and Programmable circuits - examples of Embedded Systems widely used in industry as well as consumer electronic devices.

Contents of EECS 314 Labs:
1) DC Lab
• Measure voltages, currents, and resistances; learn to avoid blunders
• Prove that a Light-Emitting Diode (LED) does not obey Ohm's law
• Learn that a MOSFET transistor act as an electronic switch
2) AC Lab
• Measure the Rise and Fall Time of standard signals; compare with theory
• Measure FFT spectra of standard signals; build various waveforms of sine waves
• Measure Telephone tone dialer signals - waveforms and FFT spectra
3) Transients Lab
• Study exponential responses of RC circuits to square wave input signals
• How many pulses does you system receive when 2 pulses are sent?
• Measure 3 types of responses of RLC circuits to square wave input signals
4) Filters Lab
• Solder your own circuit, which acts as any of the 4 types of filters
• Measure the transfer functions of each type of filter, using your circuit
• Observe and study resonance in your circuit
5) Operational Amplifier (Op Amp) Lab
• Build several amplifiers with fixed and variable gain; study their responses
• Build and study an active filter that can amplify and suppress signals
• Turn your circuit into a comparator – key block of a control circuit
6) Analog/Digital, and Programmable Temperature Controller Lab
• Verify the functionality of two temperature controllers
• Measure the voltages and determine the logic states in A/D controller
• Change the functionality of Programmable controller by altering the C code

Additional Information
Screencasts (audio/video recordings) posted on CTools web site for registered students provide a wide variety of resources for learning: mini-lectures and problem-solving strategies, lab demonstrations of key concepts, review of lab procedures and hands-on skills, etc.

Textbook(s)
Required:
1) Ganago, Alexander. /Making Sense of Electrical Engineering in the Lab: a New Lab Book for Non-EE Majors/ . 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Custom Services, 2007.

Recommended:
2) Ganago, Alexander. /Making Sense of Electrical Engineering 2nd Edition with EE Supplement for UMICH Set/ . 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Custom Services, 2009.

3) Hambley, Allan R. /Electrical Engineering: Principles and Applications/. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

Syllabus
Key topics:

• Basic laws of electric circuits
• Voltage and current division
• Maximal transfer of power from the source to the load
• Semiconductor diodes, Operational Amplifiers (Op Amps), MOSFET transistors
• Capacitors and inductors store electromagnetic energy
• Responses of circuits with capacitors and inductors to time-dependent voltages
• Filter circuits and their transfer functions; resonance
• DC and AC power distribution circuits; transformers
• Safety in handling electric circuits; Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupter
• Rectifiers and power supplies
• Analog and digital electronics
• Memory needed for data storage
• Logic gates and a Set-Reset latch (simplest memory cell)
• Microprocessors in computers and embedded systems
• Sensors; analog and digital control circuits

(Select for large version)