Lab Guidelines
Lab Reports General Information
EEE334 Lab Report Format Guidelines
This section describes the mandatory format to follow when writing the EEE334 lab report. As mentioned before, report formats learned for other courses do not apply to EEE334 lab reports and deviation from the correct format will result in severe credit penalty.
The lab report is a stand-alone document, in other words, there should be no reference made to the lab manual, the datasheet or the text book in order for its content to be interpreted. It must be computer generated and it consists of the following elements which are described in the appropriate lab report order:
1. Title Page
Includes in the following order:
a. Course:
b. Experiment number
c. Experiment Topic
d. Experiment Due Date
e. Student’s name
f. Course Professor(s)
IMPORTANT NOTE APPICABLE TO THE NEXT SECTIONS
NEVER COPY AND PASTE OR MANIPULATE TEXT, SCHEMATICS OR EQUATIONS FROM THE LAB MANUAL, OR ANY OTHER SOURCE, AND USE IN THE LAB REPORT AS YOUR OWN, KEEP IN MIND THE SCHOOL’S PLAGIARISM POLICY.
2. Introduction
In ONE SHORT PARAGRAPH, effectively describe the experiment’s objective. Be specific but concise. This may be achieved by considering the following questions in each experiment:
a. What is this experiment about or what will be studied in this experiment?
b. What components or special equipment will be used?
c. What type of analysis or results will be researched?
3. Equipment and Components
Provide a simple list or table of the Equipment and Component used per experiment section.
a. Equipment used: Quantity, name and model
Example of lab Equipment includes:
Analog Discovery Kit, Analog Parts Kit, MS8217 Digital Multimeter, EIC-106 Breadboard
b. Components used: Quantity, name and value where applicable
Examples of Components to be used are:
Resistors, Capacitors, Zener Diodes, Diodes, Bridge Rectifiers, MOSFET (C-MOS) devices and Potentiometers
4. Course of Action
Each experiment is composed of multiple parts; in each part do the following:
a. List the number and name of the experiment section.
b. If a circuit is required, the first step must indicate the building of the circuit followed by its LTSpice schematic:
i. Paste a copy of the LTSpice schematic.
ii. Name the schematic appropriately according to the circuit’s function, i.e. Low Pass Filter, Common-Source Amplifier, etc.
c. After the well addressed circuit schematic, USE AT MOST 10 BULLETS TO DESCRIBE the logical steps of the COURSE OF ACTION taken to obtain ALL the required results:
i. Mention: Where applicable, obtaining specific required calculations, LTSpice analysis and lab results.
ii. Do not mention: Equipment set up or actual results in this section.
5. Results
This is a collection of ALL THE RESULTS required throughout the experiment. All the results per experiment segment are collected and place in this section.
RELEVANT PARAMETERS Definition
These are important attributes used to describe a function such as:
• Waveforms: i.e. a sine wave is described by its amplitude (Vpp,Vp, Vrms, Vav), Period, Frequency, Phase Shift, Offset, etc. In this lab only Vpp, Vrms and sometime Vav and Phase Shift will be required as relevant parameters.
• LTSpice Plots: i.e. a Frequency response plot is described by the Gain (in dB or dimensionless), Bandwidth, 3dB frequency (fH, fL where applicable), Cut-off frequency, etc. In this lab only the dB Gain, Bandwidth and sometimes fH and fL will be required as relevant parameters.
Result sections MUST be presented as follows:
a. Appropriate number and name of the result section
i. Definitions, when required
ii. Theoretical Calculations
NOTE: ALWAYS show calculations wherever required.
1. Use any appropriate software to generate equations.
2. ALWAYS specify UNITS.
iii. LTSpice
PASTE into this section where applicable:
1. Simulation Plots
a. Transient Analysis (Time Domain)
i. Name plot appropriately.
ii. Plot MUST show typically TEN FULL OSCILLATION cycles but no less than TWO.
iii. Specify RELEVANT PARAMETERS if required, on all plots.
b. AC Sweeps (Frequency Analysis)
i. Name plot appropriately.
ii. Plot MUST show a frequency sweep in logarithmic scale (Decades – which is the default LTSpice setting) from 1Hz to 1GHz.
iii. ALWAYS specify relevant parameters on plots, i.e. Max. dB Gain, 3 dB frequency, etc.
iv. Lab Results
1. Oscilloscope Screenshots
a. Include all RELEVANT PARAMETERS where applicable, i.e. Vpp, Vrms, Phase Shift, etc. for the waveforms.
b. Specify clearly which waveform belongs to the Input and which to the Output.
2. Measurements and Calculations
a. Use measured lab results to calculate required results where applicable and place them in this section
v. Comparison and % Error Table
1. Tabulate Required Results (can use Excel)
a. The table must contain columns for:
i. Obtained Theoretical, LTSpice and Lab results
ii. % Error between Theoretical and LTSpice results
iii. % Error between Lab and Theoretical results
iv. % Error between Lab and LTSpice results
6. Discussion
The numerical results from the previous section are not enough for clarity purposes, thus a theoretical explanation of the results is also necessary. For each section of the results do the following (one paragraph per section):
a. Number and name the Discussion of the result section appropriately.
b. Discuss ALL THE REQUIRED RESULTS per section by pointing out:
i. Significance of the results.
ii. Unexpected outcomes and wisely speculate their reason (i.e. large error is due to measuring methods, components actual values, etc).
iii. Agreement of all Theoretical, LTSpice and Lab results (i.e. % error).
NOTE:When comparing results use % Error, i.e. “The LTSpice CS Amplifier Gain was 4.5% greater than the Theoretical Gain obtained, this could be due to inaccurate MOSFET parameters used in theoretical calculations, etc.”
iv. Section results conclusion (one line).
7. Closing Arguments
a. This is a paragraph commenting on the experience of carrying out the experiment.
NOTE:This section IS NOT a conclusion of the results; therefore DO NOT COMMENT ON THE RESULTS. Commenting on results belongs to the Discussion section.
b. The paragraph MUST include:
i. A statement of whether the experiment goal was achieved or not.
ii. What was learned from performing the experiment
iii. Difficulties encountered with lab equipment or components,
LTSpice, Lab TA, Manual, book, etc.
iv. Suggestions for improvement in future lab experiments.
NOTE:Useful suggestions may be rewarded with extra credit
8. Post Lab Questions
a. Provide brief but complete answers to all post lab questions. The answers required for the post-lab questions will be more qualitative than quantitative.
b. ALWAYS use LTspice to support answers (where applicable).