Undergraduate students currently struggle to understand the importance and utility of frequency domain analysis due to a lack of equipment to demonstrate key concepts. This project seeks to alleviate this major weakness by providing students with laboratory experiences in the characterization of signals in the frequency domain and in the measurement of network frequency response characteristics. The equipment consists of function generators for producing signals and dynamic signal analyzers which display frequency domain magnitude and phase information for signals and systems. This equipment will be used in a required introductory laboratory course to confirm phasor analysis concepts, to study Fourier series, and to develop an understanding of basic filters. Of equal importance, the equipment will be used by students in a three semester design course where they propose, implement, and document some electrical apparatus of their choosing. Additionally, the equipment will be used to support the development of laboratories for undergraduate control systems and analog filters courses, and for classroom demonstrations.
