Development of an Advanced Physics and Instrumentation Laboratory

该项目继续为理工科高年级本科生开发先进的物理和电子实验室。该项目直接影响（1）现代物理学实验室课程和（2）电子仪器课程实验室。物理学和计算机工程的其他课程也将受益于这一设施。 该项目的指导主题是提供所需的技能，设计和实施虚拟仪器的实验，涉及真实的时间信号，并执行这些数据的计算机辅助分析。 当学生学习现代物理学和电子仪器的基本概念时，他们将获得与标准实验室传感器，实验室仪器控制和图形编程现代数据采集系统的硬件接口的第一手经验。 学生设计自己的虚拟仪器进行这些实验。 目前正在编写一本实验室手册，并在网上分发，作为本校区和其他学校未来学生的指南。 该设备包括（1）8台高速微型计算机，带有数据采集接口和支持仪器软件，以及（2）一台教学X射线衍射仪。该设备补充了过去三年建造的先进物理实验室设备。 设在偏远实验室的其他实验将放在网上，并可通过大学的局域网在先进实验室进行。 其中一些实验将在互联网上供其他人使用。所有代码和实验室文件也将在线分发。

This project continues development of an advanced physics and electronics laboratory for upper-level undergraduates majoring in science and engineering. The project directly impacts (1) a laboratory course in modern physics and (2) the laboratory for a course in electronic instrumentation. Additional courses in physics and computer engineering will also benefit from this facility. The guiding theme for the project is to provide skills needed to design and implement virtual instrumentation for experiments involving real time signals and to perform computer assisted analysis of these data. As students learn fundamental concepts in modern physics and electronic instrumentation, they gain first hand experience in hardware interfacing to standard laboratory transducers, control of laboratory instrumentation, and graphical programming modern data acquisition systems. The students design their own virtual instruments for these experiments. A laboratory manual is being prepared and distributed on-line as a guide for future students both on this campus and at other schools. The equipment includes (1) eight high-speed microcomputers with data acquisition interfaces and supporting instrumentation software, and (2) an instructional x-ray diffraction apparatus. This equipment complements the advanced physics laboratory apparatus constructed over the past three years. Additional experiments housed in remote laboratories will be placed on-line and will be accessible in the advanced laboratory through the university's local area network. Several of these experiments will be on he Internet for others to use. All codes and laboratory documents will also be distributed on-line.