Introducing Computerized Data Acquisition Signal Processing and Control to an Advanced Physics Laboratory

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Physics (13) Computerized data acquisition, signal processing, and control is integral to the practice of modern experimental physics, yet the typical physics curriculum does not teach these modern practices. At U.C. Berkeley, all Physics and Engineering undergraduate majors take a two or three semester-long course on experimental practice. Currently, during the first two thirds of the first semester of this course, the students learn the still-necessary art of analog electronics. The final third of the first semester is devoted to the now-obsolete study of gate-level digital electronics. This project replaces the curriculum on the obsolete material with a study of computer-based experimental techniques. The required part of the new curriculum (three weeks) introduces students to programming in LabVIEW, computer-based waveform generation (including material on Nyquist's Theorem,) signal acquisition (including material on aliasing, quantization, linearity, and noise,) signal processing (including material on digital filtering, FFT and Lock-in techniques), and process control. Students do real laboratory exercises using equipment donated by National Instruments. During the final two weeks of the course, the students design and construct a final project of their choice; many of the final projects employ the student's newly learnt computer techniques. The new material is based on proven techniques from research. The curriculum is adapted from material available in several texts, papers, the web, National Instruments, and from previous Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement grantees. The project will report on the new curriculum at Association of Physics Teacher meetings. Intellectual Merit: The knowledge learnt in the proposed curriculum brings students much closer to being practicing experimental scientists. Broader Impact: By improving their laboratory skills, students are better able to contribute to their chosen field after they graduate, whether it be physics, some other science, or engineering. Moreover, their new skills make it easier for them to participate in undergraduate laboratory research.