Virtual Instrumentation in the Undergraduate Physics Laboratory

该机构的物理学学生在学术界和工业界都取得了巨大的成功，因为他们毕业时对可应用于各种科学问题的现代实验技术有了全面的了解。许多学生使用的传统仪器现在可以被一台计算机和一张便宜的数据采集卡所取代。由此产生的“虚拟仪器”是从用户选择或设计的软件为特定任务，提供了巨大的灵活性，在实验设计。本项目是为物理系实验室开发虚拟仪器站，供各级学生使用。这种设备帮助学生理解，好的实验不是为了获得“正确”的结果，而是为了研究的过程。在提供虚拟仪器，是相对快速的设置，易于使用，并便宜的操作范围广泛的实验目的，该部门希望鼓励学生探索更多的创新和迭代实验比他们会追求更传统的设备。

Physics students from this institution have enjoyed significant success in academia and industry because they have graduated with a thorough understanding of modern experimental techniques that can be applied to a variety of scientific questions. Many of the traditional instruments with which students work can now be replaced by a single computer and an inexpensive data acquisition card. The resulting `virtual instruments` are created from user-selected or designed software for a specific task, offering tremendous flexibility in experiment design. This project is developing virtual instrumentation stations for the experimental labs in the Physics Department, for use by students at all levels. This equipment helps students understand that good experimentation is not about obtaining a `correct` result, but rather on the process of investigation. In providing virtual instruments that are relatively quick to set up, easy to use, and inexpensive to operate for a wide range of experimental purposes, the department hopes to encourage students to explore more innovative and iterative experiments than they would pursue with more traditional equipment.