Electronics Design¶
Group Assignment:¶
- Use the test equipment in your lab to observe the operation of a microcontroller circuit board (as a minimum, you should demonstrate the use of a multimeter and oscilloscope).
1. Overview & Objectives¶
In electronics design and hardware debugging, test equipment is essential to verify circuit operation, check supply voltages, measure current draw, and inspect signal waveforms.
For this group assignment, we utilized four fundamental lab instruments to observe and analyze our microcontroller board:
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Multimeter (Voltage Measurement): Checking static DC power levels and logic voltage states in parallel.
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Multimeter (Current Measurement): Measuring total circuit current draw in series.
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Oscilloscope: Visualizing time-varying signals, waveforms, frequency, and rise/fall times.
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Logic Analyzer: Capturing and decoding digital logic channels and communication protocols.
2. Multimeter Measurements¶
2.1 Voltage Measurement (DC Voltage)¶
A digital multimeter is connected in parallel across test points to measure potential difference.
The video below demonstrates measuring DC voltage levels:
2.2 Current Measurement (DC Current)¶
To measure electrical current, the multimeter must be inserted in series so that the circuit current passes through the meter.
The video below shows measuring DC current consumption:
3. Oscilloscope Signal Observation¶
An oscilloscope displays a real-time graph of voltage against time, making it the primary tool for analyzing dynamic analog and digital waveforms.
The video below demonstrates probing a signal line with the oscilloscope:
4. Logic Analyzer Digital Protocol Analysis¶
A logic analyzer is specialized for monitoring multiple digital signals simultaneously, capturing logic state transitions and decoding protocols.
The video below shows analyzing digital logic signals I2C with the logic analyzer: