Student Project: Building an oscilloscope…..using an oscilloscope!
09/12/2008
Engineering student Clara Enuma has started her senior design project under supervision of Dr. Julio González.
For her project, she has chosen an unusual topic, which we can jokingly describe as: “Building an oscilloscope…using an oscilloscope”.
To explain, an oscilloscope is a device that allows the user to graphically visualize electrical signals. It consists of two fundamental parts: the display system (cathode-ray tube, phosphorus screen, etc) and the electronic control circuit (amplifier, time-base, trigger, etc). Clara will design and build her own electronic control circuit, and then test its operation on an existing oscilloscope display system. In other words, she will by-pass an oscilloscope control circuit with her own control circuit.
This project will provide Clara with fantastic skills, as it will force her to apply all the engineering knowledge that she has previously acquired (and beyond!) on both analog and digital electronics. But there is an additional advantage to this project: The finished product will become a great teaching tool for the Engineering Department, as it will allow instructors to show freshman engineering students how an oscilloscope works, literally, from the “inside out”.
