20.309:Course Information

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20.309: Biological Instrumentation and Measurement

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Course meetings

Lecture: T/R/F 12:00pm-1:00pm (4-237)

Lab: open scheduling, see below (16-352)

Lab hours and scheduling

Use the lab station reservation system to reserve a place in the lab. Most lab exercises can be completed in about 6 hours per week. Some students find the lab work significantly more or less time consuming. If you have little experience building things, you might want to plan for a few extra hours.

Hours for Spring 2019

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
closed
1-9pm
1-9pm
1-9pm
1-6pm closed 1-6pm


During regular lab hours, please sign up at least 24 hours before coming to the lab. If there are no scholars signed up 24 hours in advance, the lab may be closed without notice.

The lab is located in room 16-352.

Lab attendance is mandatory and there will be no make-up labs.

Safety

The chief hazards present in the 20.309 Lab come from laser radiation, chemical and biological materials, and electric equipment. Some simple precautions will make your time in the lab much safer.

Get to know the 20.309 Safety Page. Read the safety precautions in each lab manual.

Lab facilities

Lab stations

There are 12 lab stations in room 16-352. Each station is equipped with:

  1. anti-vibration optical table
  2. digital oscilloscope
  3. triple output power supply
  4. tools in drawers
  5. computer workstation with data acquisition card (DAQ)

The lab also has several function generators.

Stations 3, 6 and 11 are reserved for instructor use.

Computers

Lab stations are equipped with PCs running Windows 10. Each PC has a National Instruments data acquisition system. MATLAB and LabVIEW software are installed on all lab PCs.

Log in to the PCs as user User. Ask an instructor for the password.

Feel free to use the Documents folder while working at the PC, but beware that any data on the PCs could be erased without notice! At the end of your session transfer every file that you care about to your own computer or to a network location of your choice. The lab provides a network share named Student Data. You may access it via the link on the PC desktop or via the address \\win.mit.edu\dfs\departmental\bioeng\bioenglab\CourseMaterials\StudentData. Log in using your kerberos credentials.

Additional course material can be found on our Course Materials share. There is also a link to this network share on the desktop, or you may the address \\win.mit.edu\dfs\departmental\bioeng\bioenglab\CourseMaterials. As before, log in using your kerberos credentials.

Grading

2 Exams 40%
11 Assignments 40% (lowest grade dropped)
2 Quizzes 20%

Lectures

Three lectures per week introduce key concepts behind the labs. Optics, electronics, and linear systems (e.g. Fourier transforms, power spectral density, convolution theorem, etc.) concepts are a key focus of the class.

In some cases, the lectures will be closely related to ongoing lab modules, and in other cases, the lectures will develop material that will be used in a future lab module.

Assignments

Assignments contain a combination of conceptual problems, coding, lab work, and data analysis. You must complete the lab work in teams of 2 or 3, but each of you will submit your own report. You must keep the same lab team for the entire semester.

For each assignment, you should turn in an answer-book style report, making sure to answer all questions noted throughout the assignment's wiki pages. Answers should be clear and concise, plots should contain axis labels and legends, and measurements should be written with the appropriate number of significant figures.

All assignments should be turned in electronically via the course Stellar site. Check the schedule on Stellar for assignment due dates and times. As a courtesy, we will offer you one free 3-day extension for the semester. Otherwise, late work will not be accepted without an excuse from the Dean's office.

You are encouraged to seek advice from the instructors, TAs and other students; however, the work that is turned in must be your own.