Experiential Learning of Electromagnetic Concepts through Designing,Building and Calibrating a Broad-Spectrum Suite of Sensors in a Capstone Course

Abstract

An electromagnetics-based design project was offered to a group of students as their final year (capstone) design project. Their objective was to create a suite of sensors to measure electromagnetic fields over a large range of frequencies. The project resulted in the design, fabrication and calibration of a field mill, fluxgate magnetometer, tuned search coils and a log-periodic dipole array antenna. The open-ended, experiential learning process exposed the students to numerous electromagnetic concepts, skills and learning methods not commonly found in traditional electromagnetic classroom settings. This paper provides an overview of the theory, design and output of the sensors.

Keywords

calibration charge measurement electric field measurement magnetic field measurement

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Broschat

S. L.

Schneider

J. B.

Hastings

F. D.

Steeds

M. W.

, ‘Interactive software for undergraduate electromagnetics,’ IEEE Trans. Educ., 36(1) (1993), 123–126.

Chetty

Bennett

, ‘An interactive Java-based educational module in electromagnetics,’ Int. J. Elect. Enging. Educ., 40(1) (2003), 79–90.

De Los Santos Vidal

Iskander

M. F.

, ‘Multimedia Modules for Electromagnetics Education,’ Comput. Appl. Eng. Educ., 5(4) (1997), 257–267.

Hoburg

J. F.

, ‘Can computers really help students understand electromagnetics,’ IEEE Trans. Educ., 36(1) (1993), 119–122.

Whites

K. W.

, ‘Visual electromagnetics for Mathcad®: A computer-assisted learning tool for undergraduate electromagnetics education,’ in Proc. Antenn. Propag. Soc. Int. Symp., Atlanta, GA, 1998, Vol. 4 (IEEE, Piscataway NJ, 1998), pp. 2288–2291.

Campbell

, Electric Field Mill Fabrication, Retrieved September, 2005, from http://www.precisionstrobe.com/jc/fieldmill/fieldmill.html.

Northrop

R. B.

, Introduction to Instrumentation and Measurements (CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1997).

Kottsick

Lee

Newell

Purcell

, Electromagnetic Sensors Suite, Retrieved May, 2007, from North Dakota State University, Electrical and Computer Engineering Wiki Site: http://saturn.ece.ndsu.nodak.edu/ecewiki/index.php/Group_249.

Beale

, A Simple Fluxgate Sensor, Retrieved October 17, 2005, from http://beale.best.vwh.net/measure/fluxgate/.

10.

Blackburn

J. A.

, Modern Instrumentation for Scientists and Engineers (Springer, New York, 2001).

11.

Serway

R. A.

, Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 4th edn (Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, 1996).

12.

Stutzman

Thiele

, Antenna Theory and Design (Wiley, New York, 1998).

13.

Balanis

C. A.

, Antenna Theory Analysis and Design (Harper and Row, New York, 1982).

14.

Feng

Braaten

Nelson

, ‘Analytical Expressions for Small Loop Antennas – With Application to EMC and RFID Systems,’ in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Electromagnetic Compatibility, August 2006, Vol. 1 (IEEE Piscataway, NJ, 2006), pp. 63–68.

15.

Boeshans

Farden

Nelson

R. M.

, ‘Design, Testing and Computer Modeling of a Tunable Loop Antenna,’ in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Electromagnetic Compatibility, Minneapolis, MN, August 2002, Vol. 2 (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ 2002), pp. 705–710.

16.

Paul

C. R.

, Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility 2nd edn (Wiley, New York, 2006).

17.

Nelson

R. M.

, ‘Electric and Magnetic Fields Created by Electrosurgical Units,’ IEEE Trans. Electromagn. C., 41(1), (1999), 55–64.

18.

Antenna Research Associates, Inc., ‘What is an Antenna Factor?’, ARA Waves, Jan. (1996), 3.

19.

Electro-Mechanics Co., ‘Antenna Factors for Electro-Mechanics Model 6512 Passive Loop Antenna’, Electro-Mechanics, Austin, TX.

20.

Wang

Nelson

, ‘Numerical Simulation of the Antenna Factor of a Broadband Dipole Antenna,’ in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Electromagnetic Compatibility, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2001, Vol. 1 (IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, 2001), pp. 616–619.