Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To provide practical experience of electronic circuit design and construction
• To provide experience of using optoelectronic devices and their applications.
• To a build communications system including testing and characterisation

Content

The aim of the project is to design and build a complete communications link based on a plastic optical fibre and resonant cavity light emitting diode that is capable of delivering up to 10 Mbit/s data rates.  The challenge is to build a working  transmitter, receiver and full testing scenario using a limited set of components within the EITL. Each element of the link has to be fully tested and characterised before putting them together as an overall system capable of transmitting digital data from a compact disk player.  Students work in groups of three to design, construct and test an optical communications system. Each student within a group will be expected to manage the different sections of the design and construction individually and then combine them as a group into an overall communications system. All reports are submitted individually and will contain both individual and group elements as the project design ideas develop.

Week 1

System outline and basic transmitter, receiver and testing scenario. First interim report.

Week 2

Reciver, transmitter and tesct scenario construction.  Characterisation and fault finding. Second interim report.

Week 3

System test integration and general testing. Optional extension design/construction.

Week 4

Final testing and CD demonstration of overall systems along with extensions. Final report.

MINI-LECTURES

Mini-lectures on optical communication system design and circuit design for the basic building blocks will be integrated into the first week of the project.

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To provide practical experience of electronic circuit design and construction
• To provide experience of using optoelectronic devices and their applications.
• To a build communications system including testing and characterisation

Content

The aim of the project is to design and build a complete communications link based on a plastic optical fibre and resonant cavity light emitting diode that is capable of delivering up to 10 Mbit/s data rates.  The challenge is to build a working  transmitter, receiver and full testing scenario using a limited set of components within the EITL. Each element of the link has to be fully tested and characterised before putting them together as an overall system capable of transmitting digital data from a compact disk player.  Students work in groups of three to design, construct and test an optical communications system. Each student within a group will be expected to manage the different sections of the design and construction individually and then combine them as a group into an overall communications system. All reports are submitted individually and will contain both individual and group elements as the project design ideas develop.

Week 1

System outline and basic transmitter, receiver and testing scenario. First interim report.

Week 2

Reciver, transmitter and tesct scenario construction.  Characterisation and fault finding. Second interim report.

Week 3

System test integration and general testing. Optional extension design/construction.

Week 4

Final testing and CD demonstration of overall systems along with extensions. Final report.

MINI-LECTURES

Mini-lectures on optical communication system design and circuit design for the basic building blocks will be integrated into the first week of the project.

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To introduce the basics of communications system design
• To provide practical experience of electronic circuit design and construction
• To provide experience of optoelectronic technologies and their applications.

Content

Students work in groups to construct the system, but will be expected to manage the different stages of the design and construction appropriately. All reports are done individually, although drawings may be shared between groups.

Week 1

System outline and basic driver/encoder. First interim report.

Week 2

Receiver design and proposal for optional extension. Second interim report.

Week 3

System test circuitry and general testing. Optional design/construction.

Week 4

Final testing and finale: link up of individual systems. Final report.

MINI-LECTURES

Mini-lectures on optical communication system design and circuit design for the basic building blocks will be integrated into the first two weeks of the project.

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To critically assess the value of heat pump technology as a way of reducing emissions of CO2.
• Undertake measurements (including some instrumentation and data processing design) to assess the performance of a heat pump.
• Produce a Python model of the heat pump which is validated against the experimental measurements.
• Model and understand how an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) operating in a typical house over the course of a year.

Content

The descriptions below and the lists of tasks / reports are based on the 2025 project and may be modified slightly for the coming year

This project looks at the performance of a commercially available heat pump for domestic heating applications. Students will be required to modify and design some instrumentation and undertake experiments to measure the performance of a commercial heat pump. They will also create a Python model of the heat pump cycle. Either the Python model or information extracted from the exeperiments can then be used to model how an Air Source Heat Pump will perform over the course of a year for heating a typical dwelling, taking account of weather variations. 

Students will work in groups of 4 to modify the heat pump rig, design and calibrate some instrumentation and perform the experiments. Individual tasks may be distributed amongst group members as decided by the group. The first report is a group report (6 pages) and the final report (8 pages) is to be written individually. Students also submit their Python script individually and this will be tested and marked.

This project looks at the performance of a commercially available heat pump for domestic heating applications. Students will be required to modify and design some instrumentation and undertake experiments to measure the performance of a commercial heat pump. They will also create a Python model of the heat pump cycle. Either the Python model or information extracted from the exeperiments can then be used to model how an Air Source Heat Pump will perform over the course of a year for heating a typical dwelling, taking account of weather variations. 

Students will work in groups of 4 to modify the heat pump rig, design and calibrate some instrumentation and perform the experiments. Individual tasks may be distributed amongst group members as decided by the group. The first report is a group report (6 pages) and the final report (8 pages) is to be written individually. Students also submit their Python script individually and this will be tested and marked

Weeks 1 & 2

• Familiarisation with the equipment.
• Design, build and calibration of flow measurement device.
• Writing data processing code in Python
• Commence Python thermodynamic cycle model
• Undertake heat pump measurements
• Submit group report on experimental work

Weeks 3 & 4

• Complete and submit Python model of heat pump cycle (individually)
• As a group, develop a model of a heat-pump system - including the the dwelling
• As a group, undertake calculations of how a heat pump performs over a typical year
• Undertake (primarily individually) some further investigation, which may be experimental, modelling or literature based.
• Submit individual final report

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• To critically assess the value of heat pump technology as a way of reducing emissions of CO2.
• Undertake measurements (including some instrumentation and data processing design) to assess the performance of a heat pump.
• Produce a Python model of the heat pump which is validated against the experimental measurements.
• Model and understand how an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) operating in a typical house over the course of a year.

Content

The descriptions below and the lists of tasks / reports are based on the 2023 project and may be modified slightly for the coming year

This project looks at the performance of a commercially available heat pump for domestic heating applications. Students will be required to modify and design some instrumentation and undertake experiments to measure the performance of a commercial heat pump. They will also create a Python model of the heat pump cycle. Either the Python model or information extracted from the exeperiments can then be used to model how an Air Source Heat Pump will perform over the course of a year for heating a typical dwelling, taking account of weather variations. 

Students will work in groups of 4 to modify the heat pump rig, design and calibrate some instrumentation and perform the experiments. Individual tasks may be distributed amongst group members as decided by the group. The first report is a group report (6 pages) and the final report (8 pages) is to be written individually. Students also submit their Python script individually and this will be tested and marked.

This project looks at the performance of a commercially available heat pump for domestic heating applications. Students will be required to modify and design some instrumentation and undertake experiments to measure the performance of a commercial heat pump. They will also create a Python model of the heat pump cycle. Either the Python model or information extracted from the exeperiments can then be used to model how an Air Source Heat Pump will perform over the course of a year for heating a typical dwelling, taking account of weather variations. 

Students will work in groups of 4 to modify the heat pump rig, design and calibrate some instrumentation and perform the experiments. Individual tasks may be distributed amongst group members as decided by the group. The first report is a group report (6 pages) and the final report (8 pages) is to be written individually. Students also submit their Python script individually and this will be tested and marked

Weeks 1 & 2

• Familiarisation with the equipment.
• Design, build and calibration of flow measurement device.
• Writing data processing code in Python
• Commence Python thermodynamic cycle model
• Undertake heat pump measurements
• Submit group report on experimental work

Weeks 3 & 4

• Complete and submit Python model of heat pump cycle (individually)
• As a group, develop a model of a heat-pump system - including the the dwelling
• As a group, undertake calculations of how a heat pump performs over a typical year
• Undertake (primarily individually) some further investigation, which may be experimental, modelling or literature based.
• Submit individual final report