Page 1 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R.

Tafreshi

MEEN 260 – Introduction to Engineering Experimentation

Instructor: Reza Tafreshi, Ph.D.

Research Interests:
• “Automated Identification of Subsea Architectures Via Reduced Order
Modeling”
• “Nonlinear Control of Internal Combustion Engine for Fuel Economy and
Zero Emissions”
• “Energy Storage Flywheels to Enable Renewable Energy and for
Uninterruptible Power Source Service”
Biomedical Engineering:
• Exoskeleton-based rehabilitation
• Heart disease detection using electrocardiogram (ECG)
• Classification of Sleep Stages and Sleep Disorders using
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• Detection and Prediction of Seizure in Patients with Epilepsy using EEG
Techniques:
- Advanced Control Methodologies, Signal Processing, Wavelet Analysis
• Industrial Experience: 7 years

Longest Time by Billy Joel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_XgQhMPeEQ

Some Remarks:
• Be punctual: 3-Min-late rule!
• Take notes! It will greatly help you during study for the exam
• During the lectures, I focus more on the concepts, not algebra. Algebra: your
responsibility, need it for the tests/exams

Some Highlights of Syllabus:

• Please read the course syllabus thoroughly!
• Labs: Lab this week: YES
• Check your emails regularly, at least once a day
• Office hours: Mon/Wed 2:30-3:50 PM, or by appointment (e-mail in advance please)
• Group office hours: Mon, 3:00-3:30 PM
• Note: “Unannounced quizzes” may be given at the beginning of lectures. If you are not
on time you cannot make up the quiz.
• Understanding all background material on prerequisites is the responsibility of each
student.
• Meet the deadlines! If you are facing ANY difficulty, tell me well-ahead of time!
• No Laptop, No Cell phone in any class activity unless specified!
NOTE: Make-up exam, if you are eligible for, may be an oral exam.
Page 2 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Keys to Success:
• Get acquainted with the lecture notes before coming to the class (read the
textbook/handouts).
• Complete all homework!
• Reworking the HW/quiz mistakes to be prepared for the quizzes and exams.
• Work in teams, practice individually!
• Attending the class is STRONGLY advised.
• Actively participate in class discussions. Class discipline should be maintained.
Your class participation and discipline will influence my judgment in the case of
“border-line” final grade.
• Be on time and do not leave in the middle of class.
• Attendance and attention to the lectures are the two MAIN keys to success.
• Take advantage of office hours. Work the problems ahead of time to be productive
for your time and mine.
• Do NOT skip a class because you have another exam! If you skip a class, YOU will
be responsible for understanding the lecture material.
• I have urged Shameel to take your writing very seriously! Report resubmission?
o Writing center service at TAMUQ

A few Professional Points:

- Email format: proper use of Title, greeting (“Dear Mr./Ms./Dr…”) and ending:
(“Thanks” or “regards”…or similar)
- Respond to your emails promptly
- Respond to Outlook invitations: Yes/{No/Tentative (mention the reason)}

Note: Quiz on next Sunday!

Class Rules?

How to study for an Engineering course -- My recommendations:

• Study for at least ½ hour, within 24 hours before the class: review the previous
lecture, solve one of the problems, and then check the answer.
• Study for at least ½ hour, within 24 hours after the class: review the lecture, solve
one of the problems, and then check the answer.
• Solve your homework every week.
• Work in a group of two or three, but work individually as well. For example, set a
50 min time slot with the group, where each member work for ~20 min alone, then
discuss the problem for 5 min, then move on to another problem. If the problem is
long, you can break it in half and do what I just said.
• Then go back to the previous lectures that you feel weak about.
• Repeat the above EVERY week! Remember, you need to study at least 2 hours for
every lecture attending!
Page 3 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Lecture 1 – Introduction to the course:

Process of measurement
Overview of Experiment Design

Question of the day: Is it possible to make a perfect measurement?

Lecture Outlines:
• Syllabus overview and policies
• How to succeed in MEEN 260
• Course overview:
o Why to take measurement
o How to take measurement
o How to analyze the measured data

Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpH0IVX--6Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9NKJsetjjM

Mechanical Measurements – Key Points

• As Engineers we would like to measure a physical characteristic (the act of
quantifying):
o Everything that exists, exists in some amount (Anonymous)
• In measuring a quantity, there is not such a term as “perfect”:
o There is no perfect answer, no perfect measurement (Beckman)

What do we learn in this course?

• Learn to do measurements involving mechanical quantities
• Learn to use computer aided data acquisition systems
• Learn to deal with uncertainty in measurements

Sensor
Technologies
Signal
Experiment
Processing
Design
Circuits

Engineering
Experimentation
Reporting Data
Results Acquisition
Statistical
Data Analysis

• Engineering Experimentation
o Defining the objectives
o Pre-experiment analysis
o Equipment specification
o Data collection and analysis
o Steady state vs. transient
o Filtering, sampling, filtering
Page 4 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

How do we measure a quantity?

• Observe
o How do we observe the length or temperature?
- Observe the quantity!
• Quantify
o How do we quantify the length or temperature? A tool:
sensor?
- Quantify the quantity
• Evaluate
o How close the measured value is to the true value?
o Are you exactly 168.6 cm tall?

Sensors
• Observe and Quantify
- How do we observe physical characteristics?
o Convert (transduce) a quality (unobservable
physical characteristics) into a quantity
(observable form)
- e.g.: Temperature à Mercury in Glass à
Displacement (fluid height)
- This is one possible way of converting

• Quantify and Record (another possible way of converting)

o Convert a physical quantity into an electrical signal that can
be later interpreted by a computer
o Data Acquisition System
o e.g.: Accelerometer:
- Acceleration à Displacement à Electrical
Resistance à Voltage Accelerometer

Sensors are one type of “transducer”

Evaluate: Measurement Analysis

• How do we evaluate the error in measurement?
o Uncertainty
o Let’s have a crash course in Statistics?!
Page 5 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Measured the data! What is next?

• Regression:
o Is the relation between fluid height in mercury in glass thermometer and
temperature “linear”?

• Prediction:
o Based on last year’s stuck market measurements, will the prices go up
within next month?

Measurand:
• Any physical parameter that being observed or quantified

Types of measurand (input quantities):

Based on time-dependency:
• Static – constant in time
o Normal deflection of a beam in a structure over a day
• Dynamic – varying in time
o Vibration of a cantilever rod (similar to your lab experiment)
o Machinery vibration

Based on continuity:
• Analog: analogous to a continuous physical process (velocity)
• Digital: a set of discrete numbers each corresponds to the value of the analog signal
at a given time (number of cars coming to TAMUQ garage)
Page 6 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Fundamental methods of measurement (Consider “Measurement Process” as a System)

Standard
Measurand Process of Result
comparison
(input) (measurment) (Output)

Measurand: any physical parameter that being observed or quantified

• Direct comparison: compare the length with a standard

Example: Use a measuring tape to measure the length of a bar
Advantage: simple practice
Drawbacks: not adequate for long lengths; limited accuracy

• Indirect comparison: transducing: a chain of devices that converts the basic form of
input into an analogous form that then will be processed.
Example: Transforming the strain in a machine member (difficult to be sensed
by human) to a voltage in Wheatstone Bridge
Most dynamic mechanical measurements convert the mechanical input into
analogous electrical form (that can be processed further)

Necessary step in this measurement method:

Processing:
§ Increase the signal amplitude: amplification
§ Filter the noises
Page 7 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Generalized measuring system: Measurement Process as a System

Stage 1. Detection-transduction (sensor-transducer): sense or detect the measurand

Ideal: be insensitive to any other input: strain gage insensitive to temperature

Stage 2. Signal conditioning: modify the transduced information to an acceptable form

Remove the noise (filtering), integration, differentiation, telemetering…
Increase signal amplitude or/and power to actuate/drive the terminating device

Stage 3. Readout-recording: transform the information comprehensible to a human sense or

to a controller

Calibration Auxiliary Power Auxiliary Power Indicator

Input (Not always required) (usually required)
Recorder
Measurand Sensor/ Signal
Computer
Transducer Transduced Conditioner Analogous
signal driving
(analogous to signal Processor
input)
Controller
Page 8 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Example – Tire gage system (to measure tire pressure by connecting it to tire valve stem)

It consists of:
• Cylinder and piston
• Spring resisting the piston movement
• Stem with scale divisions

Mechanism:
• The air force compresses the spring until the spring and air forces
balance.
• The calibrated stem indicates the applied pressure.

Sensor/Transducer
Signal
Readout
Input Conditioning
Pressure
? ? ?
?
Page 9 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Example – Velocity measurement system

Stage 3
Stage 1 Recording-readout system
Sensor-transducer
Stage 2
Signal-Conditioning System

A
C
C
E
L
E
Integrating Data-acquisition
R Filter Amplifier Printer
O Circuit Computer
M
E
T
E
R

Voltage output Signal with Time integrated Increased voltage

from accelerometer noise voltage for computer
with unwanted removed analogous to recording
“noise” velocity
Page 10 Lecture 1 – MEEN 260 Dr. R. Tafreshi

Sensor examples:

Mercury in glass LVDT Semiconductor

Thermometer (Electrical) Temperature
(Mechanical) Sensor
(Thermoelectric)

Signal Conditioning

• Reading Assignments:
o Chapter 1 and 2 of textbook by Beckwith

• Next Lecture: Introduction to Statistical Data Analysis