Course Description

From smart phones to appliances, digital circuits are all around us. This course provides a foundation for students who are interested in electrical engineering, electronics, or circuit design. Students study topics such as combinational and sequential logic and are exposed to circuit design tools used in industry, including logic gates, integrated circuits, and programmable logic devices.

Class Topics:

Semester 1:

Unit 1: Foundations in Electronics
Intro to Circuit Design

Unit 2: Combinational Logic
AOI Logic
K Mapping
PLDs

Unit 3: Sequential Logic
Sequential Logic Circuit Design
Asynchronous Counters
Synchronous Counters

Unit 4: Controlling Real World Systems
Introduction to State Machines
Introduction to microcontrollers

Large Class Projects:

Soldering of a Random Number Generator
In this project students will solder a random number generator and then test their device to ensure that it meets requirements.

Design a "Majority Vote" Machine that could have helped in the 2000 Presidential Election
In this project, students will use only AND, OR and Invertor logic gates, frequently referred to as AOI logic to design, simulate, and build a Majority Vote voting machine that meets the design specifications.

Design a Fireplace Control Circuit
In this challenge students will redesign a fireplace control circuit for a gas fireplace that meets specific requirements.

Birthday Display Circuit
In this assignment students design a circuit that displays their unique date of birth on a single, seven-segment display. The design will bring together all of the techniques that they have learning throughout the first semester (AOI logic, K mapping, and PLDs)

Now Serving Display
In this challenge students will have the opportunity to draw together all of the concepts and skills that they have developed pertaining to the topic of asynchronous counter design. The students will design, simulate and build a Now Serving Display like you would see at a deli counter.

Sixty Second Timer
In this challenge students will draw together all of the concepts and skills that they have developed pertaining to the topic of synchronous counter design where they will design, simulate and create a sixty second timer.

Copy Jam Detector
In this design projector students will have the opportunity to incorporate motors and input sensors to design, simulate and create a copier jam detector device.

State Machine Design: Tollbooth
In their final project students will be required to use a PLD (programmable logic device) to create a functioning prototype of a tollbooth. The tollbooth will have four inputs and four outputs and they must design a device that meets all other requirements.