Measurement Science Lab: Introduction
Contents
Lab Overview
People Involved in the Lab
| Course Co-ordinator: | Dr. Joshua Edel | joshua.edel@imperial.ac.uk | ||
| Dr. Kristelle Bougot-Robin | k.bougot-robin@imperial.ac.uk | |||
| Demonstrators: | Silvia Di-Lecce | silvia.di-lecce12@imperial.ac.uk | ||
| Raquel Fraccari | r.fraccari12@imperial.ac.uk | |||
| Markéta Kubánková | m.kubankova13@imperial.ac.uk | |||
| Ali Magness | alastair.magness12@imperial.ac.uk | |||
| Hugh Sowley | hugh.sowley12@imperial.ac.uk | |||
| Technicians: | Simon Bastians | s.bastians@imperial.ac.uk | ||
| DeeJay Kristnah | d.kristnah@imperial.ac.uk | |||
| Simon Turner | s.t.turner@imperial.ac.uk |
Course Materials
As well as this Wiki there is a lab manual. This wiki contains the instructions from the manual as well as downloads of iPython notebooks for use in data analysis and more information about the hardware and software available to you. Please supplement the information on the wiki and in the manual with your own research.
Course Timetable
This lab is designed as a problem solving exercise and will run for 4 weeks from 18/01/2014 to 06/02/2014. The lab will be open every weekday from except Wednesday from 2:00pm – 5:30pm and you can spend as much or as little time in the lab as you like. There is only one experiment in this lab that is to build and test a spectrometer based on the information held in this lab manual. The lab is designed to take the full 4 weeks and we recommend that you plan you time carefully a proposed time plan could be:
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Initial Spectrometer Design | Improve Initial Design | Make Measurements | Make Improvements to Raspberry Pi |
| Tuesday | Build Initial Design | Build in Improvements | Incorporate Raspberry Pi | Make Measurements with Improved Pi |
| Thursday | Test Initial Design | Test Improved Design | Test with Raspberry Pi | Prepare Final Report |
| Friday | Test Initial Design | Make Measurements | Measurements with Raspberry Pi | Present Your Final Design |
Assessment
The lab course will be assessed by judging the final spectrometer that you design, it is important that you are able to present details of your design iterations and the results that you have obtained. To do this you must keep and present a detailed lab book, the form of your final report is left up to you to decide in your group you can give a short (10 slides maximum) Powerpoint presentation, submit a written report or submit a wiki link. To submit a wiki link you:
- In the address box, type something like wiki.ch.ic.ac.uk/wiki/index.php?title=MSL:XYZ1234
- The characters MSL indicate a report associated with the Measurement Science Lab and XYZ1234 is your secret password for the report. It can be any length, but do not make it too long! It should then tell you there is no text in this page. If not, try another more unique password. You should now click on the edit this page link to start. Use a different address for each module of the course you are submitting.
- It is a good idea to add a bookmark to this page, so that you can go back to it quickly.
Safety
This lab course is designed to be one that you enjoy however safety is still paramount, please follow these simple rules to keep yourself and others safe.
- YOU MUST WEAR A LAB COAT AND SAFETY GLASSES AT ALL TIMES IN THE LAB.
- You must not eat or drink in the lab, or bring any food in with you.
- The use of mobile phones is not allowed in the lab.
- The saftey regulations given to you at the beginning of the Foundation Course still apply.
- You must carry out a risk assessment and get it signed before beginning any practical work.
In addition to these rules you must refresh yourself of all the safety regulations from the Foundation Laboratory Course and complete a risk assessment before carrying out any practical work.
The Brief
In this lab course you will build your own spectrometer that must be able to:
- Record the absorbance spectrum for a range of concentrations;
- Record the angular dependence of absorbance;
- Follow a colour change reaction.
To build your spectrometer you will be supplied with a photodiode, a box of Lego, a black out cloth, a light source, a multi-meter, a power source and a Raspberry Pi. You can use as many or as few of these items as you like, you are also welcome to make additions to the kit. In some circumstance we may even be able to order additional parts at your request if you can justify their procurement. This lab course is about problem solving and therefore the lab script is not traditional and does not give you a list of steps to follow. Instead it gives an overview of the key parts of a spectrometer and the main points you need to think about in your design.
