Introduction to Engineering

This lecture provides a hands-on glimpse of the field of electrical and computer engineering. The broad range of hands-on applications utilize LabVIEW and the NI-SPEEDY-33 hardware to explore concepts such as basic computer input and output, basic robotic principals, and introductory signal processing and communication concepts such as signal generation, modulation, music, speech, and audio and image/video processing. These principals and technologies are introduced in a very practical way and are fundamental to many of the electronic and computerized devices we use today. Some examples include audio level meter and audio effects, music synthesizer, real-time autonomous robot, image and video analysis, and DTMF modulation found in touch-tone telephone systems. Table of Contents: Getting Familiar with LabVIEW and SPEEDY-33 / Applications using LEDs and Switches using the SPEEDY-33 / Noise Removal / Music Equalizer / Telephone / Digital Audio Effects: Echo and Reverb / Music Composer / Introduction to Robotics / AM Radio / Modem / Digital Image Processing Fundamentals / Applications using USB Camera / Appendix: VIs at a Glance