Summer Program-Electrical Engineering: Smart Lighting
The Summer Challenge course on Electrical Engineering focuses on the topic of Smart Lighting and more specifically optical wireless communications that are derived from LED lighting. This two-week course targets high school students interested in being exposed to modern applications involving electrical and computer engineering concepts. The course development has been made possible by the NSF Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center involving Boston University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and the University of New Mexico.
Course Objectives
Become familiar with:
- Basic electrical components
- Circuits and signals
- Functionality of laboratory equipment
- Light emitting diode (LED) technology
- Visible light communication (VLC) technology
Develop Engineering communication skills.
Gain an understanding of:
- Network /communication components
- Contemporary LED and lighting
Course Outcomes
Upon completing this course, you will be able to:
- Use the Analog Discovery hardware platform and WaveForms software
- Measure electrical and optical characteristics of LEDs
- Build and characterize LED and photodiode (PD) circuits
- Assemble a printed circuit board (PCB)
- Implement software on an Arduino platform
- Apply digital and analog modulation to establish a wireless VLC link
- Work effectively with teammate(s)
- Prepare an engineering lab notebook
- Identify leading sources of LED and lighting industry news
- Present a technical explanation of an engineering project
Students will work in teams of 2-3 and will be expected to maintain a lab notebook capturing results from experimentation. This notebook will be the basis for creating a final team presentation involving all students in the course.
The course is offered through the Boston University Summer Term program.