As an outcome from the subject, the students should be able to understand, design and organize the experimental activities which are usually carried out regularly in University laboratories, the Industry as well as in the Research Institutes.

The students attending this subject should be acquainted with basic knowledge of: Mathematics and Physics; Electricity and Fluid-dynamics; Mechanics, Thermodynamics and heat-transfer, along with Fluid Machinery in general, such as the Internal Combustion Engines, hydraulic pumps, air impellers, and so on.

The main subject topics of the theoretical and applied lectures are: 1. International System of Measurements (SI) 2. Measurement Methods and Experimental Errors 3. System Dynamic Models (zero, first and second order) and Fourier analysis 4. Statistical Data Analysis 5. Basic Electrical Principles (Electrical Components, Bode Plot, Bridges, Operational Amplifiers, Analogical and Numerical Filters) 6. Data Acquisition Systems (DAQ) 7. Instrument connections and Noise protection 8. Temperature measurement 9. Pressure measurement 10. Flow measurement 11. Power measurement 12. Measurement of Combustion products 13. Measurement of displacement 14. Stress and strain measurement.

Applied lectures (10h) The student will solve practical exercises concerning the experimental data analysis, the design of an experimental layout, the choice of a sensor, the design of a measuring chain and the setup of a Digital Acquisition System. Laboratory Lectures (30h) The students will extensively work with virtual laboratory based on a notebook, Arduino boards and a breadboard. Virtual instruments like Oscilloscope, Wave Generator, Spectrum Analyser and Digital Filters will be simulated by means of software that are based on the netbook sound-card. The Arduino Boards connected to some devices (LCD, SD Card reader/recorder, …) will be used like a DAQ in order to perform simple experiments. The breadboard allows the realization and test of simple conditioning circuits based on Operational Amplifiers. In addition, the Laboratory work will be focused on three activities where the students must define their acquisition chain, acquire the experimental data end analyze them. A report for each of these activity must be written and handed in. The reports will be evaluated by the teacher and the evaluation will account for the final mark of the exam.

Reference Books Experimental Methods for Engineers - J. P. Holman - McGraw-Hill Inc. Measurement, Instrumentation and Sensors Handbook - J.G Webster - CRC Press (Optional) Didactic material regarding all the lectures and applied lectures is provided by the lecturer in the web page of the subject . The lectures and applied lectures are recorded by the teacher. The videos are uploaded in the course web-page for both on-line and in class activities.

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam; Group essay;

Attended results. The exam want to check the capability of the student to design a measuring chain by selecting suitable transducers and properly setting a DAS, and to post-process the measured quantities. Therefore, it checks the student knowledges about the following topics: - capability to select of a proper transducer in accordance to the characteristics of the physical quantity under investigation; - capability to design simple electronic circuits for electrical signal conditioning (amplification, filtering); - capability to configure the acquisition chain and set the acquisition parameters (sampling frequency, trigger type, Anti-aliasing filter); - capability to critically analyse and post-process the measured data (uncertainty estimation). Esam procedure. The exam consists of: written and oral exams. Written exam (1.5h): the student has to solve three exercises, which have a value of 10/30 marks each, concerning statistical data analysis, electronic circuits analysis and DAQ setup. It provide a maximum mark of 30/30 and the student can sit to the following Oral exam if the Written exam test evaluation is higher or equal to 15/30 only. Allowed material during the exam. Students are supposed to solely use a calculator, as well as a formula sheet in A4 format to be procured by the students themselves. In addition, students can use table for Gaussian and Chi-2 distribution. Oral exam: The oral exam deals with the theoretical topics covered during the lectures with particular reference to the discussion of the written test, the reports related to the laboratory activities and to the transducers performances and selection. It provides a maximum mark of 30/30. Exam final evaluation. The final mark is the weighted mean between: - Written test: weight 45% ; - Oral Exam: weight 45%; - Applied lectures reports (evaluated during the course): weight 20%. Therefore, the maximum contribution of the reports evaluation to the final mark will be lower or equal to 6 points. A final mark higher than 31/30 will be registered as 30 with honor.

In addition to the message sent by the online system, students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders (SLD) are invited to directly inform the professor in charge of the course about the special arrangements for the exam that have been agreed with the Special Needs Unit. The professor has to be informed at least one week before the beginning of the examination session in order to provide students with the most suitable arrangements for each specific type of exam.