SmartLabs in electronics packaging education

The effect of parasitic inductances and capacitances in the performance of electronic systems is one of the feasible subjects for undergraduate labs. The students, apart from being able to correlate the resistance, inductance, capacitance and both mutual inductance and mutual capacitance with the layout dimensions must also be able to estimate the RF skin effects on inductance and resistance. The laboratory analysis of different layouts and of the influence their geometry has on these parameters is a very good way to reinforce the theoretical knowledge. In this regard, SmartLabs are a very interesting option when compared with traditional instruments. SmartLabs are made up by the combination of a DAQ board with any kind of personal computer (PC, Tablet-PC or even Smartphone) and the suitable software to implement the instrument user interface. This user interface configures the DAQ board, manages the captured data and organizes it in a suitable way as to facilitate the student recognition of the basic facts and laws that underlie the experiment. SmartLabs have important advantages over traditional instruments in terms of flexibility (the capture data processing and representation is made by software and not by hardware or firmware: this allows to process the data captured and stored in one or several experiments almost in any way expected to be suitable to reinforce the learning objectives), price (due to the extensive and competitive offer in the Tablet-PC and Smartphone market, and also to the fact that they can be used for very different and additional functions in the lab outside the lab), portability and wireless communication. The extra motivation caused in the student by the ability to perform the laboratory work in his own device is another appreciated feature of the SmartLabs. This paper builds on the expertise of the Electrical Equipments and Systems Area of the Institute for Energy Engineering in Universitat Politècnica de Valencia in the development of successful SmartLabs on transformer core magnetic cycles and losses, airgap field configurations of rotating electrical machines or reactive power control among others. The paper shows the work in progress on the development of a SamartLab to support the students in the execution of the tests and in the data collection and results arrangement, calculation and display to obtain the parasitic inductances and capacitances of different PCB tracing configurations. The SmartLab is aimed at assisting the student to correlate basic design choices in the PCB design with the value of specific parameters that influence the performance and reliability of the system.