Laboratories

Renewable energy has become an extremely important element in the energy mix. Different technologies are used to convert energy from renewable sources to usable energy forms such as electricity and thermal energy. The renewable Energy laboratory at the department equipped with a number of equipment that can be used to study the principles of various renewable energy conversion systems. It includes a solar photovoltaic system, a solar thermal system, a wind energy conversion system, and a fuel cell system. Students can perform various experiments to understand the working principles of these different technologies and evaluate their performances. 

The High Voltage Laboratory has state-of-the-art equipment that can be used in the study of different HV phenomena. Its major facilities are related to the generation and measurements of high voltage AC, DC, and surges. There are several HV modules that allow designing high-level detailed setups that can be used for experiments with fundamental HV theories. This is essential for students as HV engineering in nature is an experimentally based science.

HV Test Transformer, Motorized Measuring sphere gap, Vacuum and Pressure vessel, Partial Discharge meter, and Corona Cage are some of the highlighted equipment in the lab. The HV Test Transformer has a maximum ac output voltage of 200 kV. Control Desk allows students to conduct various experiments and to get measurements fast. 

The Renewable Energy and High Voltage Laboratory play an important role by supporting bachelor’s courses in the field of High Voltage Engineering and Renewable Energy, hosting undergraduate projects, and supporting other research projects. All are well supported by a specialist team of teaching staff and technicians.

The following main practicals are conducted in this laboratory.

• Generation and measurements of ac voltages
• Generation and measurement of dc and impulse voltages
• Breakdown of materials
• Partial discharge and corona
• Study on wind energy system
• Study on solar thermal system
• Study on photovoltaic solar system
• Study on fuel cell system

Lab Coordinator:  Dr. Iromi Ranaweera  (iromi@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

Technical Officer in Charge: Mr. M.G.N.T. Rathnapala (rathnapala@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

The main objective of this laboratory is to provide the facilities to conduct the laboratory sessions and the project work related to the areas of electric machines, power electronics and electric motor drives. 

Cutaway of a separately excited dc motor and a squirrel cage type induction motor is available for students to learn about the structure of the electric machines. The laboratory has electric machine test benches that can facilitate to couple two electric machines and vary the speed and torque when necessary. Also, these test benches facilitate to measure the voltage, current, speed and torque of the electric machines during the tests. All types of dc, ac synchronous and ac asynchronous machines are available for testing with necessary power supplies.

Power electronics trainer systems that can build power electronics converters using diodes and thyristors and facilitate to test them are available in the laboratory. Single-phase and three-phase converters can be built and various measurements can be taken under different load conditions.

The systems to study both dc and ac motor drives are available in the laboratory. A system to study the four-quadrant operation of DC machines and to study the volts-per-hertz control strategy for induction machines is available. Moreover, a system to learn about the control principle of stepper motors is available.

Also, this laboratory facilitates students to carry out their electric power engineering related projects. Eleven separate power supply panels with single-phase and three-phase ac power outlets including all necessary protections are available in the laboratory. Oscilloscopes, power analysers, voltmeters, ammeters, voltage and current probes, controllable dc and ac power supplies are available to use during the laboratory sessions and the students’ project work.

Laboratory Equipment

• Electric machine test benches
• AC and DC motor driver systems
• DC, AC synchronous and AC asynchronous
• machines
• Power supply panels
• Power electronics trainer kits
• 3-phase power outlets
• Synchronous and asynchronous AC machines

Lab in Charge: Dr. Chandana Perera, email: chandana@eie.ruh.ac.lk, Ext. 3222

Technical Officer in charge: Mr. M. G. N. T. Rathnapala,   email: rathnapala@eie.ruh.ac.lk

The field of electrical measurement and electronics continues to grow, with novel techniques and components developed each year. Hence, the Electronics and Measurement Laboratory of the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering has been designed to give hands on experience for the undergraduates in order to reinforce the concepts they learn in various modules such as Introduction to Electrical Engineering, Introduction to Electronic Engineering, Analog Electronics, Digital Electronics, Electrical and Electronic Measurements etc.

The Laboratory enables the undergraduates to be familiarize with various electronic components such as Op amps, BJTs, Diodes etc. And also, it enables the students be acquainted with the state-of-the-art measuring instruments and taking measurements accurately. The Electronic and Measurement Laboratory is equipped with the modern sophisticated laboratory equipment including analog and digital oscilloscopes, logic analysers, power analysers, programmable function generators, dual DC power supplies, FPGA development kits, various electronic components trainer kits etc. Carefully devised laboratory experiments will lead the students through progressively more sophisticated concepts and techniques. They get a chance to analyse and design integrated analog and digital electronic circuits, build them and test them for their intended operation. It will enable the students to build a solid foundation and necessary background concepts and skills needed to develop and use modern electrical and electronic instruments.

Lab in Charge: Dr. R.P.S. Chandrasena, (chandrasena@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

Technical Officer in Charge: Mr. J.P. Gunadasa, (jagath@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

Communications and systems engineering laboratory is focused on providing in-depth knowledge in wired and wireless communications and industrial automation. It consists of communication equipment ranging from microwaves to optical fiber. There are a number of trainer kits to study the basics in each of these areas. Further, there are many supporting equipment available to obtain different readings while the practicals are being conducted. Equipment such as control systems trainer kit and dual conveyor PLC trainer kit supports to get the hands-on experience on automation.

Following practicals are conducted in this laboratory.

• Engineering Electromagnetism
• Communication Theory
• Optical Fiber Communication
• Microwave Communications
• Wireless and Mobile Communication Communication System
• Optical Fiber Communication
• Control System Design

Lab in Charge: Mr. D.S. De Silva  (saman@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

Technical Officer in Charge: Mr. Jagath Gunnadasa (jagath.alpha@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

The Computer Resource Center and the Information Engineering Laboratory consists of separate space with a capacity of 80 students to work on computer-related activities and an Information laboratory. The main objective of the Computing resource center is to provide students with an interactive space to work on their own computers while the department provides them with a working desk, power outlets, and wired/wireless internet connectivity. This facility is mainly used to conduct activity-based teaching and learning related to course modules that require interactive sessions with the support of computers. For example, Embedded systems design, Digital signal processing, Machine learning, Software projects, Electronics Design, and Computer vision modules make use of this space extensively. Further, as the same space consists of a multimedia projector and a sliding whiteboard, it is used for regular lectures, workshops, and seminars as well. 

The Information laboratory is established in collaboration with the Cisco Networking Academy, Sri Lanka. It comprises several high-end Cisco networking devices and is mainly used for the practical components of networking and digital communication-based modules and to facilitate final year projects. Further, this networking facility can be used in future postgraduate research activities as well. 

In addition, the laboratory consists of two resource units, namely, the multimedia unit and the education resource unit. The multimedia unit has a collection of modern audio-visual resources that can be used for conducting online lectures and recording traditional lectures, Live broadcasting events, facilitating workshops, and other projects. The education resource unit has a collection of the most referred and widely used reference books in Electrical and Information Engineering which can be accessed by the students and staff.

The following practicals are conducted in the Information Lab.

• Configuring VLAN and Trunking
• Configuring Routing in a Network

Lab in Charge: Mr. Thilina Weerasinghe (thilina@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

Technical officer in Charge: Ms. D. M. Jayasinghe (manohari@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

The undergraduate project lab is a space provided for students to meet each other and work on projects together. It is open until late night upon the request from students to allow them to work on their ideas. The UGP laboratory is equipped with 16 workstations, a soldering station, and cutting and drilling stations. Students are allowed to use their own equipment or they can borrow equipment from other labs.

This lab is mainly used for Final Year Undergraduate Project module.

Lab in Charge: Dr. C.K.W. Seneviratne (chatura@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

Technical Officer in Charge: Ms. D. M. Jyasinghe (manohari@eie.ruh.ac.lk)

The following laboratories are proposed to be constructed under the new Computer Engineering specialization.

• Computing Laboratory I
• Computing Laboratory II
• Electronics Laboratory I
• Electronics Laboratory II
• Embedded Systems and IoT Laboratory
• Robotics & Automation Laboratory
• High-Performance Computing Laboratory
• Network Engineering Laboratory
• Undergraduate Project Development Lab
• Precision Agriculture Laboratory
• Bioinstrumentation Laboratory
• Virtual Reality Laboratory
• Mobile Computing Laboratory