The Optical Fibre Trainer Kit

The Interlabs Optical Fibre Training Kit (OFT) – is a powerful, versatile and cost-effective experimenter kit ideal for training purposes at all levels and was developed in a joint effort by IIT-Madras and Benchmark Electronic Systems. The first trainer kit was built in 1988. Over the years, as per feedback from faculty all over the country, new versions were developed and built. Currently, the OFT is in its fourth version.

The OFT training kit comprehensively covers all aspects of fibre optic communication and works at 650nm and 850nm wavelengths. Recognized by IEEMA as a "best product" in 1997, this self-contained kit has all the accessories required to conduct experiments and, consequently, ensures that the laboratory is fully operational from day one.

Powerful, versatile, cost-effective…
The Interlabs OFT experimenter kit comprehensively covers all aspects of fiber optic communication and facilitates demonstration, training and experimentation in basic and advanced concepts that include:

• Principles of Fiber Optics
• Basics of Digital Base Band communications
• Experimentation and development in fibre optic digital communication
  Moreover, all accessories required to conduct basic experiments and to interface to external circuitry are provided with the kit including a 650nm power source. (The optional 850nm power source can be ordered separately). The entire circuit is enclosed in a high strength molded plastic box, protecting the components from students’ mishandling. The kit has a comprehensive manual covering theory concepts, experiment details, circuit/block diagrams and commercial applications of the demonstrated concepts ensuring minimal intervention from laboratory personnel.
  In short, this comprehensive trainer not only enables students to start learning but achieves this with minimal training of lab personnel.

What do the students learn?
The trainer kit enables the student to work on fully operational, integrated voice/data fibre-optic communication links (digital and analog). Students work with and become comfortable in using optical fibres through a series of carefully designed experiments and exercises detailing the characteristics of optical fibres. The set of experiments takes the students through digital communication technologies and principles used in setting up commercial communication systems. And comprehensively covers one semester course on Fibre Optic Communication as per most university syllabi.

The training modules are divided into experiments and applications:

• The basic experiments cover Fibre Optic Links, characteristics of fibre optic links, losses in fibre links, setting up digital communication links and the limitations of fibre links like pulse broadening in multimode fibres.
• In the advanced set of experiments & applications the student is guided to design solutions using the concepts demonstrated in the basic experiments. These modules guide them to design and interface their own communication circuits & systems through the trainer kit.
• The availability of expansion slots and the modular circuit design enables advanced project work by students.