The Smith Chart Task Generator: Satisfying the Hunger for Exercising the Graphical Calculator

The Smith chart is the principal graphical analysis tool in high-frequency engineering. To the proficient user, it opens up a plethora of circuit design and analysis methods. However, its use must be practised by future engineers joining the field. Most engineers are used to formulas for mathematical calculations. Therefore, the realm of the graphical solution method poses a particular challenge. We introduce a Smith chart Task Generator (STG), with which tasks to be solved in the Smith chart can be pseudorandomly generated. The STG was developed for the high-frequency engineering fundamentals course offered in the Bachelor program at the authors’ university. It is aimed to serve as a low entry level exercising tool which enables the exploration of the possibilities opened up by the use of the Smith Chart. The software is open source, free to use, publicly available on GitLab, and needs no installation.