The most common images that come to mind when discussing computers are ones of large mainframes, desktop PCs, and portable laptops. However, the vast majority of computers are actually found embedded in everyday devices such as automobiles, cell phones, MP3 players and toasters. These embedded systems are often built around microprocessors that differ from conventional PCs and workstations in many ways. For example, embedded microprocessors usually will not (or cannot) be programmed or maintained by the end-users, and often present significantly different design constraints such as limited memory, low cost and low power. At the same time, many embedded microprocessors must also interact with and control their physical environment using a variety of electromechanical sensors and actuators.

This class provides an opportunity to investigate the characteristics of microprocessor-controlled electromechanical systems through active participation in laboratory exercises. Lectures will focus on providing background, theory, and review of the key topics that will be explored in the laboratory. Laboratory exercises will provide direct hands-on experience with both the hardware (e.g., microprocessor, sensors, actuators, electronic components) and software (e.g., development environment, debugging, control algorithms) commonly used in embedded system design.

Exams: This is a course guided by the philosophy of “learn by doing.” No exams/quizzes are planned.

Lectures: The lecture content will follow the laboratory assignments. Failure to attend lectures will be a severe handicap as each of the lectures are preparing you for that week’s lab assignment.

Labs: The lab exercises are the most critical component of this course. Attendance and participation are mandatory. If you must miss a laboratory session, you must obtain an excused absence beforehand, from your instructor, and discuss alternative arrangements for making up the missed work. Many exercises in later labs depend upon on code and skills developed completing exercises in earlier labs. The laboratory “check-off” procedures and requirements will be explained in each of your lab assignments. A large portion of each lab grade is simply completing the work assigned. In addition, you will submit your final commented code for the lab and we will grade the code and comments kind of like a lab report for the assignment. You should explain what you learned in the lab assignment in your code’s comments. Short one-liner comments, that do not quite explain what the code is accomplishing, will be given lower scores. Get in the habit of writing comments where you changed code and then before submitting your code go back to those lines and create more descriptive explanations.

Homework: I will be assigning and grading “teach yourself” homework you will perform outside of lab sessions. Each of these exercises will explain what items need to be completed and submitted by given due dates. These assignments will span multiple weeks and there will be graded “check off” due dates within those weeks to keep you on pace and no waiting until the night before the final due date to attempt to finish the work. The goal of these exercises is to make you even more comfortable developing code for C2000 processor and designing controllers for electro-mechanical systems. These will be individual homework, but just like the labs, you can ask questions of your fellow classmates and instructors as you work on these assignments.

LABVIEW Exercises: There will be four “Teach Yourself” LABVIEW assignments during the semester and Homework #2 has a LABVIEW assignment. We will be using LABVIEW to develop applications for our Windows 10 PCs to communicate data back and forth between the PC and the lab’s robot card. Then by the time we get to designing controllers for the robot car in Labs 6 and 7, you will have an application that can send commands to steer the robot. I have found in previous semesters that some ME461 students prefer programming in the block diagram form of LABVIEW compared to text based C programs. You will find that each programming method has their advantages and disadvantages.

Final Project: Monday December 15th 8am to 11am. Put this in your calendar today! This is your final for the class and you MUST attend! At the end of the semester, you and partners will choose a final project topic to complete that uses the TMS320F28379D processor as its controller. Details about this final project will be provided as the semester progresses. You will be working in groups of four for this end of the semester project.