Chapter 1: Welcome

Embedded Systems - Shape The World

Jonathan Valvano and Ramesh Yerraballi

Welcome to our course on Embedded Systems offered to you on the EdX MOOC platform. In this
chapter we will introduce the course, who we are, our objectives in teaching this course in an online
format, the equipment (software and hardware) you will need to perform the hands-on labs that the
course entails. We will also show you a glimpse of the all the labs you will perform towards successful
completion of the course and receiving certification.
NB: This e-book exists as a resource for the EdX course offering for Spring 2015. However, it can also
be used as a standalone resource if you ignore references to the EdX course.

1.0 Introduction
An embedded system combines mechanical, electrical, and chemical components along with a computer,
hidden inside, to perform a single dedicated purpose. There are more computers on this planet than there are
people, and most of these computers are single-chip microcontrollers that are the brains of an embedded
system. Embedded systems are a ubiquitous component of our everyday lives. We interact with hundreds of
tiny computers every day that are embedded into our houses, our cars, our bridges, our toys, and our work.
As our world has become more complex, so have the capabilities of the microcontrollers embedded into our
devices. Therefore the world needs a trained workforce to develop and manage products based on embedded
microcontrollers.

1.0.1 Impact
The innovative aspect of this class is to effectively teach a course with a substantial lab component within the
MOOC format. If MOOCs are truly going to transform the education, then they must be able to deliver
laboratory classes. This offering will go a long way in unraveling the perceived complexities in delivering a
laboratory experience to tens of thousands of students. If successful, the techniques developed in this class
will significantly transform the MOOC environment. We believe effective education requires students to
learn by doing. In the traditional academic setting this active learning is delivered in a lab format. A number
of important factors have combined that allow a lab class like this to be taught at this time. First, we have
significant support from industrial partners ARM Inc and Texas Instruments. Second, the massive growth of
embedded microcontrollers has made the availability of lost-cost development platforms feasible. Third,
your instructors have the passion, patience, and experience of delivering quality lab experiences to large
classes. Fourth, on-line tools now exist that allow students to interact and support each other.
The overall educational objective of this class is to allow students to discover how the computer interacts
with its environment. It will provide hands-on experiences of how an embedded system could be used to
solve problems. The focus of this introductory course will be understanding and analysis rather than design.
It takes an effective approach to learning new techniques by doing them. We feel we have solved the
dilemma in learning a laboratory-based topic like embedded systems where there is a tremendous volume of
details that first must be learned before hardware and software systems can be designed.

1.0.2 Approach and Learning Philosophy

The approach taken in this course is to learn by doing in a bottom-up fashion. One of the advantages of a
bottom-up approach to learning is that the student begins by mastering simple concepts. Once the student
truly understands simple concepts, he or she can then embark on the creative process of design, which
involves putting the pieces together to create a more complex system. True creativity is needed to solve
complex problems using effective combinations of simple components. Embedded systems afford an
effective platform to teach new engineers how to program for three reasons. First, there is no operating
system. Thus, in a bottom-up fashion the student can see, write, and understand all software running on a
system that actually does something. Second, embedded systems involve real input/output that is easy for the
student to touch, hear, and see. Third, embedded systems are employed in many every-day products,
motivating students to see firsthand, how engineering processes can be applied in the real world.

1.0.3 Audience and Background

This course is intended for beginning college students with some knowledge of electricity as would have
been taught in an introductory college physics class. Secondly, it is expected students will have some basic
knowledge of programming and logic design. No specific language will be assumed as prior knowledge but
this class could be taken as their second programming class.

1.1 Structure and Objectives

The analog to digital converter (ADC) and digital to analog converter (DAC) are the chosen mechanism to
bridge the computer and electrical worlds. Electrical engineering concepts include Ohms Law, LED
voltage/current, resistance measurement, and motor control. Computer engineering concepts include I/O
device drivers, debugging, stacks, FIFO queues, local variables and interrupts. The hardware construction is
performed on a breadboard and debugged using a multimeter (students learn to measure voltage). Software is
developed in C; all labs will be first simulated then run on the real microcontroller. Software debugging
occurs during the simulation stage. Verification occurs in both stages.
The course has 11 labs and a final project. Each lab has a small and well-defined educational objective.
Students begin by learning the fundamental concepts via lectures, interactive animations and readings. The
second task is for students to observe an expert working through an example lab project (interactive tutorial
where the students are required to follow along by building exactly what the instructor is building). Third,
students are examined to make sure they understand the concepts by solving homework problems. Fourth,
they are given a lab assignment where they must design hardware and software. Students connect circuits to
their microcontroller board and write software to run on the board. The automatic grading system to verify
specifications have been met. If the students are unsuccessful they will interact with their peers and be able
to attempt the lab again.

1.1.1 Learning objectives:

Although the students are engaged with a fun and rewarding lab experience, the educational pedagogy is
centered on fundamental learning objectives. After the successful conclusion of this class, students should be
able to understand the basic components of a computer, write C language programs that perform I/O
functions and implement simple data structures, manipulate numbers in multiple formats, and understand
how software uses global memory to store permanent information and the stack to store temporary
information. Our goal is for students to learn these concepts:

1. Understanding how the computer stores and manipulates data,

2. The understanding of embedded systems using modular design and abstraction,
3. C programming: considering both function and style,
4. The strategic use of memory,
5. Debugging and verification using a simulator and on the real microcontroller
6. How input/output using switches, LEDs, DACs, ADCs, motors, and serial ports,
7. The implementation of an I/O driver, multithreaded programming,
8. Understanding how local variables and parameters work,
9. Analog to digital conversion (ADC), periodic sampling,
10. Simple motors (e.g., open and closed-loop stepper motor control),
11. Digital to analog conversion (DAC), used to make simple sounds,
12. Design and implementation of elementary data structures.

1.2 Syllabus
The best way to understand what you will learn in this class is to list the labs you will complete and the
example projects we will build. You will complete each lab first in simulation and then on the real board. For
each module we will design a system and you will build and test a similar system as part of the lab for that
module.
Following is the liast of all modules, the corresponding examples we will build in each and the relevant lab
you will complete. Some of the modules do not have examples or labs.

Module 1: Welcome and Introduction to course and staff

Your Lab 1. Install the Keil IDE and drivers for programming the labs

Module 2: Fundamental concepts: numbers, computers, and the ARM Cortex M processor
Our Example. Develop a system that toggles an LED on the LaunchPad
Your Lab 2. Run existing project on LaunchPad with switch input and LED output

Module 3: Electronics: resistors, voltage, current and Ohms Law

Module 4: Digital Logic: transistors, flip flops and logic functions

Your Lab 4. Debug C software that inputs from two switches and outputs an LED output

Module 5: Introduction to C programming

Our Example. Develop a system that inputs and outputs on the serial port
Your Lab 5. Write a C function and perform input/output on the serial port

Module 6: Microcontroller Input/Output

Our Example. Develop a system that inputs from a switch and toggles an LED output
Your Lab 6. Write C software that inputs from a switch and toggles an LED output

Module 7: Design and Development Process

Our Example. Develop a system that outputs a pattern on an LED
Your Lab 7. Write C functions that inputs from one switch and outputs to two LEDs

Module 8: Interfacing Switches and LEDs

Our Example. Develop a system with an external switch and LED
Your Lab 8. Interface an external switch and LED and write input/output software.

Module 9: Arrays and Functional Debugging

Our Example. Develop a system that debugs by dumping data into an array
Your Lab 9. Write C functions using array data structures that collect/debug your system.

Module 10: Finite State Machines

Our Example 1. Develop a simple finite state machine
Our Example 2. Develop a vending machine using a finite state machine
Our Example 3. Develop a stepper motor robot using a finite state machine
Your Lab 10. Interface 3 switches and 6 LEDs and create a traffic light finite state machine

Module 11: UART - The Serial Interface, I/O Synchronization

Our Example . Develop a communication network using the serial port
Your Lab 11. Write C functions that output decimal and fixed-point numbers to serial port

Module 12: Interrupts

Our Example 1. Develop a system that outputs a square wave using interrupts
Our Example 2. Develop a system that inputs from a switch using interrupts
Our Example 3. Develop a system that outputs to a DC motor that uses pulse width modulation
Your Lab 12. Design and test a guitar tuner, producing a 440 Hz tone

Module 13: DAC and Sound

Our Example. Develop a system that outputs analog signal with a R-2R digital to analog converter
Your Lab 13. Design and test a digital piano, with 4 inputs, digital to analog conversion, and sound

Module 14: ADC and Data Acquisition

 Our Example 1. Develop a system that inputs an analog signal with an analog to digital converter
Our Example 2. Develop an autonomous robot that uses two DC motors and two distance sensors
Your Lab 14. Design and test a position measurement, with analog to digital conversion and calibrated
output

Module 15: Systems Approach to Game Design

Your Lab 15. Design and test a hand-held video game, which integrates all components from previous
labs.

1.2.1 Assessment
There will be five components of assessment. First, each module will have a quiz, which is a set of multiple
choice/numerical questions that must be answered. If the student does not pass this quiz, then they can ask
for help in the discussion forums and be allowed to retake the quiz. The second assessment involves solving
the lab in simulation, and the third assessment is completing a physical lab. This means the student will wire
up a simple circuit, write microcontroller code, and run the software on the real computer. Added to the
students software will be a grading engine that can assess the quantitative performance of the system. The
labs result in a numerical score describing how many of the lab requirements the student successfully
completed.

1. 10% quizzes
2. 45% labs in simulation
3. 45% labs running on the real board

1.3 New for Spring 2015

We have made some enhancements to the content and made the certification process more flexible:

Embedded Systems - Shape the World by Jonathan Valvano and Ramesh Yerraballi is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://users.ece.utexas.edu/~valvano/arm/outline1.htm.