Engineering 190p: Advanced Embedded Systems

In this class we will achieve the following:

  • Further develop embedded design and implementation skills introduced in E155
  • Develop skills of technical presentation, documentation and review
  • Give students a chance to improve their project portfolio to be more attractive to potential employers
  • Improve proficiency of understanding and applying information in technical documentation
  • Learn to apply open source projects in new projects

Instructors

Josef Spjut

Grading

Grades will be assigned as follows:

  • 20% Project 1
  • 20% Project 2
  • 20% Project 3
  • 15% Technical Presentation
  • 25% Design review/Critique

Projects

Each project will last approximately 4 weeks, and each one will have a theme. The expectation will be that each project should be approximately the scope of a MicroPs project in technical details, but you are welcome to leverage as many existing tools and projects as needed to achieve your goal.

Projects may be completed in groups subject to instructor approval, though individual projects will also be permitted provided there is enough time in class. A typical project will be completed by a group of 2 team members.

You should use some sort of embedded processor or platform for each project. The specific devices to be used for each project will be determined by each group. Some recommended platforms include the uMudd32 board used in MicroPs, the Raspberry Pi, and the Arduino. Students will be required to purchase whatever components they need themselves, though a variety of typical devices will be available in the MicroPs lab and through the stockroom.

It is highly recommended that you use github for source code management and documentation (using markdown syntax). Since github is publicly available, using it will create a public record of the project and what your contributions have been, thus allowing you to point any potential employers to the web site to see what you have done. Furthermore, links will be created on the class website to each completed project page.

Each project will be graded based on the in-class presentations as well as the final documentation.

Technical Presentations

Each student will be expected to present information on an interesting component to the class. This will typically be based on a data sheet for a part, or perhaps reverse engineering the protocol and creating novel documentation for how it should be used. Each presentation should be about 8-10 minutes and include potential applications in addition to the technical explanation.

Design Review

Each student will be expected to provide good feedback to the other teams when they present their projects for critique. This will largely be participation based in terms of grading, but you should be sure to provide useful feedback whenever possible.

Intellectual Property

It is encouraged for any student interested in developing their own IP for use in a company or start up to do so. You retain all rights concerning the ideas you develop in the class.

Schedule

See the schedule page.