13-09-2013, 12:12 PM
Embedded System Project (521423S)
[attachment=57985]
Abstract
The goal of this course is to help students understand the world of embedded computer
systems. Usually participants are information and electrical engineering students who
are specialized in software and system design. Most attention has been given to elementary
hardware design skills because these skills are the ones students often lack.
This course is structured as a guided walk through the hardware design process.
This document defines the project topic for spring 2003, gives general guidelines and
course procedures. Additionally major electronics components is proposed and practical
hints are given. The students are encouraged to give feedback for improving both
the course and its material.
Course objectives
The purpose of the Embedded System Project (Sulautettujen järjestelmien työt) course
is to provide you knowledge and hands-on experience in the embedded computer system
technology. The course is intended to students specializing in software and system
design, giving most attention to hardware design, as understanding in this area is vital
for most embedded software designers. In short, this course is a chance for the very
novices in electronics design to create a simple embedded computer based device and
to learn the maximum from the experience.
You will learn both about design and tools. You will learn to study the components to
fit the various pieces together into a complete system and you will understand the role
of a microcontroller, seeing it as basic building block. In particular, you will concentrate
on hardware-software interaction, although very little software will be written in
this project. You will learn to design the schematics and layout using Printed Circuit
Board (PCB) tools (e.g. OrCad), although their more advanced functions are not covered
in this course. In the end, you will learn to use an emulator and other microcontroller
development tools while testing the assembled circuit board you will make.
Admittedly, there is a lot to be learned.
The course is realized as a project-like assignment that requires approximately 120-
160 hours from a team of two students during a single term. There are several topics to
choose from. The topics are divided to three categories: basic topic, optional topics and
own topic. The basic topic is meant for people that are new to the embedded systems.
The basic topic contains only familiar technologies and the teachers are familiar with
the topic, enabling more efficient tutoring. Also some suitable components for the assignment
have been pre-examined, letting the students to avoid the full exposure to
“navigation” problems, such as selecting, finding, and ordering components. The specification
for this topic is already defined and the basic structure of the work is fixed,
but there are still some degrees of freedom in the design.
Basic topic: Robot Control Module (RCM)
Your task is to design a control module for a robot. The robot is a simple two wheel
robot that uses two stepper motors for driving. The robot can be programmed to drive
autonomously a certain path. A list of driving commands are first downloaded from a
PC to the robot, after which the robot will drive automatically through the program.
The mechanics of the robot are provided. They include the robot base with two stepper
motors for wheels, bumber switches and an LCD display. The motors, switches and
LCD-display have simple connectors for attaching them to the control module. Figure
of the base will appear to course web pages (http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~terva/
Embedded2003) when ready. The robot base has a space for a standard euro size PCB
(10 x 16 cm) and four holes for attaching the PCB to the base. Thus you need to implement
your control module to a 10 x 16 cm sized PCB and place the holes to correct
places. A footprint for the holes is provided, so you only need to add the footprint to
your PCB to get the holes to their right places.
The control module will be based on an Atmel ATmega series microcontroller. The
students can choose from three choices: Atmega 161, 163 and 323. The control module
is required to contain the following peripherals:
- some external memory for saving the driving commands
- RS232 serial connection for the PC
- some buttons and an LCD display for operating the robot
- driver or amplifier IC
for interfacing to the stepper motors
How to connect the emulator cable:
1. Before connecting your design, turn the power off from the Atmel ICE50. The
PC workstation does not need to be shut down or switched off.
2. Connect the pod into the microprocessor socket of the PCB to be tested very
gently - it is extremely easy to bend the pins of the pod. Always use an extra
socket connected to the pod to avoid damaging it. This way the pod itself stays
in tact even if the pins are bend - only the extra socket has to be replaced.
3. When the ICE50 is properly connected to the target and the host PC, the power
can be turned on. The following procedure is recommended to ensure proper
communication between the ICE50 and AVR Studio.
General guidelines
As this course is intended to students with software orientation, the question is probably
about the first electronics device you design. Therefore, do not rush, but proceed
in good order, as this will eliminate much of the learning pains.
First, write down the system requirements and sketch your design on paper avoiding
too much detail. The requirements should include the operational sequences of the system.
Also write down your ideas and calculations, and keep your notes, please. It is important
for yourself to see the progress, because design is an iterative process and you
are likely to review your earlier decisions. Figure 3 shows the major milestones in a
typical small project that combines software and hardware development.
Figure 3. Typical stages in a small-scale embedded HW/SW-project.
Familiarize yourself with the proposed components. This is necessary before detailed
design can be carried out. Selecting the components, or building blocks, is very time
consuming, unless you have prior experience and know what you are looking for. The
component selection process can be compared to finding pieces to a jigsaw puzzle: you
may approximately know your needs, but you do not know for sure if something you
see fits unless you try it.
Atmel ICE50 In Circuit Emulator system
The Embedded system project is suggested to be built using the on of the Atmel Atmega
series microcontroller, for which an In Circuit Emulator (ICE) can be found from
TS139. The ICE is connected to a PC workstation and all the controlling and development
software are run under a 32 bit Windows operating system. Detailed instructions
of using the ICE, and the software are found from the manuals, which every team is
suggested to read (the manual is available as a help documents in Atmel AVR Studio
4.x software package, which is freely downloadable at http://www.atmelatmel/
products/prod203.htm). Some overview of the system and its general structure is how12
ever presented in this section.
[attachment=57985]
Abstract
The goal of this course is to help students understand the world of embedded computer
systems. Usually participants are information and electrical engineering students who
are specialized in software and system design. Most attention has been given to elementary
hardware design skills because these skills are the ones students often lack.
This course is structured as a guided walk through the hardware design process.
This document defines the project topic for spring 2003, gives general guidelines and
course procedures. Additionally major electronics components is proposed and practical
hints are given. The students are encouraged to give feedback for improving both
the course and its material.
Course objectives
The purpose of the Embedded System Project (Sulautettujen järjestelmien työt) course
is to provide you knowledge and hands-on experience in the embedded computer system
technology. The course is intended to students specializing in software and system
design, giving most attention to hardware design, as understanding in this area is vital
for most embedded software designers. In short, this course is a chance for the very
novices in electronics design to create a simple embedded computer based device and
to learn the maximum from the experience.
You will learn both about design and tools. You will learn to study the components to
fit the various pieces together into a complete system and you will understand the role
of a microcontroller, seeing it as basic building block. In particular, you will concentrate
on hardware-software interaction, although very little software will be written in
this project. You will learn to design the schematics and layout using Printed Circuit
Board (PCB) tools (e.g. OrCad), although their more advanced functions are not covered
in this course. In the end, you will learn to use an emulator and other microcontroller
development tools while testing the assembled circuit board you will make.
Admittedly, there is a lot to be learned.
The course is realized as a project-like assignment that requires approximately 120-
160 hours from a team of two students during a single term. There are several topics to
choose from. The topics are divided to three categories: basic topic, optional topics and
own topic. The basic topic is meant for people that are new to the embedded systems.
The basic topic contains only familiar technologies and the teachers are familiar with
the topic, enabling more efficient tutoring. Also some suitable components for the assignment
have been pre-examined, letting the students to avoid the full exposure to
“navigation” problems, such as selecting, finding, and ordering components. The specification
for this topic is already defined and the basic structure of the work is fixed,
but there are still some degrees of freedom in the design.
Basic topic: Robot Control Module (RCM)
Your task is to design a control module for a robot. The robot is a simple two wheel
robot that uses two stepper motors for driving. The robot can be programmed to drive
autonomously a certain path. A list of driving commands are first downloaded from a
PC to the robot, after which the robot will drive automatically through the program.
The mechanics of the robot are provided. They include the robot base with two stepper
motors for wheels, bumber switches and an LCD display. The motors, switches and
LCD-display have simple connectors for attaching them to the control module. Figure
of the base will appear to course web pages (http://www.ee.oulu.fi/~terva/
Embedded2003) when ready. The robot base has a space for a standard euro size PCB
(10 x 16 cm) and four holes for attaching the PCB to the base. Thus you need to implement
your control module to a 10 x 16 cm sized PCB and place the holes to correct
places. A footprint for the holes is provided, so you only need to add the footprint to
your PCB to get the holes to their right places.
The control module will be based on an Atmel ATmega series microcontroller. The
students can choose from three choices: Atmega 161, 163 and 323. The control module
is required to contain the following peripherals:
- some external memory for saving the driving commands
- RS232 serial connection for the PC
- some buttons and an LCD display for operating the robot
- driver or amplifier IC
for interfacing to the stepper motorsHow to connect the emulator cable:
1. Before connecting your design, turn the power off from the Atmel ICE50. The
PC workstation does not need to be shut down or switched off.
2. Connect the pod into the microprocessor socket of the PCB to be tested very
gently - it is extremely easy to bend the pins of the pod. Always use an extra
socket connected to the pod to avoid damaging it. This way the pod itself stays
in tact even if the pins are bend - only the extra socket has to be replaced.
3. When the ICE50 is properly connected to the target and the host PC, the power
can be turned on. The following procedure is recommended to ensure proper
communication between the ICE50 and AVR Studio.
General guidelines
As this course is intended to students with software orientation, the question is probably
about the first electronics device you design. Therefore, do not rush, but proceed
in good order, as this will eliminate much of the learning pains.
First, write down the system requirements and sketch your design on paper avoiding
too much detail. The requirements should include the operational sequences of the system.
Also write down your ideas and calculations, and keep your notes, please. It is important
for yourself to see the progress, because design is an iterative process and you
are likely to review your earlier decisions. Figure 3 shows the major milestones in a
typical small project that combines software and hardware development.
Figure 3. Typical stages in a small-scale embedded HW/SW-project.
Familiarize yourself with the proposed components. This is necessary before detailed
design can be carried out. Selecting the components, or building blocks, is very time
consuming, unless you have prior experience and know what you are looking for. The
component selection process can be compared to finding pieces to a jigsaw puzzle: you
may approximately know your needs, but you do not know for sure if something you
see fits unless you try it.
Atmel ICE50 In Circuit Emulator system
The Embedded system project is suggested to be built using the on of the Atmel Atmega
series microcontroller, for which an In Circuit Emulator (ICE) can be found from
TS139. The ICE is connected to a PC workstation and all the controlling and development
software are run under a 32 bit Windows operating system. Detailed instructions
of using the ICE, and the software are found from the manuals, which every team is
suggested to read (the manual is available as a help documents in Atmel AVR Studio
4.x software package, which is freely downloadable at http://www.atmelatmel/
products/prod203.htm). Some overview of the system and its general structure is how12
ever presented in this section.