MICROCONTROLLERS
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
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The final examination will consist in two parts, as follows :
- four theoretical questions, each representing a score of 5/30, for a total score up to 20/30.
- Presentation and evaluation of an original project on a practical application of microcontrollers. This evaluation will score up to 10/30, where 4/30 will be given for the hardware design, and 6/30 for the enclosed documentation. The student will have the opportunity of substituting the presentation of the original project with two more theoretical questions on sensors and microcontrollers, each question representing a score of 5/30.
The final mark will be in 30th, with 0-20 points from the 1st part, and 0-10 points from the 2nd part.
This course will focus on digital microcontrollers and their practical applications. Basic Electronics will be discuss first, in order to familiarize students with the basic principles of analogue and digital electronics. Then, digital protocols will be discussed, as well as the main classes of sensors (sound, pressure, temperature, chemical etc.). At the end, the student will be able to evaluate and apply microcontrollers to simple cases of real life.
Theoretical aspects (40 h) :
- Microcontrollers – hardware and software (4h)
- Basic electronics (resistors, capacitors, semiconductors, OPAMP’s, design of simple circuits) (12 h)
- Connecting external devices (led, lamps, motors, relays) (4h)
- ADC and DAC (4h)
- Serial protocols (SPI, I2C, Modbus etc) (4h)
- Sensors – how they work and how they are interfaced (8 h)
- Introduction to process control (4 h)
Practical applications in the classroom (8 h)
- Basic principles of instrumentation (tester, power supply, oscilloscope, signal generator)
- Programming a microcontroller (Arduino and/or Propeller) for simple applications (LED control, temperature and/or voltage reading, motor control etc.)
Photocopies and printed material supplied by the tutor in the classroom.
Use of web sites.
Use of reference textbooks on electronics and microcontroller applications :
G.Filella, Elettronica:sapere e sapere fare, DTP Editrice.
John M. Hughes,.Real World Instrumentation with Python,O'Reilly Media, Inc.
John Titus, Experiments for the Propeller Quickstart By Jon Titus,VERSION 1.0, free ebook, Parallax Inc
Don Wilcher, Learn Electronics with Arduino,free ebook, www.it-ebooks.info
AA.VV., What’s a Microcontroller? Student Guide,VERSION 3.0, free ebook, Parallax Inc.
This course will be held in the classroom both for the theoretical lessons and for the practical examples on microcontroller programming.
The dual nature (theoretical/practical) of this course will enable students to apply the theoretical topics discussed in the classroom on the real world of electronics. This approach will require a continuous interchange between the tutor and the students and the step-by-step evaluation of their learning abilities.
Borrowed from
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