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Embedded Systems Education Module

enabling STEM education at the University-level

 

When commercial-off-the-shelf does not offer everything you need: BUILD YOUR OWN.

 

The commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Amazing Ball System is a platform designed to give students experience programming an actual embedded system that uses sensors, motors, and various analog/digital technologies.  The system consists of two main circuit boards in a stacked configuration: FLEX Light Base Board, FLEX Demo2 Daughter Board.  At the core is a Microchip dsPIC33F digital signal microcontroller.  However, it lacks peripheral subsystems that would give students more opportunity to explore embedded system technologies.

 

The primary purpose of the custom designed FLEX UI board is provide an nice hardware and software user interface to the system with standard connections for power, joystick gameport and RS232 (DE9) connection for serial communications.  This system is currently in use for teaching 400-level embedded system students at the top ranked University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign..

I created this device as an extra credit project offered to graduate students.  While most of my fellow classmates focused on embedded software/firmware, I wanted to do something grand.  I also saw the opportunity to help a small team who was developing the new undergraduate lab exercises add features that in my opinion were needed to learn embedded systems (and because not many in the group had the skills or ability to design a complete hardware system). 

 

Result =  Flex UI Board that fits on top of an existing design board stack.  I also included test and init routines and example code to run the new periphery.

The FLEX UI Board adds the following features to the system:

  • 128x64 pixel monochrome Graphical LCD module.

  • 2-channel 12-bit digital to analog converter (DAC) (5V range).

  • Five software controllable green LEDs.

  • Serial port (DE9 Connector).

  • One analog joystick (DA15) connector and supporting hardware.

  • Four general purpose input/output (GPIO) pins.

  • Microcontroller reset button and associated red LED.

  • Main power supply for the system with resettable fuse protection.

 

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