The course is organized in two modules: 48-hour lecture and 24-hour robotics lab (lecture room 3, on tuesdays and thursdays, 3-6 pm)

Acquisition of the subject concepts and methods is supported by:

• attendance to lectures and problem solving
• participation to lab experiences
• study of reference readings
• consultation of supplementary readings
• experience with software tools and development platforms for embedded systems
• working out solutions to proposed problems and exercises, see Test area
• writing reports on lab experiences, in the same area
• interaction with teachers, weekly schedule:
  • G. Scollo: room 325 (I block, II floor) [phone]ext.: [095738]3007
    on mondays and wednesdays, 2:30-4:30 pm
  • C. Santoro: room M47 (III block) [phone]ext.: [095738]3001
    by appointment (via phone or e-mail)
• collaborative interaction with colleagues and teachers

Lectures: the study of the recommended readings sets the methodological grounds for effective application of a technology-transverse, result-unitary design approach:

• versatile design of systems with optimal figure of merit that are dedicated to perform highly specialized tasks

Exercises: starting from a specification of the abstract functionalities of the system, the first problem which is often faced with is to select an architecture wherein to map them out, in order to further proceed to the synthesis of all components: hardware, software, communication interfaces. The proposed exercises deal with the different parts of this process.

Robotics lab: it is envisaged the use of development boards and platforms to implement embedded applications, ranging from on-board assembly to FPGA-based synthesis of components, up to System-on-chip (SoC) implementation. Reports on lab experiences may be outcomes of collaborative group work.

Seminars: as an experimental feature, some lectures (about 1/4 of the total) take the form of seminars that are prepared and delivered by students; one lecture is devoted to the planning of the seminars. Critical evaluation of the educational activities is planned in the form of a written test that is part of the final exam.

Oral exam, project (optional)

• evaluation objectives
  • oral exam:
    assessment of the achievement of educational goals
  • optional project:
    assessment of conceptual and scientific maturity exhibited in the practice of the subject
• oral colloquies
  • assessment of critical learning of the subject
  • evaluation of individual contribution to lab experience reports
  • (optional) colloquy on individual use of subject concepts and methods within an original lab project, previously agreed with the teacher, that may be the outcome of a collaborative group effort

Exam success yields the acquisition of 9 credits.

legenda: L = Lecture, E = Lab tutorial lecture, r = reference readings, s = supplementary readings, t.n = tutorial note #

1. Course goals and organization.
       Introduction to design of dedicated systems, codesign and embedded systems
   • L01: 10/03, r: VG.01, s: LS.01
2. Architectures and design process of dedicated systems
   • L02: 12/03, r: Sch.01, s: BF.01
3. Automated control systems: architectures, analysis, performance features
   • L03: 17/03, r: AM.01, VG.09.1-2, s: LS.02
4. Introduction to microcontroller programming
   • E01: 19/03
5. AD and DA conversion, PWM modulation, sensors, actuators
   • L04: 24/03, r: M.3.1-2, M.3.6, VG.4.4, VG.4.7, s: VGM.13, Ba (t.1), BF.10.1-2, BF.13
6. LTI discrete control systems, use of the Z transform
   • L05: 26/03, r: St.2.1-3, s: N.13
7. Microcontroller programming with timers and LEDs
   • E02: 31/03
8. Dynamic response of discrete systems, PID control
   • L06: 09/04, r: St.2.4-7, St.5.7, VG.09.3-7, s: Bi (t.2), VGM.12, We (t.3)
9. Dataflow models, control flow
   • L07: 14/04, r: Sch.02, s: LS.06.3, M.2.5
10. Microcontroller programming with timers and ADC
    • E03: 16/04
11. Software and hardware implementations of dataflow models
    • L08: 21/04, r: Sch.03, s: Sch.04
12. Speed control of an electric DC engine
    • E04: 23/04

Reference textbooks

• N.B. The recommended parts are displayed in the lecture program, for each lecture, in the short form A.C.S., where: A = initials of textbook author(s), C = chapter, S = section(s)

P.R. Schaumont: A Practical Introduction to Hardware/Software Codesign
2nd Ed., Springer (2012)

P. Marwedel: Embedded System Design: Embedded Systems Foundations of Cyber-Physical Systems
2nd Edition. Springer (2011)

F. Vahid & T. Givargis: Embedded System Design: A Unified Hardware/Software Introduction
Wiley (2002)

G.P. Starr: Introduction to Applied Digital Control (link path to textbook: Faculty / Starr / ME 581 )
2nd Ed., ME 581 textbook, Dep't of Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico (2006)

D. Ibrahim PIC Microcontroller Projects in C
2nd Edition. Newnes, Elsevier (2014)

P. Wilson Design Recipes for FPGAs: Using Verilog and VHDL
1st Edition. Newnes, Elsevier (2007)

Textbooks

C. Brandolese, W. Fornaciari: Sistemi embedded: sviluppo hardware e software per sistemi dedicati
Pearson, Milano (2007)

E.A. Lee & S.A. Seshia: Introduction to Embedded Systems - A Cyber-Physical Systems Approach
Ed. 1.5, Version 1.50 (2014)

R. Siegwart, I.R. Nourbakhsh, D. Scaramuzza: Introduction to Autonomous Mobile Robots
2nd Edition, The MIT Press (2011)

K.J. Åmström & R.M. Murray: Feedback Systems: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers
v. 2.11b, Princeton University Press (2012) (freely available on the second author's wiki at Caltech)

N.S. Nise: Control Systems Engineering
6th Edition, Wiley (2011)

F. Vahid, T. Givargis & B. Miller: Programming Embedded Systems: An Introduction to Time-Oriented Programming
Version 4.0. Uniworld (2012)

M. Wolf: Computers as components: Principles of embedded computing system design
3rd Edition, Morgan Kaufmann (2012)

Tutorials and other consultation notes

1. M. Barr: Introduction to Pulse Width Modulation, Embedded Systems Programming 12, Sep. 2001
2. R. Bickle: DC Motor Control Systems for Robot Applications, Jul. 2003
3. T. Wescott: PID without a PhD, Embedded Systems Programming 13, Oct. 2000

Any further consultation notes will be mentioned along lecture progress

Lab activities take place in the framework of the ARS Lab

They consist of a series of experiences with the following topics:

• FPGA programming in VHDL
• specification and synthesis of peripheral devices (PWM, Input capture, SPI, I2C)
• servomotor control (speed and position)
• high-level control of autonomous robotic systems

Forum, Moodle, Galileo: what goes where?

• Forum: discussions about
  • course organization, news, FAQ
  • problems with use of on-line services, software tools etc.
  • discussions about ideas of dedicated system projects
• Moodle (restricted access services):
  • access to educational support materials
  • development of proposed problems and exercises
  • discussions about topics relating to lectures, lab experiences and learning materials
  • group collaboration, delivery of lab experience reports
  • discovery and discussion of possible errors in learning materials (this may award bonus points !)
• Galileo:
  • development of dedicated systems projects
  • documentation and dissemination of results in the public domain