I'll be teaching the IP 411 "Embedded Systems for Engineering Applications” class at HS Karlsruhe in October as part of my sabbatical activities. It will take place over four days: Fri 12 October 2018, 2 pm – 5.30 pm Sat 13 October 2018, 9 am – 5.30 pm Fri 19 October 2018, 2 pm – 5.30 […]
As my deadline for producing teaching material for the PIC16 boards at INSA Strasbourg approaches, I'm running into real world debugging issues. Now, it's important to point out that I'm trying to make sure that my teaching material is debugging-focused and provides an opportunity for self-directed learning. The first attempts at running a program on […]
After a few months twiddling PIC16 bits in simulation I need to get three, three-hour lab sessions written up for the PIC16F84. The school has provided me with two versions of their PIC16F84A boards, one designed for Mechatronics students and one for EE students. The board designs date to the dawn of the Arduino era […]
While planning a book on programming microcontrollers I've been trying to settle on a small group of microcontrollers that could be used for examples. Every couple of years I do this to myself. Below are a few examples, including the ubiquitous Arduino UNO with an 8-bit chip, as well as the FRDM-KL25Z and Adafruit Metro […]
“Home Security and Automation” Project Description [What the project is to achieve, a half to one page. Please describe the educational component of the project.] Home security projects are relatively common for engineering and computer science students. They typically focus on a superficial and limited technical implementation. The objective of this project is to learn […]
I want to spend my sabbatical year re-thinking my perspective on C++ and Assembler and how to teach engineering and computer science material using those two languages. To keep myself focused I'll need a target application, ideally with hardware. In fact, two applications would be ideal: Controlling chip heat Alarm system The first application would […]
I don't like Assembler programming. I was forced to use it in 1997 in EE 380 on the Motorola 68000 with Prof Nelson Durdle at the University of Alberta. Ditto, for C++. My C professor, Prof. Martin Mintchev, in EE 445 convinced me that it was bloated and terrible. So, since that time, I've been […]