ELFT2500 Embedded Systems and Instrumentation Course description

Increased use of high-performance microcontrollers and microprocessors in manufacturing automation control systems, robots, home appliances, power tools, office equipment, implantable medical devices, remote controls and toys has caused the embedded systems segment of electronics to expand within the last few decades to dominate the computing. Particularly, real-time embedded systems, fueled by processor efficiency improvements and advancements in instrumentation such as sensors and actuators, have sustained steep growth globally in industrial automation, energy infrastructure, transportation, telecommunication, and healthcare applications.

The course covers the fundamentals of microcontroller hardware/software architecture, common types of instrumentation used to interact with the physical world of automation, and different types of embedded system interfaces that allow the partnership between processors and instrumentation to be effective in automation systems. Sensors, measurement techniques, and important elements of industrial automation are studied, including examples of highly reliable robust PLC system hardware and programming. In-class discussions on design tradeoffs associated with embedded systems and instrumentation highlight evaluation of primary metrics for automation systems such as reliability and performance, as well as other considerations such as power consumption and battery life. Theory is reinforced with lab exercises, through which simple to complex embedded systems are progressively designed, verified, implemented, and tested in the lab using Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) tools. Lab examples present concepts and interfaces associated with automation engineering.

Some of the concepts from ELPE1300 Electrical Circuits, ELPE1400 Digital Design, ELI2300 Dynamic Systems will be useful.

No requirements over and above the admission requirements.

Individual written exam, 3 hours

The exam result can be appealed.

In the event of a resit or rescheduled exam, an oral examination may be used instead. In case an oral exam is used, the examination result cannot be appealed.

Lectures and laboratory assignments are central. The laboratory teaching is built to support the classroom teaching and for hands on practice with a number of products and solutions used in the industry.

A semester project consolidates the knowledge and skills from the entire semester.

The following coursework is compulsory and must be approved before the student can take the final written exam:

• A passing aggregate lab score collected from 5 lab experiments, including the term project (30-40 pages in total, totally approx. 50 hours including execution and documentation) .
• 5 hand-in exercises (4-5 pages and 4 hours each).

Grade scale A-F.

One internal examiner. External examiners are used regularly.

Grade scale A-F.

One internal examiner. External examiners are used regularly.