Teaching microcontrollers with emphasis on control applications in the undergraduate engineering technology program

Abstract

The paper expounds the practices utilized in teaching introductory undergraduate microcontroller's class. The microcontrollers have become ubiquitous in our daily life. They have been the engine behind automatically-controlled products and devices. As a result this course is taken by many of the non-electrical majoring students. In this paper, we present our pedagogies for teaching a microcontroller introductory course with emphasis on detection and control applications. The proposed course uses Arduino [1], which is an open-source electronics platform, based on easy-to-use hardware and software. The course cover the architectural details of ATmega328P. The course is unique in instructing students utilizing standard C (C11 (formerly C1X) is an informal name for ISO/IEC 9899:2011) [2], the current standard for the C programming language. This approach is a departure from the plethora of code written by non-standardized coding schemes, so prevalent on the Arduino net based community. Another unique feature of instructions of the course is coding methodology. The instruction for the course is done following strict adherence to Structured Coding methodology. Most of the technology students prefer visualization activities and hands-on experiences in their learning environment. The SparkFun Inventor's Kit [3] with Arduino Uno and other open source resources have become an effective tool for the entry-level microcontroller course. In this course, we teach necessary programming skills and knowledge of computer interfacing with input and output devices. Various types of transducers, sensors and actuators used in the course are described in the paper. Through class examples and lab experiments, students establish the concept of using microcontrollers to make open-loop and closed-loop control systems, and demonstrate knowledge learned by their course projects. The course adhere to the teaching philosophy of Outcome Based Education [4] (OBE), as such utilizes and employ various standard tools and techniques. The paper discuss the pedagogies implemented in the course.