These four books include hands-on labs, building real-world embedded solutions using a bottom-up approach from simple to complex.
There are four components of each courses: book, lab kit, lecture notes, and lab software.
Instructors considering adopting one of my books for their class should
email me for more information.
Embedded systems are a ubiquitous component of our everyday lives. An embedded system is a system that performs a specific task and has a computer embedded inside.
A system is comprised of components and interfaces connected together for a common purpose.
We interact with hundreds of tiny computers every day that are embedded into our houses, our cars, our toys, and our work.
As our world has become more complex, so have the capabilities of the microcontrollers embedded into our devices.
The ARM® CortexTM-M family represents a new class of microcontrollers much more powerful than the devices available ten years ago.
The purpose of these books is to present the design methodology to train young engineers to understand the basic building blocks that
comprise devices like a cell phone, an MP3 player, a pacemaker, antilock brakes, and an engine controller.
These books are primarily written for undergraduate electrical and computer engineering students.
They could also be used for professionals learning the ARM platform.
Introduction to Robotics
This book
could be used to accompany the Texas Instruments Robot Systems Learning Kit.
This book, which is actually a composition of material from the other three books,
teaches the fundamentals of microcontroller interfacing and real-time programming in a single book using robotics as the context.
There is a chapter on assembly language to expose important concepts of the microcontroller architecture.
However, most of the software development occurs in C.
This book provides an introduction to robots that could be used at the college level with little or no prerequisites.
Specific topics include microcontrollers, fixed-point numbers, the design of software in C, elementary data structures,
programming input/output including interrupts, analog to digital conversion, digital to analog conversion, power, sensor interfacing,
motor interfacing, an introduction to digital signal processing, control systems, and communication systems.
The book demonstrates how to deploy both Bluetooth Low Energy, and wifi onto the robot, creating an internet of things.
Volume 1: Introduction to the MSP432 Microcontroller
This course is the first in a series of three courses that teach the fundamentals of embedded systems
as applied to the MSP432 microcontroller.
This first course is an introduction to computers and interfacing focusing on assembly language and C programming and
could be delivered at the college level with little or no prerequisites.
This is a hand-on, learn-by-doing course that shows students how to build solutions to real-world problems using embedded systems.
Each student will purchase a Texas Instruments MSP432 microcontroller kit and a few electronic components.
This microcontroller has a state of the art ARM Cortex M4 processor.
The course uses a bottom-up approach to problem-solving building gradually from simple interfacing of switches and LEDs
to complex concepts like display drivers, digital to analog conversion, generation of sound, analog to
digital conversion, graphics, interrupts, and communication.
We will present both general principles and practical tips for building circuits and programming the microcontroller in the C programming language.
Students will develop debugging skills using oscilloscopes, logic analyzers and software instrumentation.
Laboratory assignments are first performed in simulation, and then students will build and debug your labs on the real microcontroller.
At the conclusion of this course students will be able to build your own arcade-style game.
Volume 2: Real-time Interfacing to the MSP432 Microcontroller
This course is the second in the series that teaches the fundamentals of embedded systems as
applied to the MSP432 microcontroller, focuses on interfacing and the design of embedded systems.
This book presents components, interfaces and methodologies for building systems.
Specific topics include the architecture of microcontrollers, design methodology, verification, hardware/software synchronization,
interfacing devices to the computer, timing diagrams, real-time operating systems, data collection and processing, motor control,
analog filters, digital filters, real-time signal processing, wireless communication, and the internet of things.
Volume 3: Real-Time Operating Systems for ARM Cortex-M Microcontrollers
This course is the third in the series that teaches the fundamentals of embedded systems as
applied to the MSP432 microcontroller, focuses on real time operating systems.
Specific topics include the thread managements, time management, thread synchronization, real-time systems, digital signal processing, embedded file systems, Bluetooth communication, and robotic systems.
