Introduction to Embedded Systems

EE319K, Unique: 16275, 16280, 16285, 16290
Semester: Spring 2012

Reference material

• Manuals and supplementary material
  • EE319K Laboratory Manual, Spring 2012
  • EE319K Homework Manual, Spring 2012
  • Short movies on TExaS
  • Web videos of the example lessons from the book
  • I strongly advise you to work through the tutorials in the book
     
• Data sheets
  Data sheets for most of the devices used in this class are available as PDF files on Dr. Valvano's web site. Please make sure you have access to the CPU12 instruction manual, either in print (from Freescale) or in PDF form. You should download these data sheets and have them available when you are developing code:
  • CPU12 quick reference (32 pages)
  • CPU12 programming reference (458 pages)
  • 9S12DP512 datasheets (1406 pages)
  • 9S12DG128 datasheets (595 pages)
  • Tech arts board information
     
• C programming
  • C primer on developing software in C for the Metrowerks compiler and the 9S12
  • Thinking in C online seminar
  • A list of resources for learning C
     
• Examples
  • The TExaS installation comes with a larger number of working examples
  • Starter files from Dr. Valvano's site
  • Sample problems, previous exams and lecture notes from Dr. Valvano's site
     

Equipment

• Board
  We are no longer giving microcontroller boards to students. We can tell you that the discussions on how to maintain educational excellence in the face of repeated budget cuts have been long and careful. Every group of two students will be required to have one 9S12 board. Either the Technological Arts Adapt9S12DP512 or the Adapt9S12DG128 will suffice. The first possibility is to buy or borrow a board from a previous EE319K/EE445L student. If you obtain a kit from a previous student, you will need the board, power supply, RS232 cable, and a protoboard. If you do buy a board from another student, I recommend you run the hardware checker to make sure the board is functional. The second possibility is to purchase a new Technological Arts Adapt9S12DG128 kit, which includes a board, power supply, serial cable, and solderless breadboard. The student cost will be $79.00 per kit. The link to pay for this kit is active. The buying process will be:
  1. Once you have selected your partner for Labs 3-9, you go to the Technological Arts web site and pay $79 to TechArts for the kit via PayPal. Please pay for your kit at least 7 days before the demonstration lab period. Our experience is that many credit card companies will add $1 to $3 to the transaction because TechArts is a Canadian company. Neither UT nor Te-chArts sees this added fee. The fee is charged by the credit card company.
  2. The department will get an email from TechArts that you have paid.
  3. You will go to ENS234 to pickup the kit. There will be specific scheduled hours for the pickup phase, which will be around Feb 8 to 15.
  4. There will be a board demonstration lab between labs 2 and 3, the week of Feb 13-17, and you should bring your board to this demonstration. Your TA will show you how to test your board to verify it is operational. If the board does not work during the testing procedure, we will replace it. Our experience with EE319K is if the board works during the initial test, almost all students complete EE319K labs without damaging the board. However, if you do damage your board, then you must purchase another one.
  Unfortunately we will not be using the board in EE319K in Fall 2012, so you will not have many opportunities to sell it. However, it could be useful for senior lab or other projects. There is no difference to a EE319K student between the Adapt9S12DP512 and Adapt9S12DG128 board. The DG128 board has a little less memory and is a lot less expensive.
   
• Tools
  Every student should own their own voltmeter and their own wire strippers. The NI MyDAC you bought in EE302 can be used as a voltmeter. Otherwise, a voltmeter less than $20 will do, see for example:
  • BG Micro
  • Jameco
  • Harbor Freight, has 3 locations around Austin, usually sells voltmeters for less than $10
  Since you will be making only 5 solder joints all semester, all students will be able to share the soldering iron in lab. However, all EE319K students will need their own voltmeter and wire strippers.

  Safety warning: Due to the lead in most solder, please wash your hands after soldering, before eating or drinking. If you drop the soldering iron, let it fall to the ground. Do not try and catch it. If you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant, have someone else do the soldering.

• Kit handed out by TAs
  • 1 7406
  • 6 LEDs (20 mA, 2 red, 2 yellow, 2 green)
  • 6 220 ohm 5%, 0.25 watt resistors  
  • 3 push-button switches  
  • 3 10k ohm 5%, 0.25 watt resistors  
  • 3 1.5k ohm 5%, 0.25 watt resistors  
  • 3 12k ohm 5%, 0.25 watt resistors  
  • 2 feet of 4-Wire 24 gauge solid wire  
  • 1 0.1 uF ceramic bypass cap  
  • 1 headphone jack  
  • 1 20k ohm slide pot
  Those do not need to be returned.
   
• Long term checkout
  • 1 LCD display  
  • 1 Serial cable
  If you check out either of these two and do not return them by 4/29, we will reduce your overall grade in EE319K one letter grade
   
• Computer
  The following remarks are the personal opinions of the EE319K instructors, and do not reflect an official position of the department, college, or university. We feel very strongly that you should have your own computer on which you develop your software and write your reports. Both software development and report writing should be done without paper, pencil and erasers. Having a computer at home allows you to organize your information (files, directories etc.) as well as your schedule (allocate your software development time for that the time of day during which you are most creative and ener-getic.) Physiologically most people are more energetic in the morning. On the other hand, there are fewer distractions late at night. Some students do all their EE319K lab work on campus, but most find it convenient to configure their home computers to work with the EE319K hardware.

  To work at home you will need to install TExaS and Metrowerks Codewarrior for the 9S12. For drawing electrical circuit diagrams some students use PCBArtist. All three of these applications run on a PC computer running Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. The software development systems will run on any PC with a COM port.

• Lab computer usage
  Computers in ACA 1.106 and 1.108 are available for your usage. TA's in the laboratory are checking off programs and supervising while on duty, thus you can expect to have only a brief consultation with them. You should learn to develop software while on the computer. This course involves some projects that require extended periods of time to complete and a project cannot be done just overnight. Get started on an assignment early so you can get help if you need it. There are not enough machine hours to give everyone more than enough time to complete each program. We expect most students to have a laptop have access to a machine to run at home. Unfortunately, expect the laboratory to be crowded and machine time to be scarce if you attempt to work in the lab a day or two before an assignment is due. You will be competing with students in other courses for computer time. We need your assistance in the laboratory. Please report any equipment problems to the TA if they are present. If a TA is not present use the form provided in the lab. If you do this we can rapidly get repair service. Please help to keep the lab clean.
   

Software

• TExaS
  The hardware/software cosimulator, called Test EXecute And Simulate (TExaS), can be downloaded from the documents section of Blackboard. It is not freeware, so please don't post it on the net or otherwise send it to others. On the other hand, Prof. Valvano grants EE319K students indefinite usage of the software, including installing the application on each of your personal computes. If you know of someone interested in the application have them contact Prof. Valvano directly. It is the 11th semester we will be using the application in EE319K, but we will make updates to fix bugs or add features. Please work through the tutorials and examples to bring you up to speed on the various aspects of the system. The TExaS application itself runs on Vista/Windows7, but the help system does not run without a patch. Ask your TA how to get the TExaS help system to run under Vista/Windows7.
   
• Metrowerks Codewarrior
  The instructions to download the free (special) version for the 9S12 can be found on Prof. Valvano's web site. The most recent version will run on Windows 7.
   
• PCBArtist
  You will be drawing a 5 or 6 circuit diagrams as part of your lab assignments. You are free to draw these diagrams in any manner you wish as long as the information is presented in a complete and professional manner. One option for drawing circuits is PCBArtist, which can be downloaded here. The use of PCBArtist is optional for EE319K students.