ece 445 resources kevin bassett september 2, 2014
TRANSCRIPT
Outline
Microcontrollers vs. DSPs vs. Embedded Processors– Brands and Series– Development Tools
Sensors– More than one way to skin a cat
Software– E-CAD for PCB Design
Lab Equipment Tools
The Main Point…
We have a LOT of stuff– Way more than we could fit into a presentation
Talk to your TA, If we don’t have exactly what you’re looking for, we probably have something very similar
Computing OptionsAdvantages Disadvantages Examples
Microcontroller• Very low power• “All-in-one”• Integrated peripherals• Cheap
• Limited RAM and Flash
• 8 or 16 bit processor• Limited performance
Microchip PICTI MSP430Cypress PSoCAtmel AVRLow-end ARM variants
DSP• Specialized ISA• SIMD instructions• MAC instructions• Buffers designed for
streams of data
• Not well suited for general problems
Microchip dsPICTI C5000 / C6000TI OMAP
EmbeddedProcessor
• Moderate power• Full scale performance• Can run Linux or
Windows
• Complex, usually involving multiple support chips
High-end ARM variantsIntel Quark (on Galileo)Intel Atom
Development Tools
Dev Boards – MSP430 LaunchPad, PIC18 Explorer, PSoC devkit
Software IDE– CCS for MSP430 (and DSPs), MPLAB for PICs, PSoC Designer for
Cypress PSoC
Microcontroller Selection
MYTH: “I need an Atmel AVR to do this” or “I need an FPGA (or DSP) to do this”
TRUTH: All microcontroller brands are very similar and offer a rich feature set
TRUTH: Although a problem may be more suited to an FPGA or DSP, that doesn’t mean you CAN’T do it on a microcontroller
Don’t pick your part based on what “some guy said online” or because “your friend used this one”
Research what is available and make an informed decision appropriate for your project
If you don’t have a strong brand preference, you may want to consider which series your TA is most familiar with
Sensors
Don’t reinvent the wheel, unless that’s the title of your project– Don’t spend a lot of time trying to design a sensor that exists if
that isn’t the main point of your project Lots of commonly available sensors can be found in the
lab and are frequently used in projectsFlexure Sensor
Rotary Encoder
Ambient Light Sensor
Thermopile
Ultrasonic Distance Sensor
Example: Distance
Questions– What range?– Through what medium?– What accuracy?– What repetition rate?
Options– Ultrasonic Time-of-flight– Laser Time-of-flight– Interferometry– Parallax
E-CAD Software
Schematic entry and PCB design We have licenses for EAGLE and Cadence In-class EAGLE Tutorial in a couple weeks
Lab Equipment
Digital Multi-meters Oscilloscopes Power Supplies Network Analyzers
LCR Meters Logic Analyzers Programmers
Lab Equipment
If you are not 100% sure of how to make a particular measurement or use a piece of equipment, talk to your TA
“There are no stupid questions” when it comes to lab equipment, don’t be afraid to ask for a refresher on how a particular piece of equipment works
READ THE MANUAL!– Good manuals for pretty much all the equipment in the lab
can be found searching the manufacturer website
Lab Equipment
Respect the lab equipment– Lab equipment is extremely expensive– Some lab equipment can easily be broken and require expensive repairs– Read warning labels, know equipment capabilities and limitations– Bad measurement? Is it the equipment or your test setup or project?
Pay Attention to Warnings