Introducing embedded systems development on a robotics-based platform

Abstract

This paper describes a novel approach to teach embedded system development to undergraduate students. A robotics-based platform is used to develop a multi-task application on a commercially available RTOS. Students are guided through three laboratory sessions to get familiarized with a commercially popular Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and an off-the-shelf ARM-based embedded platform, EvalBot. They then taught to develop and debug RTOS-based application that controls various peripherals. Their final assignment requires them to develop an application that would navigate the EvalBot through a trajectory that has an obstacle placed at a random location.