Automation with Microcontrollers

(Electronics & Embedded Systems)

In this session, we will focus on automation with microcontrollers. Microcontrollers/Microprocessors are computer brains. They contain integrated circuits composed of electronic semiconductors. An embedded system is a system in which the computer(generally microprocessor or microcontroller) is an integral part of, and has software embedded in it programmed to perform a specific function. Systems like traffic lights, automatic barriers, lifts e.t.c are microcontroller based systems.

You will learn what to buy for your school/department to have Electronics and Embedded system course implemented across ES, MS and HS. We will look at examples of microcontrollers used in the classroom. Then we will share some automation units, and later on deep dive into a hands on session with the Arduino micro-controller. On the bottom of the page, you will find resources to access on your free time.

MS Arduino Project.mov

What are electronics?

By definition: Electronics is a field of physics that deals with the design of electrical circuits that make use of semiconductor devises such as transistors to control the flow of electrons.

This definition varies with the source but the keywords here are "semiconductor devices". Without these, such circuits become plain electrical circuits.

Examples of Semiconductors

Transistors - These are the most significant devices responsible for your modern computer. Many semiconductor devices fall under transistors such as; FET - Field Effect transistor & BJT - Bipolar junction transistor
Diodes e.g. Light emitting diodes(LED's) & Zener diodes
Integrated circuits
- Microprocessors
- Microcontrollers - A microprocessor optimised for the control of electronic circuits ( The heart of most but not all electronic circuits
- Other combinations of devices to perform particular functions

How does this theory translate into practical things you can do in your classroom?

Progress has made it very easy for us and young learners to create useful electronics which we can embedd into some larger entities that accomplish a larger task i.e. embedded systems. One such major tool is the world famous...

Arduino

A microcontroller or MCU that can allow us to control external circuits using a program we will write for ourselves

Creating your own solution with Arduino and some electronics

Guided path

Open-ended

Resources

Arduino IDE's

Mblock - Block-based programming language/python
Arduino(Software download) - Text based
Arduino online IDE - Text based
TinkerCad - Arduino circuit simulation and lessons - Connect circuit components and program online/virtually with blocks or text(C++)