CS 197-80, CS 339: Embedded Systems

• Instructor: Dr. Yul Williams
• Office Hours: by appointment.
• Class Time/Place:
  • Thursdays, 6:10-8.40 pm, Tompkins 211
• Prerequisites:
Permission of instructor: Students interested in registering must obtain permission from one of the following: Profs. Narahari or Simha.
• Course description:

The purpose of this course is to engage computer science undergraduates with "hardware" and "systems". While CS students get a strong conceptual overview of systems and hardware in various organization and architecture courses, many students have never experienced working with actual hardware (e.g., taking apart a computer, installing a memory board etc). This course will focus on hands-on projects involving both hardware and the software that's "close" to the hardware. In addition, we will also cover a gamut of systems-related topics.
• Textbook: Computers as Components. W.Wolf. Morgan-Kaufman ISBN 1-55860-693-9.
• Coursework:
  • There will be a lab for the course each Friday 12-3 in Tompkins 211. Lab attendance is mandatory for undergraduates, and recommended for graduates.
  • Undergraduates will demonstrate their project in the labs; we prefer grads to demonstrate in the lab, but if that's not possible, a demonstration can be arranged after class.
  • Labs will consist of a help session and an informal lecture on practical topics related to the course.
  • Undergraduate requirements:
    1. PIC projects 1, 2 and 3. See the PIC page for details.
    2. Palm project: write a Java program for the Palm (using the KVM, Waba or SuperWaba environments) that features buttons and text input.
    3. Final project. Choose between these two options: (1) Work in a team of two or, (2) as an individual. Select from among the projects below.
    4. Possible team final projects:
       • Mindstorm Game. Propose a game involving a competition between two robots. For example, each robot will move as many ping-pong balls from the middle to its assigned corner as possible.
       • Beowulf cluster. Build a Beowulf cluster out of 3-4 PC boards.
    5. Possible individual projects:
       • TiniBoard: Build a motor-control SmartHome application (TBA) using the TiniBoard.
       • Sensor patterns: Attach pressure sensors to Handyboard and develop algorithm to detect patterns.
  • Graduate requirements:
    1. PIC projects 1, 2, 3 and 4. See the PIC page for details.
    2. Final project. Choose between these two options: (1) Work in a team of two and develop a product prototype or, (2) as an individual, write a research paper. For each of these, propose three ideas to Dr. Williams by Feb 15.