Here are some tips on how to effectively begin and complete your mini-project.
A. Embedded System domain.
STEP 1:
Select a sensor group and an actuator group. Give the title for the mini-project as 'A comparative study of applications with xxx-sensors using yyyy-microcontroller and zzzz-actuator'. Later of course you can change the title to a more appropriate and specific one.
STEP 2:
Identify the companies and sensor/actuator variants and collect all the specifications required to understand and interface the devices to your microcontroller.
STEP 3:
Begine designing very simple interfaces using your sensor and actuator to your microcontroller. After a few trials you will begin to understand and get a grip on the functioning of these devices. Then, you will be able to finalise the circuit required to interface the sensor/actuator to the microcontroller.
STEP 4:
Begin taking a closer look at the sensor. Understand its behaviour in greater detail and how the physical parameter can be converted to binary data that is readable by the microcontroller. Here, you will have to shift from using an interface that gives only a HIGH or LOW signal to an interface that gives a 4-, 8-, 16- or 32-bit output. Of course you must then know how to use an ADC of the required resolution. Hopefully, another group mut be ready with this expertise to help you !
STEP 5:
Once you are clear about the smaller details of interfacing, your next task will be to make the microcontroller DO SOMETHING to the actuator based on the input data given by the sensor. Here is where your programming skills will help. Also, having the source code for some standard operations will help immensely as C-Progamming is all about reusability of the code !
STEP 6:
You either create a useful application with this OR can go further by taking another sensor of the same group, repeat the above steps and then compare your results. That becomes a comparative study.
Please note : Such studies involving hardware, software, sensors and actuators will be hihly appreciated by academicians as it will help you to project your command and understanding of the work you have done.
Tomorrow, I will give some tips on Communication systems.
Hope this is of some help !
Good Day
