CS 179: Project in Architecture/Embedded Systems
CS 179J: Project in Architecture / Embedded Systems
Overview
Course Theme:
The goal of the eBlocks research
project at UCR is to empower regular people, having no programming or
electronics experience, to build basic useful electronic systems
around the home, office, store, etc. We plan to achieve our goal by
creating a set of embedded system building blocks - eBlocks -
that regular people could easily connect together to build a
huge variety of basic but useful monitor/controller systems.
The key to our approach is to add compute intelligence to
components that previously had none - to sensors, switches,
light-emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc. Adding compute
intelligence to those items was previously cost and power
prohibitive, but extremely small, cheap and low power processing
devices now make such addition possible. Ideally, people could
simply connect such eBlocks together to build basic systems. In
CS179J, you'll be developing a particular eBlock component -- the
project will be very similar to a real-world design problem, in which
you must learn a new domain and understand potential users, thoroughly
investigate and tradeoff technical/cost/use/performance/power issues,
design and test the design (repeatedly as the product evolves), and
finally carefully document your final product.
Catalog Description:
Discussion, one hour; laboratory, nine hours. Prerequisite(s): CS
141, CS 122A, and CS 161 with a grade of "C-" or better; Under the
direction of a faculty member, students (individually or in small teams with
shared responsibilities) propose, design, build, test, and document
software and/or hardware devices or systems. Requires a written
report, giving details of the project and test results, and an oral
presentation of the design aspects. Emphasizes teamwork, making
technical presentations, and developing oral and written
communication skills.
Basic Information
Instructor and office hours
Dr. Frank Vahid
(vahid@cs.ucr.edu)
Office Hrs:
Office Location: Surge 328
Teaching Assistant
Susan Cotterell
(susanc@cs.ucr.edu)
Office Hrs: By appointment
Discussion
Wednesday, 10:10 - 11:00
OLMH 421
Lab
TBA
Textbook
Required: The Art of Designing Embedded Systems,
J. Ganssle, 1st ed., 1999, Newnes Press, Butterworth-Heinemann.
Grade Breakdown
10%: Weekly participation
10%: Online logs and homeworks
10%: Proposal
10%: Tradeoff analysis
10%: First prototype and presentation
10%: Quizzes
10%: Second prototype and presentation
15%: Final implementation
15%: Final report, presentation and interview
Course email list
CS 179J mailing List (
send mail now or
access the
archive): Be sure to sign up to receive important announcements,
which may be made only through the course email list. You
must use your CS or EE account, or else some other UCR account, so be
sure to learn how to read those accounts or at least automatically
forward messages to your personal email address (just create in your
home directory a file named ".forward" containing your personal email
address). It is preferable to use your CS/EE/UCR account when
communicating with your instructor and TA.
Lab Information
| Project Options |
Description |
| Class Project: Voice eBlocks |
Define and create an eBlock that can be controlled by voice.
In its simplest form, the user says a particular command that the
block detects and thus outputs a yes. Tradeoffs to consider
include cost, power, how specific the command is, how general
the detector is (same command across multiple people), whether
the command can be programmed, support of yes and no commands,
support of more than two commands, use of pre-designed kits
versus custom, etc.
|
|
Schedule
|
| Week 1 |
Jan 5 - Jan 9 |
 |
Lab Orientation - we'll schedule meeting
time in class |
|
|
Start looking into the class project - you'll need
to read up on how it's done and think about
what kind of hardware you may require for your
project. |
|
| Week 2 |
Jan 12 - Jan 16 |
|
|
Written project proposal due - One your website post
your project proposal with analysis of tradeoffs, time
estimation, project cost, complexity. You will
also do a 5 minute presentation in class outlining
your proposal. Remeber, part of your grade in this
course is project complexity. If you work in a
group your project should be more complex |
|
|
Power Estimation Handout
Power Estimation Handout Solutions |
|
| Week 3 |
Jan 19 - Jan 23 |
Each of the following is due before class:
|
| Parts List Due - don't forget to include vendor
name, vendor contact, part number, and cost. |
|
| Tradeoff analysis must be posted on your website. |
|
| Battery lifetime estimation exercises. |
|
| Week 4 |
Jan 26 - Jan 30 |
|
| Week 5 |
Feb 2 - Feb 6 |
|
|
1st Prototype Due - Demo to class |
|
| Week 6 |
Feb 9 - Feb 13 |
|
| Week 7 |
Feb 16 - Feb 20 |
CLASS CANCELLED |
| Week 8 |
Feb 23 - Feb 27 |
|
|
2nd Prototype Due - Demo to class |
|
| Week 9 |
Mar 1 - Mar 5 |
|
| Week 10 |
Mar 8 - Mar 12 |
|
|
Final project report and presentations |
|
|
Proejct report, schematics, and code should be
submitted, turn-in will be setup |
|
|
Return all parts checked-out/used by Friday |
|
| Finals |
Mar 15 - Mar 19 |
|
| January 2004 |
February 2004 |
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Hardware
You will be provided with the following hardware:
1 breadboard, 1 AC to DC Wall Transformer, 2 Power Jacks (Male 2.1mm),
2 PIC16F628, 1 Parallel Port Cable, 1 PIC16F628 Programmer,
1 Multimeter, 2 LEDs
It is suggested you have:
small screwdriver (flathead), wire cutters/strippers
As part of your project, you will also order various parts to
build your voice eBlock. You will have a budget of $50.00 per
group, anything beyond that will required special approval.
Helpful Links
eBlock Homepage
Compilation
eBlock Protocol Defenition
eBlock Paper
Ordering Parts
Below are a couple of places you can find parts:
Jameco Electronics
Digi-Key Corporation
Mouser Electronics
When specifying which parts are needed be sure to include where to
order the parts, part number, description, and cost.
Project Websites
Rima Fata
Ron Feliciano
Eric Frohnhoefer
RJ Jareno
Edward Lee
Long Nguyen
Kai Xing