Overview
This unit will introduce you to microcontroller basics and their real world applications. You will learn about different microcontroller families and their similarities and differences from an application point of view. You will also learn about microcontroller architecture, memory maps, addressing modes, interrupts, timers, counters, and hardware interfacing of a chosen microcontroller. You will learn how to program a microcontroller in a high level language using an integrated development environment. Advanced topics of reading analog inputs, implementation of USART (Universal Synchronous Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) connections with external world, PWM (Pulse Width Modulation), will also be covered in this unit. After learning the fundamentals of hardware interfacing you will practice them in a laboratory using a microcontroller development system based on this specific microcontroller and finally design and prototype an authentic application of embedded system in your project using the same development system. Online education students are required to attend the residential school.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
ENEE14006 Embedded Microcontrollers is an Anti-Requisite for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2023
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Residential Schools
This unit has a Compulsory Residential School for distance mode students and the details are:
Click here to see your Residential School Timetable.
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Unit Coordinator's reflection
The use of physical hardware in this unit gave opportunities to apply knowledge into practical problems.
Continue to engage students with practical uses of physical hardware and have exercises and assessments that require students to use physical hardware
Feedback from Unit Coordinator's reflection
Further exercises and explanation into some aspects of hardware programming would be useful.
Incorporating and highlighting hardware programming examples in lectures and tutorials and providing more detailed explanation of codes.
Feedback from Unit Survey's Feedback
Be more responsive to student emails
Encourage students to exchange questions and ideas on the unit's learning forum as this is beneficial to the entire learning cohort. Educating students that questions that are previously answered in the forum will not be re-answered through personal emails.
- Apply fundamental structured programming knowledge to perform software tasks
- Program a microcontroller to interface with external devices such as analog and digital sensors, actuators and computers
- Analyse and design microcontroller based real-time applications using a given industry-standard development system and software tools
- Prototype an embedded microcontroller system for a real-world application
- Communicate professionally using relevant technical terminology, symbols, and diagrams and effectively document design and prototyped solutions
- Work autonomously and as a team member to analyse problems and present solutions.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 0% | ||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||
| 3 - Practical Assessment - 20% | ||||||
| 4 - Practical Assessment - 20% | ||||||
| 5 - Portfolio - 40% | ||||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | ||||||
| 2 - Communication | ||||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | ||||||
| 4 - Research | ||||||
| 5 - Self-management | ||||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | ||||||
| 7 - Leadership | ||||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | ||||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 0% | ||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 20% | ||||||||
| 3 - Practical Assessment - 20% | ||||||||
| 4 - Practical Assessment - 20% | ||||||||
| 5 - Portfolio - 40% | ||||||||
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
- A computer with 9 pin serial port or USB to serial converter, speaker & microphone, Microsoft Windows OS(7 or later) with admin rights to install software, and good internet connectivity
- Code::Blocks IDE for C programming (freeware from www.codeblocks.org )
- MPLAB IDE: MPALB X (provided by CQU on lab computers) or later and MCC18 C compiler(free download from Microchip website)
- Access to a document scanner and a software that can create pdf documents
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
l.piyathilaka@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
• Introduction to Embedded Systems and Microcontrollers
• Introduction to programming languages
• Introduction to C language programming environment
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• Programming in C language - Fundamentals
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC Microcontroller and MPLAB X - Introduction
• Programming in C language - Essentials I
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC 18F4321 memory, input and output
• Programming in C language - Essentials II
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC18F4321 architecture and addressing modes
• Programming in C language - Intermediate level
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC 18F4321 hardware interfacing I - LCD display units, SSD
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project Proposal due
Module/Topic
• PIC 18F4321 hardware interfacing II - sensors (analog and digital)
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC 18F4321 hardware interfacing III - motors and actuators
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC 18F4321 hardware interfacing IV - keypads,timers ultrasound sensors, and advanced sensors
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
• PIC18F4321 communication - RS232
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project Progress update 1
Assignment 2: Hardware Programming using CQU PIC Development kit Due: Week 10 Monday (15 May 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Embedded microcontroller future opportunities
Project Help
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project progress update 2
Module/Topic
Project Help
Chapter
N/A
Events and Submissions/Topic
Project progress update 3
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
This unit includes intensive laboratory classes. Please check the timetable for the location and dates
1 Online Quiz(zes)
This is a diagnostic test ( which carry no marks towards your grade) to identify students' level of understanding of computer programming and electronics basics to support them more effectively.
Other
Week 1 Friday (10 Mar 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Students will know the test outcome soon after completing the test.
This will be assessed to identify the need of extra support for individual student. This online quiz will have equal weight to all questions.
- Apply fundamental structured programming knowledge to perform software tasks
- Knowledge
2 Written Assessment
Week 5 Friday (7 Apr 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Marked assignment with feedback will be returned to students usually within 2 weeks after submission. However, there will be no model answers provided.
Detailed assessment criteria are in the assignment itself.
This assignment is based on C language programming skills. To obtain full marks students must provide all in detail problem solving and solution development evidence. Each student must have their unique programs developed by themselves. Answer to every problem should include a flowchart / NS-diagram or other similar graphical representation of the solution. Students should submit the complete working C language code for each question. A clean working program as the answer to a question without evidence of the development of it (e.g. without a soft copy of workbook pages relevant to it) will receive a maximum of 50% of the allocated marks for that question.
- Apply fundamental structured programming knowledge to perform software tasks
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
3 Practical Assessment
This assignment evaluates your essential C language programming skills for embedded microcontroller programming. You will be tested on your ability to develop solutions for given problems and implement them on the CQU PIC development board using MPLAB X IDE and C language.
Before starting the coding, it's crucial to analyze the system, create a conceptual solution, and develop a graphical representation. All your work, including software codes and demonstration videos, must be submitted as evidence of your individual efforts. Technical details regarding the assignment will be provided upon receiving the task.
It is important to note that this is an individual assessment, and no collaboration or contribution from others is permitted.
Week 10 Monday (15 May 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Marked assignment with feedback will be returned to students usually within 2 weeks after submission. However, there will be no model answers provided.
Detailed assessment criteria are in the assignment itself.
To obtain full marks students must provide all in detail problem solving and solution development evidence. Each student must have their unique programs developed by themselves. Answer to every problem should include a flowchart/ NS-diagram or other similar graphical representation of the solution. Students should submit the complete working C language code for each question. A clean working program as the answer to a question without evidence of the development of it (ex: a soft copy of workbook pages relevant to it or an explanation of your code) will receive a maximum of 50% of the allocated marks for that question. No assembly language solutions or subroutines are allowed.
- Program a microcontroller to interface with external devices such as analog and digital sensors, actuators and computers
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
4 Practical Assessment
This assessment is based on laboratory placticals which can be carried out at CQU labs at home using the provided CQU PIC Development kit. Detailed description of the practicals will be available on Moodle.
Week 7 Monday (24 Apr 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Marked lab report with feedback will be returned to students usually within 2 weeks after submission. However, there will be no model answers provided.
Detailed assessment criteria are in the assignment itself.
To obtain full marks students must provide all in detail problem solving and solution development evidence. Each student must have their unique programs developed by themselves. Answer to every problem should include a flowchart/ NS-diagram or other similar graphical representation of the solution. Students should submit the complete working C language code for each question. A clean working program as the answer to a question without evidence of the development of it (e.g. a soft copy of workbook pages relevant to it or an explanation of your code) will receive a maximum of 50% of the allocated marks for that question. No assembly language solutions or subroutines are allowed.
- Analyse and design microcontroller based real-time applications using a given industry-standard development system and software tools
- Prototype an embedded microcontroller system for a real-world application
- Communicate professionally using relevant technical terminology, symbols, and diagrams and effectively document design and prototyped solutions
- Work autonomously and as a team member to analyse problems and present solutions.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
5 Portfolio
This project is a key component of the unit, providing both guided and open-ended opportunities for students to demonstrate their abilities. The main hardware used for the project is the CQU PIC Development Kit and the sensor/actuator board provided by CQU. You have the freedom to utilize additional sensors, actuators, and accessories at your own cost. The main objective is to create a working prototype of an embedded system solution for a real-world issue. Your prototype's performance will be assessed at the end of the term.
Please keep in mind that this is an individual assessment and no collaboration or assistance from others is permitted.
Exam Week Thursday (15 June 2023) 11:45 pm AEST
Marked portfolio will be returned with feedback after the release of grades.
The portfolio marks will be allocated to the project depth, the successfulness of each individual element, the successfulness of integrating all elements into a complete working prototype, and professional documentation related to the project.
The portfolio marks will also be allocated to the level of the project, the level of successful completion, the level of programming techniques and effective memory usage, etc.
A detailed description of portfolio assessment criteria will be available in Moodle.
- Apply fundamental structured programming knowledge to perform software tasks
- Program a microcontroller to interface with external devices such as analog and digital sensors, actuators and computers
- Analyse and design microcontroller based real-time applications using a given industry-standard development system and software tools
- Prototype an embedded microcontroller system for a real-world application
- Communicate professionally using relevant technical terminology, symbols, and diagrams and effectively document design and prototyped solutions
- Work autonomously and as a team member to analyse problems and present solutions.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
