Microcontroller System Design Students Demo Final Projects

Integrating processors, sensors, and data exchange functionality into everyday objects, the Internet of Things (IoT) pushes computing capabilities far beyond desktops and servers, weaving computation functionality into the physical world.

On December 10, students in the COMP_SCI 346: Microcontroller System Design (cross-listed with COMP_ENG 346: Microcontroller System Design) course led by Northwestern Engineering’s Branden Ghena presented a hands-on, public demonstration of their microcontroller-based embedded systems.

For the course’s final project, teams designed, built, and programmed open-ended hardware/software systems utilizing microcontrollers that feature a processor, memory, and peripherals within a single chip. Students embedded the microcontrollers into circuit boards alongside sensors, batteries, and interfaces to create IoT inventions.

The course draws students earning undergraduate and master’s degrees pursuing careers in fields including computer science, computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and robotics.

“I'm so lucky to get to work with these talented students,” said Ghena, assistant professor of instruction at the McCormick School of Engineering. "Their creativity and perseverance have resulted in some fantastic projects."

To meet the project’s technical parameters, students were required to incorporate at least two sensors and one output. Beyond that, the 25 teams of students were free to express their creativity and ingenuity through a variety of system designs, including smart objects, wearables, interactive games, control interfaces, and monitoring systems.

The 25 teams and projects demonstrated during the event included:

• Alarm Clock: Vincent Chiu, Diego Perrin, and Andy Zhang
• Auto Air: John Lim and Aidan Workman
• Autonomous Race Car: Rimen Jenhani, Grace Meng, and Ludi Yu
• Bike Powermeter: Yanni Kechriotis and Jonathan Raport
• Bumper Tag: Gregorio Chavez and Ramiz Khan
• Coordinated Robots: Tianwei Bao and Haodong Wang
• EdgeOS: Steve Ewald and Ethan Havemann
• Electronic Drum: Josh Karpel, Ryan Payne, and Gerardo Perez
• Etch-a-Sketch: Daniel Lee, Claire Pare, and Jack Vogel
• Golf Swing Monitor: Akila Hettigoda and Ryan Philip
• Micro:beat: Luc Ah-Hot and Donny Carl
• Music Robot: Talia Ben-Naim, Natalie Hill, and An Nguyen
• Music Tuner: Spencer Cross and Daniel Shaver
• Musical Keyboard: Enya Brett, Gyda Nawarungruang, and Nicole Torres
• Plant Assistant: Safiya Menk, Marko Veljanovski, and Cesar Villalta
• Plant Care: Elizabeth Okemmiri and Favour Onukogu
• RFID Content Display: Manu Deva and Krishna Sorna
• Skunkbuster: Meixi Lu and Breanna Reyna
• Smart Laser Pointer: Ryan Boyle and Anna Murray
• Smart Night Light: Sean Lee, Henry Ma, and Leon Wang
• Touch & Tune: Defne Deda and Ethan Pineda
• Traffic Simulator: Yafet Hailu and Evan Parish
• Two-wheel Bot: Sandy Bockarie, Fabio Buehler, Samnang Nuonsinoeun, and Caroline Terryn
• Whack-a-Mole: Richard Bann, Louis Gabison, and Christopher Minn
• Whack-a-Quack: Nicole Tartakovsky and Mavis Wang

Four students who had previously taken the Microcontroller System Design course served as peer mentors, assisting teams with their labs and final projects. Ghena expressed his appreciation for the support of Isa Gonzalez, a fourth-year student in computer science at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences who is pursuing a minor in cognitive science and a Segal Design Certificate in digital product development; Joseph Grantham, a fourth-year student in computer science at Northwestern Engineering; Alex Huggins, a master’s degree student in electrical engineering at Northwestern Engineering; and Lucas Takayasu, a third-year student in computer engineering at Northwestern Engineering.

"The course could not have succeeded without the peer mentors' help teaching and advising students," said Ghena.

Through lectures, practical lab sessions, and the final project, Microprocessor System Design students explore topics including microcontrollers, embedded software, digital and analog input and output, timers, wired communication protocols, and basic wireless communication. Students experiment primarily with the Micro:bit v2 platform using the C programming language.