Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

It can be difficult to motivate students to learn about computer hardware because students find the subject rather dry and theoretical. We have prepared a series of interesting projects that give students a hands-on introduction to computer hardware and organisation. Our projects, designed around the PIC16F84, a powerful 8-bit microcontroller chip that sells for less than $10, are suitable for classroom use in introductory-level courses about computer hardware. Their effectiveness has been evaluated both formally by students and informally through discussion within the teaching team. Feedback from students indicates that both development and implementation were successful. This paper describes the projects completed to date, their overall effectiveness and our plans for further projects.

Keywords

computer hardware evaluation hands-on experience PIC microcontroller

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Edward

N. S.

, ‘The role of laboratory work in engineering education: Student and staff perceptions’, Int. J. Elec. Enging. Educ., 39(1) (2002), 11–19.

Johnson

, Process Control Instrumentation Technology (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1993).

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers , ‘IEEE Std 1451.4 standard for a smart transducer interface for sensors and actuators’ (IEEE, Piscataway, New Jersey, 2002).

BOALEECO , Educational laboratory equipment manuals, 1995.

Crossbow wireless sensor networks, available online at http://www.ri.cmu.edu/lab_lists/index.htl.

Quijano

Gil

A. E.

and Passino

, ‘Experiments for dynamic resource allocation, scheduling, and control’, IEEE Control Syst. Mag., 25(1) (2005), 63–79.

Tomizuka

, ‘Sensors in the engineering of modern mechatronic systems’, Preprints of the 3^rd IFAC Symposium on mechatronic systems, Sydney, Australia, 6–8 September, 2004, pp. 19–24.

Moheimani

S. O. R.

, ‘Introduction to the focused section on smart materials and structure’, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 10 (2) (2005), pp. 133–134.

Bernstein

D. S.

, ‘Setting up and running a control research laboratory — Useful advice for the aspiring experimentalist’, IEEE Control Syst. Mag., 25 (5) (2003), 14–19.

Teaching Computer Hardware and Organisation Using PIC-Based Projects

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References