MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details
Year of entry: 2027
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Course unit details:
Microcontroller Engineering
| Unit code | EEEN20011 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 10 |
| Unit level | Level 2 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Offered by | Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
Brief Description of the Unit:
The unit introduces the architecture and operation of modern 32-bit microcontrollers. Students will use C/C++ to program an STM32F401RE at a high level through API-based interaction with on chip peripherals. This interaction highlight the benefits and limitations of Abstraction and Encapsulation in object-oriented programming.
A detailed study of a number of the peripheral devices available on the STM32 family of devices is also provided, with the set of devices chosen to be representative of those commonly used in embedded systems. Below are some examples of such devices:
- Digital input/output facilities
- Analogue-to-digital converters
- Counter/timers
- Low-level communications protocols e.g. Asynchronous Serial. I2C and SPI
- Polled and interrupt-driven transfer
The module also covers some common design patterns in embedded systems including:
- State machines
- Time-driven
Pre/co-requisites
| Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| EEEN10202 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory | |
| EEEN10141 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
Aims
This course unit aims to: Provide an understanding of the operation, programming and application of modern microcontrollers and standard on-chip peripheral devices found within them.
Learning outcomes
On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
ILO1 - Explain how hardware elements are manipulated by high level language programs. [Developed] [Assessed]
ILO2 - Describe the operation of devices such as analogue-to-digital converters, timers, counters and serial peripheral devices. [Developed] [Assessed]
ILO3 - Describe how interrupts are generated and processed, and the benefits of interrupt-driven data transfer. [Developed] [Assessed]
ILO4 - Identify typical design patterns found in embedded software, and where they can be applied. [Developed] [Assessed]
ILO5 - Design and code solutions common to embedded systems programming problems involving I/O pins, analogue-to-digital converters, timers, serial interfaces etc. [Developed] [Assessed]
ILO6 - Formulate and test hypotheses through iterative software development. [Developed]
Teaching and learning methods
- Didactic lectures
- Blended learning
- Problem based learning
- Laboratory based learning
Assessment methods
| Method | Weight |
|---|---|
| Written exam | 80% |
| Written assignment (inc essay) | 20% |
Feedback methods
Written exam - standard exam feedback provided after the exam board.
Coursework tasks - in lab during assessment.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Lectures | 20 |
| Practical classes & workshops | 8 |
| Tutorials | 2 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 70 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Liam Marsh | Unit coordinator |