An educational testbed for design and implementation of computer control software

There is a growing need in industry for engineers who can perform software design and system integration for various applications in embedded control. While courses offered in the Electrical & Computer Engineering disciplines cover such topics as microprocessors, digital and analog hardware, control theory, and programming languages, there are few courses that focus on integrating these subjects for designing embedded systems. This paper describes a laboratory testbed developed for a new course on Embedded Computer Control offered at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. The embedded controller performs command, control, and user interface tasks required to operate a low-cost prototype of a thermal system. Furthermore, its network connectivity allows users to tune system parameters, start and stop running the system, and observe the status of the plant via the Internet.