In this class, we will engineer custom-made electronic devices. These will not be created only via breadboards but manufactured as real printed circuit boards (PCBs). We will study the design and layout of circuits for our own custom-made I/O devices, such as wearable or haptic devices. For you to be successful in engineering a functional PCB we will: (1) review digital circuits and two microcontroller architectures (ATMEGA, SAMD), (2) use KICAD to build circuit schematics, (3) briefly review analog/digital sensors and their protocols (SPI, I2C), (4) use KICAD to build PCB schematics, (5) manufacture our designs in a PCB factory, (6) receive in our hands our PCBs from factory, (7) finally, learn how to debug our custom-made PCBs. Important: This class requires you to have taken HCI engineering” beforehand, regardless of whether you are PhD or an Undergraduate. This class is part of our Undergraduate Specialization in HCI and a core-systems class for the CS PhD requirements).
This is class is fast-paced and requires previous know-how of electronics (take HCI engineering” beforehand, regardless of whether you are PhD or an Undergraduate). We will solve weekly assignments and labs and two main projects. The first project involves an 8-bit microcontroller to implement a prescribed circuit (including some analog electronics too). The final project involves a 32-bit USB-based microcontroller to implement a circuit of your own design that lives up to our requirements. While we will provide assistance with some elements of the projects, this requires you to: (1) solder electronics by hand (small components, some less than 1mm), (2) debug the circuit by yourself, (3) program the firmware by yourself (we do not support this, as it is part of the prerequisites).
This class requires you to have taken HCI engineering” beforehand, regardless of whether you are PhD or an Undergraduate. Additionally, if you did not take this prerequisite and still think you have the background, you can petition to enroll in this class. For that you need to show that you have taken any class that involved electronics/electricity (e.g., Creative Machines, Actuated User Interfaces and Technology, PHYS 13100-13200-13300, PHYS 14100-14200-14300, PHYS 22500-22700) and also will be required to attept passing a placement exam.
This course was developed by Pedro Lopes with significant input from Romain Nith and Shan-Yuan Teng. All teaching materials in this class, including course slides, homeworks, assignments, practice exams and quizzes, are copyrighted. Reproduction, redistribution and other rights solely belong to the instructor. In particular, it is not permissible to upload any or part of these materials to public or private websites without the instructor's explicit consent. Violating this copyright policy will be considered an academic integrity violation.
The University of Chicago has formal policies related to academic honesty and plagiarism. We abide by these standards in this course. Depending on the severity of the offense, you risk being dismissed altogether from the course. All cases will be referred to the Dean of Students office, which may impose further penalties, including suspension and expulsion. In addition, we expect that everyone handles their fellow students and staff members with respect, following the norms of proper behavior by members of the University of Chicago community.
If you have a impariment of any kind please communicate it to the instructor and you will do the best to accomodate it, e.g., you will be provided with the suitable course materials.
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