CyMote/May1735

The Computer Engineering (CprE) 185 class is an entry level problem solving class. This class explains broad programming practices and practices specific to the C programming language. It is often the first programming class that computer engineers take at Iowa State University.

CprE 185 is a lab based class. In years past, the labs were based around the Arduino Esplora board. Arduino has recently stopped building and supporting the Esplora, leaving a void for the CprE 185 lab. A previous Senior Design Team attempted to build a replacement for the Esplora by taking the Intel Edison microcontroller and adding their own peripherals. After talking with a member of the previous team and the advisor of the previous team, it was discovered that the project failed due to a lack of knowledge of board design and effort from the board designers. Our team seeks to give this project the chance it deserves.

Objectives/Goals

Peripherals will be reused from the previous team’s project when they can be, but the first step is to vet the peripherals and the microcontroller that were chosen and figure out if they really are the part for the job. Once these are decided upon, board and software development happen simultaneously. The software team will get the MCU talking to the peripherals on a breadboard while the hardware team designs a PCB. These have to happen simultaneously so that the enough connections can be made to each peripheral. A working hardware prototype should be completed by January.

Software for the lab PCs will be developed that provides the data from the new device in a way that facilitates learning in CprE 185. After the new board is made, the CprE 185 labs need to be reviewed and tested. All of the old labs should be compatible with the new device with minimal or no changes. Depending on what peripherals are added, new labs may be developed.

• Produce a beta model of the CyMote design
• Produce a PC wrapper to communicate with CyMote