A Methodology to Teach Students to Implement Digital Controllers Using Embedded Systems

Most of the course projects in the Control Systems Area are implemented using high-level simulation tools and data acquisition boards. This method has yielded excellent results; but it has the disadvantage of not exposing students to implementing digital controllers directly with microprocessors. This issue is common to many universities. In this paper we propose a methodology that will improve student’s understanding on how digital control systems are implemented in the real world using microcontrollers. Specifically, the proposed methodology includes a set of workshops to train students in the use of microcontrollers for digital control purposes and a microcontroller based workstation for implementing the digital controllers. The effectiveness of this approach, compared to other methods (Simulink, LabVIEW, among others) was tested with a pedagogical experiment that followed a backward design approach. Assessment techniques allowed instructors to evaluate course objectives and revealed student acceptance of the proposed methodology.