Interdisciplinary Embedded Systems Design:  Integrating Hardware-Oriented Embedded Systems Design with Software-Oriented Embedded Systems Development

Cynthia C. Fry; Steven Patrick Potter

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Publication Date: June 23, 2018
Start Date: June 23, 2018
End Date: July 27, 2018
Conference Session: Understanding Student Development in Design
Tagged Division: Design in Engineering Education
Page Count: 10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--30700
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/30700
Download Count: 547

Paper Authors

biography

Cynthia C. Fry Baylor University

visit author page

CYNTHIA C. FRY is currently a Senior Lecturer of Computer Science at Baylor University. She worked at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center as a Senior Project Engineer, a Crew Training Manager, and the Science Operations Director for STS-46. She was an Engineering Duty Officer in the U.S. Navy (IRR), and worked with the Naval Maritime Intelligence Center as a Scientific/Technical Intelligence Analyst. She was the owner and chief systems engineer for Systems Engineering Services (SES), a computer systems design, development, and consultation firm. She joined the faculty of the School of Engineering and Computer Science at Baylor University in 1997, where she teaches a variety of engineering and computer science classes, she is the Faculty Advisor for the Women in Computer Science (WiCS), the Director of the Computer Science Fellows program, and is a KEEN Fellow. She has authored and co-authored over forty-five peer-reviewed papers.

visit author page

author page

Steven Patrick Potter

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

Interdisciplinary Embedded Systems Design: Integrating Hardware-Oriented Embedded Systems Design with Software-Oriented Embedded Systems Development

The rapid proliferation of embedded systems designs has opened opportunities for both computer engineers and computer scientists in recent time, and promises to do so in the foreseeable future. With the advances in this field, however, the need for a more multi-disciplinary approach to embedded systems education has arisen, as modern embedded systems design relies heavily on the integration of both hardware and software design. Due to the diverse backgrounds that are becoming not only recommended, but also required, providing students with an educational experience of the holistic design of a modern embedded systems is becoming a bigger challenge. Both the Electrical and Computer Engineering curricula and the Computer Science curricula are filled to overflowing with required courses as well as upper-level technical electives to provide opportunities to explore the application of students’ knowledge in depth in particular fields. How then do we develop an Embedded Systems course the provides this holistic design in the limited amount of time afforded by a quarter or semester course? One approach that has been tested at Baylor University's School of Engineering & Computer Science (ECS) is the integration of the Embedded Systems Design course taught in Electrical and Computer Engineering, with the Embedded Systems course taught in Computer Science.

This paper will document the original courses and their prerequisite coursework, the path toward integration of the group design project, the prototype testing of this approach conducted in 2017, an outline of the instruction provided to the students, and the assessment of the interdisciplinary approach to the project phase of both courses.

Citation
Format

Fry, C. C., & Potter, S. P. (2018, June), Interdisciplinary Embedded Systems Design: Integrating Hardware-Oriented Embedded Systems Design with Software-Oriented Embedded Systems Development Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30700