Course Details

1. Develop the necessary skills to implement a real time automation system using microcontrollers and programmable logic controllers.
2. Identify the main components of open loop and closed loop automation systems, highlight their real-time nature and appreciate the main challenges in their design and implementation.
3. Review the main characteristics of input/output devices such as sensors, transducers and actuators. Realize I/O interfacing via D/A and A/D conversion and appreciate the importance of sampling rate, quantization and aliasing.
4. Develop skills for implementation of controller design via microcontroller programming. Introduction to I/O synchronization.
5. Develop competence for Programmable Logic Controller operation, programming blocks, I/O modules, arithmetic and advanced instructions.

• K.J. Åström , B. Wittenmark , Computer-Controlled Systems: Theory and Design, Third Edition, Dover Publications, 2011.
• B. Wittenmark, K.J. Åström, K.-E. Årzén, Computer Control: An Overview, Educational Version 2012

• Embedded Systems: Introduction to ARM® Cortex™-M Microcontrollers, by Jonathan Valvano, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013.

- Students are taught the course through lectures (3 hours per week) in classrooms or lectures theatres, by means of traditional tools or using computer demonstration.

- Auditory exercises, where examples regarding matter represented at the lectures, are solved and further, questions related to particular open-ended topic issues are compiled by the students and answered, during the lecture or assigned as homework.

-  Topic notes are compiled by students, during the lecture which serve to cover the main issues under consideration and can also be downloaded from the lecturer’s webpage.Students are also advised to use the subject’s textbook or reference books for further reading and practice in solving related exercises. Tutorial problems are also submitted as homework and these are solved during lectures or privately during lecturer’s office hours. Further literature search is encouraged by assigning students to identify a specific problem related to some issue, gather relevant scientific information about how others have addressed the problem and report this information in written or orally.

- Laboratory experiments are carried out in small groups and lab reports are required two weeks after the laboratory class resulting in a cumulative mark.

- Students are assessed continuously and their knowledge is checked through tests with their assessment weight, date and time being set at the beginning of the semester via the course outline.

- Students are prepared for final exam, by revision on the matter taught, problem solving and concept testing and are also trained to be able to deal with time constraints and revision timetable.

- The final assessment of the students is formative and summative and is assured to comply with the subject’s expected learning outcomes and the quality of the course.