Course Topics
The course will introduce basic concepts in information and computer science (hardware and software), particularly those topics of fundamental importance to Engineering and confirm the theoretical learnings in lab projects.

Teaching format
Frontal lectures and lab exercises.

Educational objectives
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO) Knowledge and understanding Through the application of the principles of Information Science and Microcontroller Programming, students should be able: 1. To know basic software design procedures. 2. To know how to develop simple microcontroller programs. 3. To understand how to interface a microcontroller with simple sensors and actuators. 4. To understand the principles of simple electromechanical systems. Applying knowledge and understanding 5. To apply software design principles, programming, and hardware interfacing in theoretical examples and hands-on laboratory exercises that complement the lectures and sustain arguments. Making judgments 6. To make autonomous judgments on the choice of the right tools such as data types, programming approaches, or electrical components. The labs will also require students to gather and interpret relevant data. Communication skills 7. To correctly and properly present information, ideas, problems, and solutions during the labs. Learning skills 8. To acquire extended skills in Information Science and Microcontroller Programming and be able to use this new knowledge as a solid foundation for further study in more advanced courses in Engineering.

Assessment
Examination of the course is conducted via a written exam and lab. The written exam consists of two parts: i) a part with short questions to assess the knowledge and understanding of the theoretical fundamentals of the course topics. ii) a part with exercises on Datatypes and Operations, exercises on the dimensioning of electrical circuits, as well as exercises on code writing. The single experiments of the lab will be examined by i) the correct functionality of the student’s own implementation as described in the relative task description ii) the ability of the single students in the lab groups to explain the selected approaches iii) the level of observation of physical processes iv) the overall implementation, documentation, and appearance of the electrical circuit and software code of the selected approach. Formative assessment: Labs: 40%; ILOs assessed: 1-7; Summative assessment: Written exam: 60% (4 hours); ILOS assessed: 1-4,6,8;

Evaluation criteria
Written Final Exam: Completeness and correctness of answers. Labs: Completeness and correctness of the student’s own implementation, the ability of students to explain the selected approaches, the level of observation of physical processes, and the overall implementation, documentation, as well as appearance of the electrical circuit and software code of the selected approach. Students are required to receive an overall grade of greater than 60/100 points in order to pass the course.

Required readings

Smith, A. G. Introduction to Arduino: A piece of cake, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2011. ISBN: 978-1463698348

 

Hard copies available in library reserves, or can be downloaded here –

http://www.introtoarduino.com/downloads/IntroArduinoBook.pdf

 

Subject Librarian: David Gebhardi, David.Gebhardi@unibz.it and Ilaria Miceli, Ilaria.Miceli@unibz.it

Supplementary readings

Blum, J. Exploring Arduino: Tools and Techniques for Engineering Wizardry, John Wiley & Sons, 2013. ISBN: 978-1-118-54936-0

Further information
Software used: Arduino IDE freely available at: https://www.arduino.cc/en/software It needs to be installed on the student’s personal laptop. The Ubuntu operating system is recommended, but MacOS or Windows are also acceptable.