See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/268056877

Remote Controlled Embedded System

Article

CITATION READS

1 72

4 authors, including:

Jinhua She Hiroyuki Kobayashi

Tokyo University of Technology Osaka Institute of Technology
502 PUBLICATIONS   11,481 CITATIONS    63 PUBLICATIONS   200 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

underactuated system View project

Computationally Intelligent and Efficient, Quantum-inspired Protocols for Disease Diagnosis and Health Informatics View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Jinhua She on 09 October 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Proceedings of the Fourth China-Japan International Workshop
on Internet Technology and Control Applications
Hunan, China, 21-26 October 2005

Remote Controlled Embedded System

Kuniaki UMINO*, Yasuhiro OHYAMA**, Jin-Hua SHE**, Hiroyuki KOBAYASHI**
* Graduate School of Bionics, Computer and Media Sciences, Tokyo University of Technology
Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0982, Japan
** School of Bionics, Tokyo University of Technology
Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0982, Japan

Abstract education is that the target hardware system is difficult to

This paper describes a remote controlled embedded
system via the Internet. Procedures in developing
software consist of coding and compiling, testing on a
simulator and testing on a target system. The final testing
on a target system or a target board is most important in
developing an embedded system. We developed a remote
controlled embedded system via the Internet for this
testing. Firstly, learners study the structure of the
microprocessor, programming technique and testing
technique on a simulator in a class. Then they can test
their own program on a target system using this remote
system. This system is very useful when the target system
includes motors, A/D and D/A converters, and so on. The
proto-type system was set up in a laboratory and
connected to the Internet. Learners can run the system
just by accessing the web page of the course.
Keywords: Software Education, Educational aids, Web
Based Training, Embedded System.
1. INTRODUCTION
Software engineering is a broad field that encompasses
many different areas. Certain challenges exist in
developing efficient embedded systems. Because of their
nature, the design of embedded applications often
requires multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary skills,
which is called the trade off between software design and
hardware design. Additionally, many embedded
applications are real time, meaning that the correctness of
computations is as important as their timeliness [1, 2].
In the course of software education, programming
techniques for, so-called OA-ware, are usually
emphasized even in the engineering school compared to
those for the embedded systems. Many software courses
consist of three stages, as shown in Fig. 1. First, learners
learn the principles of microprocessors and the theory of
programming. Second, they exercise the programming
technique by using PC that is the exercise using an editor,
a compiler/assembler and a simulator. Third, they apply
their own designed software in the real target system and
confirm the software works well or not. The problem in
16
arrange for each student and the exercise to use the target
system is essential in education.
So, we developed a remote controlled embedded system
via the Internet for this testing. The configurations are
shown schematically in Fig. 2. Firstly, learners study the
structure of the microprocessor, programming technique
and testing technique on a simulator in a class. Then they
can test their own program on a target system using this
remote system. This system is very useful when the target
system includes peripheral devices such as motors, A/D
and D/A converters, and so on.
Amaral et al. [3] and Bindal et al. [4] have proposed and
discussed the education course for the embedded system,
however the target systems are arranged just beside the
learners. Murakoshi et al. [5] have proposed a Web-based
training system for digital circuit experiments. This
paper’s idea is just same as ours, however the target
system is a FPGA system. Ohyama et al. [6] have
proposed a Web Based Lecture Note with Remote Lab.
We suppose that the target embedded system in this paper
is finally as same as the controller of the above paper.
This paper is organized as follows. Chapter 2 describes
the lecture outline. In the classroom, the essential theory
and programming technique using a simulator are
discussed. Chapter 3 describes the remote controlled
embedded system via the Internet. In chapter 4, some
exercises in the class are explained and how to use the
proposed system is discussed.
PIC microcontroller and Integrated Development
Environment (IDE) are used in this paper, which are
Learning
Theory & Programming
Testing on Testing on
a Simulator a Target System
Fig. 1. Learning Process.
 WWWBrowser
News Lecture Homepage
Syllabus
Client Introduction
Logic Circuit
Microcontroller
Learner Assembler
Internet Principle
IO ports
Wait routine
Web Camera Timer routine
D/A & A/D Lecture menu
Target System Encoder &
References
References
・ASCII code
ServerPC ・MPLAB download
Monitor System ・MPLAB install
・MPLAB assemble Lecture News
Fig. 2. Remote Controlled Embedded System.
・MPSIM basics
・MPSIM advance
freely supplied by Microchip Technology incorporated. ・Data sheet
・Instruction Set
2. LECTURE OUTLINE
Fig. 3. Lecture Homepage.
The main goals of the course are to ensure that learners
know how to program a timer routine and the interrupt
1) the principle of PIC microcontroller; technique.
2) how to use the Integrated Development 9) D/A & A/D
Environment; and how to develop D/A and A/D converters, and how
3) how to program a microcontroller and how to to program them.
debug in programming. 10) Encoder
the hardware and software technique of an
The learners assume to have experienced in programming encoder.
on a PC by using C, Basic, and Java language and so on
in the previous class. Fig. 3 shows the Web page of the Fig. 4 shows the principle of the microcontroller. In this
lecture. Study items and many references are shown in course, the target CPU is PIC microcontroller. This CPU
the left side of the page. News shows the educational is widely used in the filed of business and hobby, because
guidance of the class and is updated weekly. Syllabus the structure is very simple and easy to understand, and
explains the outline, goals and references of the course. the cost is very cheap.
The procedure of the lessons and lesson-keywords are
shown as follows.
Principle of Microcontroller
1) Introduction
Program
embedded system, microprocessor, Program
address
Program
Data Bus
Memory Counter
microcontroller and chronicle. (14bits) 13 8
Timers & Peripherals

2) Logic Circuit 14
Program bus Stack
Memory

binary logic, logic circuit, TTL and CMOS. Command Register Address
File
Register
3) Microcontroller (Execute) 7
Register
(8bits)

CPU, ALU, memory and PIC microcontroller.

4) Assembler +5V
MUX
programming language and machine language.
I/O ports

I/O pins

5) Principle OSC
Control Unit

principle of microcontroller. ALU

6) IO ports
reset W register
how to program input and output ports.
7) Wait routine
how to program a wait routine. Fig. 4. Principle of Microcontroller (PIC
8) Timer routine microcontroller).

17
 DIP SW
10Kx4

10K

470x4

Meter1

LMC662 1/2
PIC16F88
84,819,etc
20K
10K
20K 10K
Meter2
20K 10K
20K 20K

1K
LMC662 2/2

Fig. 5. Proto-type target embedded system. Fig. 6. A screenshot of the simulator.

3. REMOTE LABORATORY SYSTEM The Server PC controls the monitor system and also
offers guidance pages.
Fig. 2 schematically presents the structure of the
experiment system. Learners access the system by A web camera is used to observe the target system.
using their own browser. Learners can check the system’s motions such as LEDs’
lighting on and off, analog voltage by meters or motor’s
The remote laboratory system is composed of three parts: action.
a target system, a monitoring system, and a Server PC.
The proto-type target system includes a microcontroller, 4. EXERCISES
switches for input, LEDs for output, D/A and A/D
converters, as shown in Fig. 5. The other peripheral Some exercises of programming for the target system is
devices such as motors, encoders or robots will be presented in this chapter.
included in the future. Monitoring system has following
functions. 4.1 First Exercise
1) Writing the program code into the target First exercise is to trace the CPU action and to learn basic
microcontroller, which learners assembled in their IDE usage. List 1 shows the first program list. After
own PC. analyzing this program such as considering the value of
2) Setting input signals such as switches or analog W register, learners write and assemble this program, and
voltage to the target microcontroller according to trace it by using simulator. Fig. 6 shows a screenshot of
learners’ requests.
3) Monitoring output signals such as LEDs or List 2. I/O programming.
analog voltage of the target microcontroller and ;ex10
sending the data to the learners. include "p16f84.inc"
list p=16f84
;
List 1. First programming. BSF STATUS, RP0 ;Bank 1
;ex1 MOVLW B'11111111'
include "p16f84.inc" MOVWF TRISA ;RA for Input
list p=16f84 CLRF TRISB ;RB for Output
; BCF STATUS, RP0 ;Bank 0
MOVLW b'00010001' ;
CLRW MOVF PORTA, W ;PortA => W
; MOVWF PORTB ;W => PortB
sleep ;
end sleep
;ex1 end end
;ex10 end

18
simulator is enough for learners, because there are no
input- or output- signals.
4.2 I/O Exercise
List 2 shows the exercise program using data input and
output. After studying the definition of use of input- and
output- ports, the program can be tested by the simulator.
It is very easy to test it, however this is not so interesting
for learners as they can not image the actual action such
as LEDs’ lighting on and off. Our proposed remote
controlled system should be used in such case.
4.3 Motor-Control Exercise
The lesson will be guided step by step as shown in Fig. 3.
The final exercise is to program the target board to
control the speed of a motor by using D/A, A/D, PWM,
Encoder and so on. This type of program is quite
complicated and is a little bit difficult to test by a
simulator. The testing using the remote controlled system
is very effective and it is considered very attractive for
learners.
5. CONCLUSIONS
A remote controlled embedded system via the Internet
has been described in this paper. After studying the
structure of the microprocessor, programming technique
and testing technique on a simulator in a class, learners
can test their own program on a target system using this
remote system. This system is very useful when the target
system includes peripheral devices such as motors, A/D
and D/A converters, and so on. The proto-type system
was set up in a laboratory and connected to the Internet.
19
View publication stats
Learners can run the system just by accessing the web
page of the course.
REFERENCES
[1] Blake M. B. “A Student-Enacted Simulation
Approach to Software Engineering Education”,
IEEE Trans. on Education, Vol. 46, No. 1, pp.
124-132, 2003.
[2] Moallem M. “A Laboratory Tested for Embedded
Computer Control”, IEEE Trans. on Education, Vol.
47, No. 3, pp. 340-347, 2004.
[3] Amaral J. N, Berube P. and Mehta P. “Teaching
Digital to Computing Science Students in a Single
Academic Term”, IEEE Trans. on Education, Vol.
48, No. 1, pp. 127-132, 2005.
[4] Bindal A., Ahmed B.N. and Raimundo L.A. “An
Undergraduate System-on Chio(SoC) Course for
Computer Engineering Students”, IEEE Trans. on
Education, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 279-289, 2005
[5] Murakoshi H., Izumi H. and Ishijima S. “Proposal
of a Web-Based Training System for Digital Circuit
Experiments”, Trans. of Japan Distance Learning
Association, Vol. 3, pp. 35-39, 2002.
[6] Ohyama, Y., J.-H. She, H. Hashimoto, T. Yamaura
and K. Oishi “A Web Based Lecture Note on
Feedback Control with Remote Lab”, in Advances
in Control Education 2003, Editor: Lindfors,
pp.113-118, Elsevier Science Ltd. 2003.
PICmicro® Microcontrollers, MPLAB®/MPASM®/
MPSIM® Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
are trademarks of Microchip Technology incorporated..