Embedded Linux wordt bij steeds meer grote bedrijven ingevoerd als embedded operating system. Binnen de opleiding Technische Informatica van Fontys Hogeschool ICT is Embedded Linux geïntroduceerd in samenwerking met het lectoraat Architectuur van Embedded Systemen. Embedded Linux is als vakgebied nieuw en nog sterk in beweging. Deze paletbijdrage beschrijft het proces van ontwikkeling en invoering van Embedded Linux in het onderwijs. Hoe is het gebruik van open source en wat is de rol van docenten als coach en onderwijsontwikkelaar?
DOCUMENT
Studenten van Fontys Hogeschool ICT/Technische Informatica hebben vorig jaar hard gewerkt aan een minihovercraft. Die moest dienen als studieobject voor een aantal MKB'ers, die met een Raak Lightsubsidie meer informatie wilden inwinnen over het bouwen van toepassingen met embedded Linux en verschillende periferieën, waaronder WLan, USB-verbindingen, een afstandsbediening via een webservice-PDA-combinatie en een realtime aansturing van motoren.
DOCUMENT
Iedereen heeft een groot aantal Embedded Systemen in zijn omgeving, maar weet niet dat ze er zijn. Embedded Sytemen doen hun nuttige werk namelijk "achter de schermen": door elektronica en software slim te combineren en te integreren in een apparaat of machine ontstaan nieuwe toepassingsmogelijkheden die eenvoudiger te bedienen zijn en die bovendien een stuk goedkoper op de markt gebracht kunnen worden dan met conventionele technieken. Dit heeft wel tot gevolg dat de embedded systemen zelf elk jaar complexer worden (om aan de buitenkant simpeler te worden). Het ontwerpen en bouwen van dit soort systemen is dus een stevige technische uitdaging. Een van de belangrijkste voorwaarden is dat de professionals van verschillende vakgebieden goed kunnen samenwerken, vooral over de grenzen van hun eigen vakgebied. Een andere voorwaarde is dat ontwerpers van alle intellectuele niveaus nauw met elkaar moeten samenwerken om het onderste uit de kan te kunnen halen. In de regio Zuidoost Nederland, in een brede strook rond de A67, is een groot aantal bedrijven in de maakindustrie van wereldklasse gevestigd. Het is de maatschappelijke taak van onderwijsinstellingen in het algemeen en Fonts Hogescholen in het bijzonder om voldoende studenten op hoog gekwalificeerd niveau op te leiden, zodat deze bedrijven op wereldniveau kunnen blijven concurreren. Daar wil het Lectoraat Architectuur van Embedded Systemen zo veel mogelijk aan bijdragen door relevant toegepast onderzoek uit te voeren.
DOCUMENT
This report is the final report for the FPGA accelerated PID controller, part of the Distributed Control Systems project. This project runs within the Lectoraat Robotics and High Tech Mechatronics of Fontys Hogeschool Engineering Eindhoven. The Lectoraat has the goal to develop applicable knowledge to support education and industry. This knowledge is acquired with projects run in conjunction with the industry. The report will go into detail for the software designed for this project, not the hardware design. This report is intended for follow up students working on the Distributed Control Systems project. Within this report the assumption is made that the reader is at least familiar with the terms EtherCAT, FPGA, Linux and PID controllers. However for each part a small basic introduction is included. For readers looking for the accomplishments in this project, the results are in chapter six. Following are short descriptions of the chapters in this report. The first chapter will give a short introduction to the project. It talks about why the project was conceived, where the project was done and what the expected end result is. The second chapter, the problem definition, talks about how the project has been defined, what is included and what is not and how the customer expects the final product to function and look like. The third chapter details the methodology used during this project. All the research preformed for this project will be described in the forth chapter. This chapter goes into the research into the Xilinx Zynq 7000 chip, Beckhoff's EtherCAT system, how the Serial Peripheral Interface works and how a PID controller functions. Following in chapter five the design is expanded upon. First the toolchain for building for the Zynq chip is explained. This is followed by and explanation of the different software parts that have been designed. Finally chapters six and seven provide the results and the conclusions and recommendations for this project.
DOCUMENT
In this paper, the performance gain obtained by combining parallel peri- odic real-time processes is elaborated. In certain single-core mono-processor configurations, for example, embedded control systems in robotics comprising many short processes, process context switches may consume a considerable amount of the available processing power. For this reason, it can be advantageous to combine processes, to reduce the number of context switches and thereby increase the performance of the application. As we consider robotic applications only, often consisting of processes with identical periods, release times and deadlines, we restrict these configurations to periodic real-time processes executing on a single-core mono-processor. By graph-theoretical concepts and means, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions so that the number of context switches can be reduced by combining synchronising processes.
DOCUMENT
Adversarial thinking is essential when dealing with cyber incidents and for finding security vulnerabilities. Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions are used all around the world to stimulate adversarial thinking. Jeopardy-style CTFs, given their challenge-and-answer based nature, are used more and more in cybersecurity education as a fun and engaging way to inspire students. Just like traditional written exams, Jeopardy-style CTFs can be used as summative assessment. Did a student provide the correct answer, yes or no. Did the participant in the CTF competition solve the challenge, yes or no. This research project provides a framework for measuring the learning outcomes of a Jeopardy-style CTF and applies this framework to two CTF events as case studies. During these case studies, participants were tested on their knowledge and skills in the field of cybersecurity and queried on their attitude towards CTF education. Results show that the main difference between traditional written exam and a Jeopardy-style CTF is the way in which questions a re formulated. CTF education is stated to be challenging and fun because questions are formulated as puzzles that need to be solved in a gamified and competitive environment. Just like traditional written exams, no additional insight into why the participant thinks the correct answer is the correct answer has been observed or if the participant really did learn anything new by participating. Given that the main difference between a traditional written exam and a Jeopardy-style CTF is the way in which questions are formulated, learning outcomes can be measured in the same way. We can ask ourselves how many participants solved which challenge and to which measurable statements about “knowledge, skill and attitude” in the field of cybersecurity each challenge is related. However, when mapping the descriptions of the quiz-questions and challenges from the two CTF events as case studies to the NICE framework on Knowledge, Skills and Abilities in cybersecurity, the NICE framework did not provide us with detailed measurable statements that could be used in education. Where the descriptions of the quiz-questions and challenges were specific, the learning outcomes of the NICE framework are only formulated in a quite general matter. Finally, some evidence for Csíkszentmihályi’s theory of Flow has been observed. Following the theory of Flow, a person can become fully immersed in performing a task, also known as “being in the zone” if the “challenge level” of the task is in line with the person’s “skill level”. The persons mental state towards a task will be different depending on the challenge level of the task and required skill level for completing it. Results show that participants state that some challenges were difficult and fun, where other challenges were easy and boring. As a result of this9 project, a guide / checklist is provided for those intending to use CTF in education.
DOCUMENT
Robots need sensors to operate properly. Using a single image sensor, various aspects of a robot operating in its environment can be measured or monitored. Over the past few years, image sensors have improved a lot: frame rate and resolution have increased, while prices have fallen. As a result, data output has increased and in a number of applications data transfer to a processing unit has become the limiting factor for performance. Local processing in the sensor is one way of reducing data transfer. A report on the Vision in Robotics and Mechatronics project
DOCUMENT
Sustainable and Agile manufacturing is expected of future generation manufacturing systems. The goal is to create scalable, reconfigurable and adaptable manufacturing systems which are able to produce a range of products without new investments into new manufacturing equipment. This requires a new approach with a combination of high performance software and intelligent systems. Other case studies have used hybrid and intelligent systems in software before. However, they were mainly used to improve the logistic processes and are not commonly used within the hardware control loop. This paper introduces a case study on flexible and hybrid software architecture, which uses prototype manufacturing machines called equiplets. These systems should be applicable for the industry and are able to dynamically adapt to changes in the product as well as changes in the manufacturing systems. This is done by creating self-configurable machines which use intelligent control software, based on agent technology and computer vision. The requirements and resulting technologies are discussed using simple reasoning and analysis, leading to a basic design of a software control system, which is based on a hybrid distributed control system
DOCUMENT
Author supplied: A manufacturing process can be described by a sequence or combination of production steps. Based on this approach a manufacturing system has been developed that is capable to produce several different products in parallel. A batch size of one unit is possible and the production is pull-driven. The manufacturing system is based on agent technology and a special so-called product agent collects information about the assembly process. This agent will be connected to the actual product and can guide the disassembly process at the end of the products life. The agent will show the inverse steps to be taken to take a product apart. This approach can be used in the agent based manufacturing process described in this paper but the concept can also be used for other manufacturing systems. The paper discusses the possibilities as well as the restrictions of the method proposed here.
DOCUMENT
Based on the theory of embodied cognition we developed NOOT, at tangible tool that allows marking audio-moments during creative sessions. A detailed analysis of using NOOT in practice lead to a reconceptualization of NOOT within processes of external scaffolding. It also spurred a new design project focused on reflection during group sessions
DOCUMENT
