This course is part of the Real-Time Embedded Systems Specialization

Sam Siewert

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Offered By

Part of the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree
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Real-Time Embedded Systems SpecializationUniversity of Colorado Boulder

About this Course

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This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5318, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree.
The final course emphasizes hands-on building of an application using real-time machine vision and multiple real-time services to synchronize the internal state of Linux with an external clock via observation.  Compare actual performance to theoretical and analysis to determine scheduling jitter and to mitigate any accumulation of latency.  The verification of the final project will include comparison of system timestamp logs with a large set of images which can be encoded into a video.  The final report will be peer reviewed and the captured frames and video uploaded for scripted assessment.

Course Learning Outcomes:

●	Outcome 1: Decompose a problem and set of basic real-time requirements into software modules and Linux POSIX real-time threads
●	Outcome 2: Analyze services in terms of C (execution time), T (request period), and D (deadlines for completion) to establish feasibility and margin for meeting requirements
●	Outcome 3: Design and construct a solution for a native Linux system equipped with a webcam to verify and demonstrate system synchronization using machine vision processing

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Course 4 of 4 in the

Real-Time Embedded Systems Specialization

Advanced Level

C and programming skills and C++ for optional use of OpenCV with some operating systems and embedded hardware experience

Approx. 48 hours to complete

English

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What you will learn

Real-time system design concepts and decomposition of functions and indentification of key services
De-coupling of I/O from real-time processing to avoid response time over-runs
Using AMP design principles with Rate Monotonic policy, analysis and theory
Using AMP design principles with best-effort and parallel real-time co-processing

Skills you will gain

real-time design
Concurrency (Computer Science)
real-time tracing
rate montonic analysis
system debugging

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Course 4 of 4 in the

Real-Time Embedded Systems Specialization

Advanced Level

C and programming skills and C++ for optional use of OpenCV with some operating systems and embedded hardware experience

Approx. 48 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Sam Siewert

Associate Professor Adjunct

Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering

14,367 Learners

4 Courses

Offered by

University of Colorado Boulder

Start working towards your Master's degree

This course is part of the 100% online Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Colorado Boulder. If you are admitted to the full program, your courses count towards your degree learning.

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Week1

Week 1

11 hours to complete

RTES Project Goals and Objectives

This module provides background on the RTES project including the concept of a "visual synchronome", where a camera is used to synchronize time between an external clock and an embedded computer. The project requires synchronization at both 1 Hz and 10 Hz, where the real-time services must acquire camera frames, select stable (non-blurred) frames and write them to a flash file system. The project requires a good understanding of RMA, real-time scheduling, and design principles for multi-service real-time systems.

11 hours to complete

14 videos (Total 189 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

14 videos

Course Goals and Learning Objectives5mCourse Detailed Overview with Assumed Prior Knowledge13mBackground Concepts Used for RTES Project29mDetecting External Clock "Tick" with Machine Vision11mFinal Peer Review Assessment of RTES Project31mVerifying Frame Synchronization to External Clock on Every Frame28sRTES Project Demonstration of 1 Hz Solution4mRTES Project Demonstration of 10 Hz Solution7mDesign Notations Used for Software Services8mCode Walkthrough: V4L2 (Video for Linux 2) Camera Interface Demonstration18mCode Demonstration: Frame Difference Interactive OpenCV Example28sUse of Cheddar for Timing Analysis17mGeneral Methods for Tracing and Profiling RT Embedded Systems27mLinux Syslog, GNU Profiling, and HTOP for RTES Project12m

2 readings

EXTRA HELP - Home Lab Setup for RTES Project10mMore Software Design Methods and Notations1h

1 practice exercise

Basics of Real-Time Systems30m

Week2

Week 2

8 hours to complete

Completion of RTES Project and Preliminary Functional Testing

Different design approaches for the RTES project are reviewed in this module including the "shot gun" start, where clock ticks are detected once at the start, the full synchronome continuous tick detection approach, and different options for implementation. RTES project designers must decide on a camera interface, for example a V4L2 (Video for Linux 2) interface to UVC (Universal Video Controller) driver, or an OpenCV interface to a camera.

8 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 98 min), 2 readings, 2 quizzes

7 videos

Simple Design that Does Not Work and Why26mBetter Design Example, But Not Fault Tolerant12mBetter Design Somewhat Fault Tolerant9mBest Practice Design Example17mExternal Clock Tick Detection Starter Code Walk-through9mSimple Frame Capture of 1800 Frames in One Process12mSequencing RT Services Using a Software Interval Timer10m

2 readings

Request for Proposal - Goals and Objectives for the Project10mDownload RTES Project Starter Code and Build and Review10m

1 practice exercise

Project Design , Implementation and Functional Testing30m

Week3

Week 3

10 hours to complete

Timing Analysis — Comparison of Actual to Predicted Service Time Events

To ensure that a real-time design is properly implemented, timing analysis based upon system logging and tracing must be used to verify that actual timing compared to theoretical RMA. This module provides and overview of methods and suggests the most efficient methods to debug and verify timing of the RTES project. The module includes a 1 Hz peer review of design and code to assist with RTES project improvement for external clock synchronization using camera images with a ticking analog clock.

10 hours to complete

3 videos (Total 25 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes

Week4

Week 4

9 hours to complete

Methods for System Verification and Validation of RTES project

9 hours to complete

3 videos (Total 20 min)

About the Real-Time Embedded Systems Specialization

The Real-Time Embedded Systems specialization is a series of four course taking you from a beginning practitioner, to a more advanced real-time system analyst and designer. Knowledge and experience gained on hard to master topics such as predictable response services, when to allocate requirements to hardware or software, as well as mission critical design will enhance your engineering talent. You will gain experience building a simple, but real, system project with real-time challenges, that will boost your confidence.

The hands-on, at home, project hardware is affordable, widely available, and quick-time-to market methods leverage Linux real-time extensions, open source RTOS (Real-Time Operating System), as well as tried and true cyclic executives. After you complete all four courses in the series, you can consider yourself an intermediate to more advanced real-time system practitioner. This knowledge is invaluable for medical, aerospace, transportation, energy, digital entertainment, telecommunications, and other exciting embedded career options. The series stresses hands-on practice and assessment of your learning progress, not only based on knowledge acquisition, but by teaching you to put theory into practice and how to evaluate design options and make optimal choices. The unique final project allows you to see real-time challenges with your eyes, to debug interactively, and build a simple at-home detection, tracking and synchronization system.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

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Real-Time Project for Embedded Systems

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