Technical and Vocational Institute

Centre No.: 91043

BTEC
RQF - Assignment Brief (16)

Qualification: BTEC Level 5 HND in Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Student Name /ID Number

Unit Number and Title Unit 46 – Embedded Systems

LO1: Explore the principle features of a microcontroller and

explain the purpose of its constituent parts
LO2: Design and implement simple external circuitry,
interfacing with a given microcontroller
Unit Learning Outcome LO3: Write well-structured code in an appropriate
programming language, to simulate, test and debug it
LO4: Evaluate the applications of embedded systems in
the wider environment, including in networked systems

Academic Year 2020/2021

Unit Assessor Eng. Riham Zein Eldin

Assignment Title Embedded Systems design, implementation and evaluation

Issue Date
Submission Date
IV Name Eng. Amr Khamis

Date

Student Declaration

Declaration
“I certify that the assignment submission is entirely my own work, and I fully understand the
consequences of plagiarism. I understand that making a false declaration is a form of
malpractice.”

Student Name: Student Signature:

Submission Format:

 Tasks 1.1 to 1.7: Design on a CD.

 Task 2.1: Design and code on a CD.
 Task 2.2: A written report.
 Tasks 3.1 and 3.2: Code on a CD.
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 Task 4.1: Code on a CD.

 Task 4.2: A written report.
 Task 5.1 and 5.2: A written report.
 Task 6.1 and 6.2: A written report.
 Task 7.1: A written report.
 Task 7.2: Power Point Presentation.
 All Tasks should be collected on the same CD in the final submission.

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Assignment Brief and Guidance:

Scenario:
You have your first job as a junior embedded system technician. Your team leader has asked you
to develop an embedded system for sterilizing cabin to protect people against COVID-19.

Task 1

You are asked to design and apply a sterilizing cabin with the following requirements:

1.1. Detect entrance and exist of a person using a suitable sensor:

 Turn on the LEDs to indicate current cabin state.
(Green for occupancy and red for emptiness)
1.2. Monitor temperature of a passing person:
 Saving the records in datalogger.
 Safe range from 36.5 °C to 37.5 °C.
 Out of safe range give an alarm and display temperature on screen.
1.3. Upon entrance sterilization process starts by operating the valves and pump:
 4 valves and one pump are installed in the cabin.
 Default process duration is 5 seconds.
 Sterilization process default works in both ways.
1.4. A keypad is used for changing settings:
 Use the keypad to set time duration of sterilization
 Operate or shut down any of sterilization pathways.
1.5. Level of sterilizing liquid in tank should always be measured using suitable sensor.
1.6. Temperature, number of passing persons and state of liquid in the tank should be displayed.
1.7. Troubleshooting diagnosis connection to computer via UART.

Task 2

2.1. Adapt, improve and assess your design by adding at least two of the following features to detect
and alarm the failures:
 Sensor failure
 Power failure
 Pump failure
 Process failure (no spraying or continuous spraying scenarios)
2.2. Critically evaluate the functionality and performance of your system under the following
conditions:
 Unintended data entry
 System power reset
 Valve(s) failure
 Level sensor failure
Task 3

3.1. Write well-structured code for the mentioned system.

3.2. Test and debug your code by implementing the hardware and use Proteus for system simulation.

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Task 4

4.1. Improve your code using timers and interrupts produce a well-structured reliable code.
4.2. Critically evaluate the functionality and performance of your code through simulation in Proteus
and in hardware.

Task 5

5.1. You are asked to explore the features of the microcontroller you used in the sterilizing cabin,
through examining and explaining the function of:
 Program Counter
 Instruction Register
 Instruction decoder
 ALU
 Program Memory
 Data Memory
 Buses
 Instruction Set and RTn of z = x*y
 Interrupts
 ADC
 Timers
 USART
5.2. Compare between Harvard and Von Neumann architectures and examine figure (1) to state which
one architecture is it. And name microcontrollers depending on this architecture.

Figure (1) ATMEGA AVR Architecture

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Task 6

6.1. A list of microcontrollers (Atmega328p - PIC16F877A -Atmega128 - Atxmega128a1u), choose at

least two microcontrollers, to critically evaluate the following points in their architectures:
 Programmable I/O lines.
 Power consumption.
 Executed instruction per second.
 Number of general-purpose working registers.
 Memory (FLASH – EEPROM -SRAM)
 Draw memory map for the selected microcontrollers.
6.2. Give a recommendation of one of the mentioned microcontrollers you have selected, which can
be used in small to medium-scale embedded systems projects.

Task 7

The methods of design and construction of a system are always changing according to new technologies
that are emerging.
Same applications are still valid and working with exact same operation, but new trends that evolved
lately are introduced to the systems to enhance performance, ensure security, robustness and reliability.
Some of the trends like multi-core processors, connectivity, IOT, heterogeneous computing, power
consumption and intelligence can widely make a gigantic performance transfer.

7.1. Reconstruct the sterilizing cabin using suitable emerging trend and explain the use of the
embedded systems in its role.
7.2. Make a presentation to provide a critical evaluation for the embedded system including the
following requirements:
 Identify the used trend
 Recognise the technical factors that helped the use of the chosen trend
 Recognise the limiting economic factors

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Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Learning Outcome Pass Merit Distinction
LO1 P1 M1 D1
Explore the principle Examine the hardware Evaluate microcontroller Critically evaluate
features of a interfaces and the software architectures and microcontroller
microcontroller and architecture of a selected subsystems, exploring architectures and
explain the purpose of its microcontroller characteristics such as subsystems, exploring
constituent parts electrical, timing and size characteristics such as
(e.g. of memory or electrical, timing and size
ALU) (e.g. of memory or
ALU)
P2
Explain the function of
the main microcontroller
elements
LO2 P3 M2 D2
Design and implement Design simple external Adapt and improve simple Critically evaluate the
simple external circuits, sensors and external circuits, sensors functionality of external
circuitry, interfacing actuators, from available and actuators, from circuitry under a range
with a given designs available designs of operating conditions
microcontroller
P4 M3
Apply simple external Assess simple external
circuits, demonstrating circuits and evaluate
effective interfacing and functionality
adequate functionality
LO3 P5 M4 D3
Write well-structured Write well-structured Adapt and improve Critically evaluate the
code in an appropriate working code, to meet an given examples to code developed through
programming language, identified need produce well-structured simulation and in the
to simulate, test and and reliable code with hardware, demonstrating
debug it meaningful programme excellent functionality
identifiers, to meet an
identified need
P6 Test and de-bug code
through simulation in
the hardware,
demonstrating
functionality
LO4 P7 M5 D4
Evaluate the applications Explain the uses Evaluate current and Critically evaluate
of embedded systems in ofembedded systems emerging applications of emerging applications of
the wider environment, incurrent and embedded systems, e.g. in embedded systems, clearly
including in networked emergingapplications motor vehicles, health, or identifying trends and
systems the Internet of Things recognising technical and
economic factors

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RQF - Summative Assignment Feedback Form

Qualification: BTEC Level 5 HND in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Student Name/ID
Unit Title Unit 46 – Embedded Systems
Assignment Number 01 Assessor Eng. Riham Zein Eldin

Formative Date 1 Formative Date 2

Submission Date
Assessor Formative Feedback 1:

Assessor Signature: Date:

Assessor Formative Feedback 2:

Assessor Signature: Date:

Assessor Submitted Feedback:

Grade: Assessor Signature: Date: 10/01/2021

Resubmission Feedback:

Grade: Assessor Signature: Date:

Internal Verifier’s Comments:

Signature & Date: Eng. Amr Khamis

 Please note that grade decisions are provisional. They are only confirmed once internal and external moderation
has taken place and grades decisions have been agreed at the assessment board.
 Please note that each lecturer could add several formative dates which are done during the assignment.

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