CSCE 336: Embedded Systems
Fall 2026

Instructor

Jeffrey Falkinburg
School of Computing
368 Avery Hall
jfalkinburg2@unl.edu
Office Hours:
(See Canvas) via Zoom
and by appointment.

Teaching Assistants

Undergraduate TAs:
See Canvas
Office Hours:
TBD

Course Information

Tuesday Lecture: 9:30-10:45am in Kiewit Hall A310
Thursday Lecture: 9:30-10:45am in Kiewit Hall A310
Optional Thursday Lab: 11:00am-12:15am in Kiewit Hall A313

For detailed information on this course please see the course syllabus in html or pdf format.

Course Description

Embedded Systems are everywhere. Every time you look at your watch, answer the phone, take a picture, or turn on the TV you are interacting with an embedded system. Embedded systems are also found in cars, airplanes, and robots. They far outnumber traditional computers (which also contain embedded processors) and learning to design and program embedded systems is a critical skill that is necessary for many industry and scientific jobs.

In this course you will learn the basics of designing, interfacing, configuring, and programming embedded systems. We will make use of the Arduino platform, which is an inexpensive, popular embedded system used by hobbyists, researchers, and in industry, to implement the techniques learned in class. By the end of the course you will have mastered the basics of embedded system design and programming. This course will help to prepare you for cutting edge careers in industry and research.

Datasheets and other useful documents

Arduino Uno R3 schematic: The schematic of the Arduino we are using in this course.
Atmega328 datasheet: Datasheet for the processor on the Arduino Uno we are using in this course.

Assignments

See the course schedule below for reading assignments and the general topics covered in the course. Unless otherwise noted, assignments are due at the start of class on the due date.

Assignment	Due Date
Course Survey and Information Quiz	Weds, Aug 26th, 5pm
HW 1 (pdf,code)	Start of class, Thurs, Sep 3rd
Lab 1 (pdf)	Start of class, Thurs, Sep 10th
HW 2 (pdf)	Start of class, Thurs, Sep 17th
Lab 2 (pdf, lab2_button_count.ino, lab2_button_count.cpp)	Start of class, Thurs, Sep 24th
HW 3 (pdf,code)	Start of class, Thurs, Oct 1st
Test 1 from prior year: Sample Test 1	For review for test on Tuesday, Oct 6th in class
Lab 3 (pdf,Ultrasonic Sensor Datasheet,Servo Datasheet)	Friday, Oct 9th (close of business)
HW 4 (pdf,code)	close of business, Fri, Oct 16th
Project 1 (pdf) Project Report Template (Word Doc) Project Report Rubric (pdf) L298N Datasheet (pdf)	Bitbucket Repos: Tuesday, Oct 13th (end of class) Checkpoint 1 - "Robot Assembly/Schematic" Thursday, Oct 15th (close of business) Checkpoint 2 - "Robot Motion", Tuesday, Oct 27th (end of class) B-Functionality - "Wall Following", Thursday, Oct 29th (in Lab) Competition, Thursday, Oct 29th (in Class/Lab) Code and Written Report: Tuesday, Nov 3rd (beginning of class) Competition Times
Lab 4 (pdf, Lab 4 Code(Lab4_irq.ino or Lab4_irq.cpp)	End of Class, Thurs, Nov 12th
HW 5 (pdf)	close of business, Tues, Nov 24th
Project 2 (pdf) Checkpoint 1 Code: (test.ino) Checkpoint 2 Code: (project2.ino, ir_decoder.cpp, ir_decoder.h) Project Report Template (Word Doc) Project Report Rubric (pdf) IR Sensor Datasheet (pdf1,pdf2)	Checkpoint 1 - "IR Decoding", Thursday, Nov 19th (in Lab) Checkpoint 2 - "Robot Motion with IR Remote", Tuesday, Dec 1st (end of Lab) A-Functionality - "Wall Following with Obstacle Avoidance, Thursday, Dec 10th (in Class and Lab) Competition, Thursday, Dec 10th (in Class and Lab) Written Report, Friday, Dec 11th by close of business (4:30pm) Competition Times
Test 2 from prior year: Sample Text 2	For review for test on Tuesday, Dec 8th in class
Lab 5 - Bonus Lab (pdf) Lab 5 Code(LCD_Starter_Code.cpp, pong.cpp, pong.h) Joystick Module Datasheet	Friday, Dec 11th (Close of Business)

For assignments that require electronic code submission, you can do so on Canvas
*Note html versions of assignments may lack some formatting or pictures found in the pdf version.

Recommended Course Books

Marilyn Wolf, Computers as Components, Fourth Edition: Principles of Embedded Computing System Design, 4th ed. Morgan Kaufmann, 2016
Available in the book store or purchase online. Readings from this book are specified in the format Wx.x, where x.x indicates the chapter and subsection.

David Russell, Introduction to Embedded Systems, 2010.
Available for free download when on the UNL campus. Good reference for embedded C programming. Do not print out this book, it is less expensive to order a printed copy than to print it yourself. Readings from this book are specified in the format Rx.x, where x.x indicates the chapter and subsection. Note: this book is specifically designed for the Arduino platform, but there are some differences between the version of the Arduino used in the book and the version we are using in class. So be careful!

Edward Lee and Sanjit Seshia, Introduction to Embedded Systems, A Cyber-Physical Systems Approach, 2011.
Available for free download. Do not print out this book, it is less expensive to order a printed copy than to print it yourself. There are no specific readings from this book, but it is a good reference for those interested in exploring some subjects further.

Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie, C Programming Language (2nd Edition), 1988. ISBN: 0131103628
A wiki-style C "text book" alternative
Another online C text book
C Frequently Asked Questions from the days of Usenet
Suggested references for those with little prior C programming experience. There are no specific readings from these, but they are good references.

Lab Kit / Equipment List

Please purchase the items listed below. I recommend you check with the EE shop First (SEC 122), all equipment can be purchased online as well. If you look through the homeworks, labs, and projects we will be using many of the items in the following kits.

Arduino Uno Kit with buttons, wires, RGB LED, LEDs, Servo, photoresistors, IR receiver, etc. Here are a couple recommended kits:
- Elegoo Uno Kit: Cheaper kit with most of necessary parts.
- Arduino Uno Kit: Genuine Arduino starter kit with most of the necessary parts, but more expensive.
Robot Kit
- LAFVIN Robot Kit: Robot kit that uses rechareable (18650 3000mAh) batteries that will need to be purchased. This kit seems to drive the motors more consistently/reliably.
- Elegoo Robot Kit: Cheap robot kit that uses AA batteries. The low current batteries seem to cause the robot motors to be inconsistent and not easily drive straight.
Logic Analyzer (recommended not required): If you choose to purchase a cheap logic analyzer you can use the PulseView open source software to run it. Otherwise you can use the logic analyzer in the SEC Labs.
- HiLetgo Logic Analyzer: USB Logic Analyzer.
- KeeYees Logic Analyzer: USB Logic Analyzer with mini grabbers.

Course Schedule

Below is an approximate schedule of course topics. These are subject to change, assignments will be announced in class. Readings are recommended and will be added as the semester progresses, so make sure to check back often; however, the best resource for this course is attending class and taking good notes. The course is roughly broken into regular class lectures on Tuesday and Thursday and then lab-style lectures on Thursday where a Labture is specified. Typically during labtures there will be a short topic-specific lecture followed by a hands-on, small group, in class lab assignment.

Week	Class Topics	Lab	Reading
Week 1, Aug 24	course intro, c programming		R2.1, R2.2, R2.4
Week 1 Additional Readings:	Basic C Types More on Basic C Types Bit Operations More Bit Operations Fixed width types Why use uint8_t C Pre-Processor and Macros How not to write code Pointers Function Pointers Apollo Guidance Computer
Week 2, Aug 31	embedded system design, arduino intro, basic circuit diagrams		R2.5, R2.6, R2.7, R2.8, W1.1, W1.2, W1.3
Week 3, Sep 7	instruction sets, registers and mem access, digital I/O	Arduinos	W2.1, W2.2, R6.*
Week 2 and 3 Additional Readings:	Basic circuit elements How to read a schematic Arduino Uno R3 schematic Atmega328 datasheet Register-based digital I/O Another register-based digital I/O (just make sure to use bit operations (\|=,&=) and not binary value!) Arduino-function digital I/O AVR memory map overview (see datasheet as well) Directly accessing memory/registers with C macros (but for ARM, not AVR) Program counter (general info) Read up on the AVR Program Counter in the datasheet. Reading the program counter is not straight forward, but somtimes necessary.
Week 4, Sep 14	registers and memory, debugging		W3.1, R7.*
Week 5, Sep 21	debugging, timers	timers and I/O	R4.*
Week 4 and 5 Additional Readings:	Debugging an Arduino UNO without a debugger Platform IO Debugging Documentation More debugging suggestions JTAG Another JTAG link Yet another JTAG link Viewing assembly output Arduino build process overview AVR timers
Week 6, Sep 28	timers and PWM	PWM and servos	R8.*
Week 7, Oct 5	analog to digital converters (A2D) and review	Begin Project 1	Test 1(tentative)
Week 6 and 7 Additional Readings:	Read section 16 in the datasheet on the Timer/Counter1 with PWM Details of Arduino millis fuction (and how it uses Timer0) Sparkfun PWM Arduino PWM (including analogWrite) Wikipedia PWM How servos work More on how servos work Wikipedia ADC Sparkfun ADC More ADC
Week 8, Oct 12	CPU bus, communication protocols (UART, SPI, RS485) Continue Project 1	A2D	W4.1, R10.1 to R10.1.3
Week 9, Oct 19	Fall Break 19-20 Oct
Week 8 and 9 Additional Readings:	Parallel versus Serial, UART (sparkfun) Serial Communication (Wikipedia) Parallel Communication (Wikipedia) Serial Comms, UART, RS232, RS485 UART (Wikipedia) UART (sparkfun) More UART (but beware, code examples for a different processor) Interfacing a UART to USB-UART converter (TTL, RS232, USB, etc) SPI (sparkfun) SPI (wikipedia) SPI (arduino)
Week 10, Oct 26		Project 1 Competition
Week 11, Nov 2		Begin Project 2
Week 12, Nov 9	interrupts	interrupts, communication	W3.1.4, W3.2, R9.*
Week 13, Nov 16	I2C, peripherals, sensors, Embedded Operating Systems, power management, embedded algorithms, program optimization, review	i2c	R10.1.2, W6.1, W6.2, W6.3
Week 12 and 13 Additional Readings:	Interrupts Interrupts, very broadly (wikipedia) I2C (warning code examples not for Arduino) I2C (sparkfun) I2C (wikipedia) I2C aka Wire Library (arduino)
Week 14, Nov 23			W5.5, W5.6, W5.7
Week 15, Nov 30	Working on Project 2	Robot Motion with IR Remote
Week 16, Dec 7		Project 2 Competition	Test 2

CSCE 336: Embedded Systems Fall 2026