Most of the projects in this lab include embedded systems and microprocessors, so this article will serve as your introduction to these components. You will most likely be working with embedded systems and microprocessors, so it is imperative that you get comfortable with these concepts.

An embedded system is a computer system with a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electrical system, often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. A lot of the time, embedded systems are only designed to do specific tasks. They're not as robust as, say, a home PC. Because of this, the advantages of designing an embedded system is it's reduced size, low production cost, and improved performance. If you are doing a weatherbox project, you are most likely tasked with designing an embedded system from scratch; complete with sensors, circuitry, and a microprocessor/microcontroller. As you design your system, remember that your goal is to make it as small, cheap, and efficient as possible. If you need more information on embedded systems, this wikipedia article is a good resource to start with.

A microprocessor is a computer processor which incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) on a single integrated circuit (IC), or at most a few integrated circuits. The microprocessor is a multipurpose, clock driven, register based, digital-integrated circuit which accepts binary data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and provides results as output. Microprocessors contain both combinational logic and sequential digital logic. Microprocessors operate on numbers and symbols represented in the binary numeral system. For more information, visit the microprocessor wikipedia page.

Whether it be sensors or a transceiver, modules that you implement onto your board will have to communicate with each other. Communication protocols are used to format and dictate how these modules communicate with each other. Different protocols have different pros and cons. A deep understanding of all the different protocols isn't necessary for what we do in the lab, but a basic understanding of some of them will benefit you and your project. The ones the lab uses most are I2C, UART, and SPI. Please review this table. If you desire further information on any of these protocols, the embedded link on the name of the protocol will lead you to more details.

You should ask yourself these questions to determine whether or not you properly understand the material on this page:

1. What is an embedded system?
2. What is a microcontroller?
3. SPI, UART, I2C
   1. What do they stand for?
   2. What are they?
   3. What are they useful for?
   4. How are they all related?
4. How do you think this information will relate to this lab?

Arduino Introduction