Informatics Publishing Limited

Nagaraj Vannal ¹, K. Shamshuddin ¹, Diwakar Kulkarni ¹, Nalini C. Iyer ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Instrumentation Technology, B V B College of Engineering & Technology, Hubli, Karnataka, IN

Abstract

All most all modern electronics devices such as smart phones and laptops depend on concepts derived from digital electronics. In fact, most electronics about the industry and in home depend on digital electronics to work. To consider for forth coming semesters digital electronics course is prerequisite for the courses such as Digital system design using Verilog, mini projects, ARM Controller (3rd year), VLSI Design and Capstone project (4th year). And it plays very vital role in placement activities and competitive exams. To make this course more interesting and to increase the level of understating we designed the course project keeping automotive as the theme which indeed helped the students to understand the application point of view of the concepts studied in the course. We are presenting the Course projects designed, effectiveness of the Course Project on Final results and attainment of the program outcomes with different levels of competency for the Digital Electronics course in the 2nd year UG Engineering.

Keywords

ABET, Program Outcomes, Bloom's Taxonomy, Digital Electronics, Course Project, Automotive Electronics.

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P. C. Nissimagoudar ¹, Venkatesh Mane ¹, Diwakarkulkarni ¹, K. Shamshuddin ¹, H. M. Gireesha ¹, Ramakrishna Joshi ¹, M. R. Kiran ¹, J. Anisha ¹, Nalini C. Iyer ¹, K. M. Uma ¹, A. B. Raju ¹, B. L. Desai ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Instrumentation Technology, B.V. Bhommaraddi College of Engineering & Technology, Hubballi, Karnataka, IN

Abstract

It is seen that the number of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) in the automotive has grown significantly in recent years. In today's luxury cars, up to 2500 signals are exchanged by up to 70-80 ECUs. The number communication channels implement required realize such systems is about n2, here n is the number of ECUs in the automobile. This complexity requires the use of communication networks between them and to manage the functionality of these ECUs the Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) is used. This real world scenario has motivated us to give the hands on experience to students by introducing integrated course projects, which includes the use of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) in automotive embedded systems. This activity also involves creating an industry like environment for execution of the project. Deployment of more advanced control strategies and integration of sub modules were the major technical outcomes of the activity.

For executing this activity, the problem statement given was divided into sub-problems and each sub problem is converted to sub module/ECU depicting the industry scenario. The concepts of automotive embedded systems were used during sub module development and during integration the concepts of RTOS were used. The activity provided the method and tool to facilitate the integration of different electronic subsystems coming from various suppliers.

The activity created the feel of real world industry environment amongst the students and enabled to achieve various technical and professional outcomes of ABET. The processes of achieving these outcomes are discussed.

Keywords

Integrated Course Projects, Automotive Electronics, RTOS, ECU, ABET Outcomes.

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Prabha C. Nissimagoudar ¹, Venkatesh Mane ², Nalini C. Iyer ², Sanjay Eligar ², S. J. Ramakrishna ², M. R. Kiran ², Anupkumar Patil ², H. M. Gireesha ², K. Shamshuddin ², A. B. Raju ², K. M. Uma ², B. L. Desai ²

Affiliations
1 BVB-Automotive Electronics Group, B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology, Hubballi, IN
2 BVB-Automotive Electronics Group, B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology, Hubballi, IN

Abstract

The development of automotive sub systems involves integration of multiple sub modules. Each sub system involves more than one sub component, with possible dependencies between components. The electronic sub systems, usually known as electronic control units(ECUs) are the integrated parts of modern automotives. The development of suchmodules requires the knowledge belonging to diverse engineering domains and also an ability to work in multi disciplinary environment. This paper discusses about an activity attempted for the course on automotive electronics for the third year engineering students of circuit branches. The activity involves providing an experience of development of ECUs which in turn provides an opportunity of getting exposed to industrial environment. An automotive electronics, a core course taught for the students of circuit branches is mainly application oriented involving system level concepts. The course was introduced to cater to the needs of automotive industries. The concepts of entire course can be divided into five main domains; power train, safety systems, body, driver assistance and infotainment systems. Accordingly to complement the learning it was decided to introduce an extended activity in the form of course projects wherein the theme was to develop electronic control units (ECUs) for every domain. An ECU of an automotive has multiple functionalities, each representing a sub-module of a bigger system. The integration of sub-modules to realize a specific ECU was major objective of the activity. The sub-module development involves modelling, hardware/software development and communication protocol implantation. To impart the industry like working culture amongst students, every sub-module belonging to specific ECU was assigned to the students of different department. Sub modules were developed independently by specialized dedicated team of a particular department and were integrated to demonstrate a final ECU by different department teams. The Prototype models with an option of testing on a test vehicle were the results of this activity. The student learning was measured in terms of their ability to work in a team, project management skills and their technical competencies to develop sub-modules and integration of sub modules. The outcomes are also discussed with respect to students placements in automotive industries and attainment of ABET outcomes.

Keywords

Automotive Electronics, Sub Module, Integration, ECU Design.

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