Summary

  • This is an advanced course that teaches how a computer works at a hardware level.
  • The schedule on this page lists the topics we will cover by date.

Required Materials

  • Laptops will be required in class. Please bring your laptop to class every day. We'll be using them for labs. Minimum system requirements:
    • 8GB RAM
    • Intel/AMD CPU
  • Textbook: None

Office Hours

  • Doyle 309
  • Wednesday: 2:45 - 3:30PM
  • Or by appointment

Grading

  • Treat this course like a job where you are trying to get promoted. If you show up and do your work, you will get a good grade.
  • No partial credit for code that does not compile.
    • Homework: 25 %
    • Participation: 10 %
    • Progress: 10 %
    • Labs: 15 %
    • Project: 40 %
    Percentage Letter Grade
    91+ A
    89-90 A-
    87-88 B+
    77-86 B
    75-76 B-
    73-74 C+
    62-72 C
    60-61 C-
    50-59 D
    Below 50 F

Scheduling Conflicts

  • If you have a (legitimate) scheduling conflict with a quiz or exam, it is possible to schedule a makeup session. You must let me know at least two weeks prior to the quiz/exam date. Legitimate scheduling conflicts include religious observances.
  • LUC's academic calendar can be found here.

Mandatory Reporter Statment

  • Each faculty and staff member at Loyola University Chicago is required to report any incidents of gender-based misconduct that they are made aware of, even if it happened in the past. Gender-based misconduct includes discrimination based on actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or pregnancy or parenting status; dating and domestic violence; sexual misconduct (including sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation); and stalking.

Tools

Collaboration

  • Students are expected to write their own code for homework assignments. No copying or code sharing is allowed. Copying code from the Internet is also not allowed.

Course Schedule

Tenative

Date Topic Details
Mon 08/30 Introduction Homework 1 Assigned
Wed 09/01 Circuits: Resistors Video: Voltage and Resistors
Fri 09/03 Circuits: Capacitors Video: Kirchoff's Voltage Law
Mon 09/06 Labor Day: No Class
Wed 09/08 Circuits: Power Supplies, Relays, transistors, op-amps Homework 1 Due
Homework 2 Assigned
Circuits Notes
Video: Power Supply Design
Fri 09/10 Circuits: Lab Circuits Lab Procedure
Mon 09/13 Microcontrollers: Peripherals & Architecture
Wed 09/15 Microcontrollers: Programming RTOSes & Interrupts
Fri 09/17 Microcontrollers: Lab I Microcontrollers Lab Procedure
Mon 09/20 Microcontrollers: Lab II
Wed 09/22 Microcontrollers: Lab III
Fri 09/24 Microcontrollers: Lab IV
Mon 09/27 Intro to Altium: Schematics Ideas:
  • Electric Strike Entry System
  • Faucet that times handwashing
  • Cow Tracker
  • Recyclanbles Sorter
  • Hand motion human-computer interface
  • Retrofitting a dumb device to connect to the Internet
Wed 09/29 Intro to Altium: PCB Routing
Fri 10/01 Altium Circuit Design Lab PCB Lab
Mon 10/04 Iron-On PCB Lab
Wed 10/06 Project Proposal Presentations
Fri 10/08 Soldering Tutorial
Mon 10/11 Signal Processing - Intro, Fourier Series DSP Homework
Wed 10/13 Schematic Design Reviews
Fri 10/15 Signal Processing - Fourier Transform DSP Notes
Mon 10/18 Signal Processing - Sampling & DFT
Wed 10/20 Signal Processing Lab
Fri 10/22 Signal Processing - Filtering
Mon 10/25 PCB Design Reviews
Wed 10/27 PCB Design Reviews
Fri 10/29
Mon 11/01
Wed 11/03