Control And Embedded Systems

Controlling The Real World With Computers

This site uses hands-on experiments to show the basics of how real things in the real world are controlled with computers. That means it's about most of the computers in the world. Most computers don't sit on desks, but are used to control things that don't look anything like a computer, such as factories, spacecraft, toys and appliances. This site provides the opportunity to learn basic control and embedded system concepts while taking advantage of the low cost and conveneince of using a PC as a platform.

This site is for anyone who is the least bit curious about monitoring and controlling such things as motors, lights and switches, or recording and playing everything from sound to the arm position on a robot.

It's for anyone who likes to learn by doing. You will not only read about controlling motors, lights and sound, you will control real motors, real lights, and really record and play information.

It's for anyone who finds intriguing the prospect of controlling a robot or a toy or an appliance by means of a computer embedded in it or, for that matter, a whole factory or space station.

It's for anyone who has done little with computers beyond clicking a mouse button, as well as the professional looking for source code.

It's for anyone who wants to reach as far as the imagination will take them.

This site is for teachers who would like to give their students some interesting, hands-on experience.

It's for people who are considering a career change but don't want to suffer the high cost and time of a formal education before knowing for sure that this is the career they would actually look forward to every morning.

Please don't think electronics and programming have to be hard. Far from it. Read what others say about this site to get an idea of what the experience is like. Besides, it costs nothing but a little time to go through everything here (well, maybe more than just a little time unless you can read 240 pages really fast). It's not heavy reading, either. It's designed to be accessable by anyone with a knowledge of basic mathematics. You're ready if you can add subtract, multiply and divide. The earlier sections include self-tests that permit checking progress or skipping sections already understood.
The tutorial examples will work on most operating systems that allow direct access to ports (more on ports later). Linux, DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me will work, among others. To use Linux, follow the guidelines at the Linux I/O port programming mini-HOWTO

The board has more than enough capability for experimentation. Its inputs and outputs are very much like those typically found on a microcontroller, which is similar to a microprocessor, the main computational device in a desktop computer, but with extra inputs and outputs to allow it to listen to and talk to the outside world. A bare board is only $20, and there are discounts for quantity. Kits are available for $50 (plus shipping, etc.), and assembled boards can also be ordered. You can even download this whole site so you can view it off-line for your own personal use by ordering a zip archive file containing all of the site files for only $8.55. With it, you get free update files as the site is updated.