Teaching Devices and Controls for Computer Engineering and Systems Students using Arduino and MATLAB/Simulink

Devices and Controls is a core course for Computer Engineering and Systems students at the Institute of Technology, University of Washington, Tacoma. As the only control course of the CES curriculum, it has been designed to bridge the gap between system theories and engineering design/applications. It uses software and hardware tools available for control education including Arduino Mega 2560, MATLAB and the Simulink Support Package for Arduino Hardware. In addition to four-hour lectures in the classroom, students also take two-hour lab each week, and complete a small course project by the end of quarter. In Autumn 2017, both the course evaluation and the ABET indirect assessment results show that students are satisfied with their learning experience, and in particular, the hands-on experience obtained from labs and the project.