Microcontrollers in education: a case-study

The authors present the results of an experimental undergraduate laboratory on microcontrollers at third year of the School of Telecommunication Engineering of Madrid, Spain. The objectives have been to evaluate the success of a hands-on course on microprocessors that emphasizes a system level perspective including aspects of hardware as well as software. Another additional goal has been to reduce the utilization of the school's laboratories, already quite overcrowded.