Work in progress - a modular hardware processing platform for use throughout the engineering curriculum

Creating an effective laboratory experience can prove challenging for instructors who require a variety of hardware platforms for unique problems. Some of these platforms often have many elements that are not central to the laboratory and can obfuscate the student's learning objectives. Others have a significant amount of integration complexity that inhibit students from focusing on development. This work-in-progress describes the development of a hardware prototyping system designed to be modular and extensible with a flexible interconnection mechanism based on FPGAs. Each module will contain only those elements essential to its operation. The procedure for creating these modules, including schematics, bill of materials, Gerber images, software, and documentation will be made publicly available on a project Website, inviting others to participate in expanding the module library