A study of microcontroller simulator tools for autonomous and online learning

Even though technologically advanced processors based on 32 and 64 bit are now available, embedded systems still rely on the use 8 or 16 bit microcontroller solutions, due to factors such as cost-effectiveness and low power consumption. Its widespread adoption by the industry and its simplicity led the academy to address the development of systems using these 8 or 16 bit microcontrollers in its introductory-level electrical engineering curricula. Typically, a microcontroller of the MSP, AVR, MCS-51 or PIC family is used. Although in person laboratory work offers students the opportunity for acquiring skills related to practical experience with hardware and development boards, availability of hardware resources might be reduced in autonomous or online contexts. In these scenarios, simulation tools can be highly valuable, as an alternative or complementary option to laboratory work. Standard development tools are often unsuited for such purposes, because they are oriented to development activities that often assume the availability of hardware resources for executing, testing and debugging the system. To address this, this paper presents a survey of the ecosystem of tools for 8 or 16 bit microprocessors and microcontrollers development focused on their capability for supporting the simulation of embedded systems, and evaluate these solutions from the perspective of their potential for enabling autonomous study and learning by students. This comparative analysis can be very useful as it can serve as a decision factor for the choice of the microcontroller or microprocessor and toolchain to adopt in curriculum design, while it also identifies opportunities for new developments to address existing limitations.