Implementing FIR Filters using Arduino Due Platform for Educational Purposes

Digital signal processing (DSP) subject is one of the most important core subjects in many disciplines of electronic engineering, while the digital FIR filters are one of the essential topics of DSP. Students at their early stages of university study require clear understanding of digital filters basics in both theoretical and practical work. This paper concentrates on how to make it easy for a student to understand the theory behind FIR filters by implementing the filters in practical laboratory work. The work comprises the use of MATLAB Filter Design and Analysis Tool (FDAT) to obtain the desired filter coefficients, then using the open-source Arduino Due microcontroller to implement the FIR filter function in software. The filter coefficients, which are obtained from MATLAB FDAT are truncated to be accepted by Arduino software as a single line of software. Using the ADC and the DAC available in Arduino, the FIR filter analog input and output can be both observed and analyzed by the student to verify the designed filter characteristics. A real time FIR filter (with an order of 10) was realized in Arduino software using signal frequencies less than 5KHz.