Graduate Embedded Systems Capstone

This course guides students through the complete lifecycle of an advanced embedded systems project. Students will define, design, implement, verify, document, and formally present their capstone work, demonstrating mastery of graduate-level embedded systems concepts and practices.

Course outline

Lectures, virtual labs, and graded assignments — completed in your browser.

01Capstone Project Kick-off and Stakeholder Requirementslecture

02Formal Requirements Document and Project Managementlecture

03High-Level and Detailed System Architecturelecture

04Embedded Hardware/Software Partitioning and Interfaceslecture

05Modern Embedded Software Design Patterns and Frameworkslecture

06Interim Project Report and Design Reviewlecture

07Target Platform Analysis and Development Environment Setuplecture

08Core Functionality Implementation and Module Integrationlecture

09Advanced Features and Robustness Developmentlecture

10Test Plan Development and Formal Verificationlecture

11System Integration Testing and Performance Benchmarkinglecture

12Comprehensive Project Documentation: User, Technical, Maintenancelecture

13Crafting the Capstone Presentation and Demonstrationlecture

14Formal Capstone Project Defense and Q&Aassignment

Syllabus

Week 1: Project Introduction and Requirements Elicitation
Week 2: Requirements Specification and Project Planning
Week 3: System Architecture Design
Week 4: Hardware-Software Co-Design Principles
Week 5: Embedded Software Development Methodologies
Week 6: Mid-Project Review and Risk Management
Week 7: Hardware/Platform Selection and Initial Setup
Week 8: Software Implementation and Integration (Part 1)
Week 9: Software Implementation and Integration (Part 2)
Week 10: Verification and Validation Strategies
Week 11: Testing, Debugging, and Performance Optimization
Week 12: Documentation Best Practices and Technical Writing
Week 13: Final Project Submission and Presentation Preparation
Week 14: Project Defense and Peer Review