Build Real Projects with Foundations of Embedded Systems & Electronics
Master Arduino, ESP32, STM32, sensors, actuators, and 2-layer PCB design through 30+ professional labs built on the Foundations of Embedded Systems & Electronics. Work on real-world problems from agriculture, manufacturing, defense, and transport industries. By the end of Module 1, you will not just understand embedded systems - you will have built and shipped a working multi-sensor product.
70% Practical, 30% Theory - Counters fear of dry lecture-only training
Live Hardware Kit Included - Tangible value, removes objection
GitHub Portfolio After Each Module - Career credibility for recruiters
Industry Track Specialisation - Personalised relevance
Mentor Reviews on Every Project - Personal attention reassurance
Build Real-World Embedded Skills from Basics to Industry Projects.
Foundations of Embedded Systems & Electronics Course Highlights
- Course Overview
- Course Objectives
- Learning Outcomes
- Who Should Enroll
- Course Features
- Industry & Job Connect
Embedded systems are the invisible engineers behind everything you touch - your phone, your washing machine, your bike's fuel injector, the irrigation pump on a farm 400 kilometres away. They are also where the highest-paying entry-level engineering roles quietly live: firmware engineer, IoT developer, robotics engineer, embedded designer. The problem is that most engineering students graduate having barely written a Blink sketch. Embedron Module 1 fixes that, in 45 focused days.
This is the foundations module of the four-module Embedron program from Elysium Embedded School. It is built for second, third, and fourth-year B.E./B.Tech students who already know basic C and want to convert that classroom familiarity into a real engineering skill - the kind that lets you walk into an interview, open a datasheet, sketch a circuit on a whiteboard, and confidently explain why you would pick an STM32 over an Arduino for a given application.
Why This Course Matters
Three things separate someone who knows about embedded systems from someone who can engineer them. First, the fluency to read a datasheet without panic. Second, the muscle memory of wiring, flashing, and debugging real hardware over hundreds of hours. Third, the product-thinking to take an idea from breadboard to enclosed device. Most degree programs teach none of these. Embedron Module 1 teaches all three, simultaneously, every single day.
What Makes Module 1 Different
- 70:30 practical to theory ratio. Theory is delivered as a 15-minute briefing right before the lab needs it - never as a 90-minute monologue.
- Industry-track lens. The same syllabus is taught to every cohort, but mini projects and capstones specialise into Agriculture, Manufacturing, Defense, or Transport based on your chosen track.
- Failure-driven mastery. Trainers deliberately seed common mistakes - floating pins, wrong baud rates, missing pull-ups - so you experience and resolve real failure modes that no textbook can teach.
- Iterative build cycles. You will live through the full product cycle of Define → Breadboard → Prototype → PCB → Deploy, in one module.
- Public demo culture. Every capstone ends with a live demo to an external panel - exactly the muscle you need for placement interviews and client pitches.
Real-World Use Cases You Will Build Toward
By the time you finish Module 1, the projects on your bench will not be toy examples. They will be field-deployable units - a soil-and-air monitoring node a small farm could actually clip to a pole, a motor-health diagnostic puck a factory technician could clamp onto a pump, a perimeter PIR logger a security team could mount overnight. The depth comes from doing this work for 67.5 contact hours, with a mentor sitting next to you.
By the end of Module 1, every learner will be able to:
Technical Skills You Will Walk Away With
- Fluent embedded C and Arduino C++ programming across three MCU families.
- Hands-on experience with 12+ industry-standard sensors and 6+ actuator types.
- Complete proficiency in I2C, SPI, UART, and 1-Wire communication protocols.
- End-to-end PCB design workflow in KiCAD - schematic, footprint, layout, Gerber.
- Real instrumentation skills with multimeter, oscilloscope, and logic analyzer.
- Power supply design including linear regulators, buck converters, and battery management.
- Soldering and reflow skills for both through-hole and SMD components.
- Datasheet literacy across MCU, sensor, regulator, and discrete component documentation.
Practical Capabilities
- Build a working sensor node on perfboard from scratch in under three hours.
- Debug a non-working circuit in under thirty minutes using systematic methods.
- Design and order a 2-layer PCB suitable for small-batch manufacturing in India.
- Implement low-power design techniques for battery operation up to one week.
- Author firmware with watchdog protection, crash recovery, and EEPROM-backed configuration.
- Integrate three or more sensors on different buses in a single embedded product.
- Apply MISRA-C-aware coding discipline that scales to industry codebases.
Embedron Module 1 is designed as the on-ramp for anyone serious about building hardware-software products in India's deep-tech economy. It is not a beginner course in the absolute sense - you should be comfortable with basic C and know what a breadboard looks like - but it does not assume any industry experience.
| Profile | Why Embedron Module 1 Fits |
|---|---|
| B.E./B.Tech ECE / EEE Students (2nd–4th year) | Bridges the gap between academic syllabus and what recruiters actually expect at interviews and assessment days. |
| CSE / IT Students Curious About Hardware | Lets software learners cross into firmware, IoT, and robotics - three of the highest-paying entry-level tracks. |
| Mechanical / Mechatronics Students | Builds the electronics fluency required for robotics, drones, and automation roles that pure mech grads often miss. |
| Working Professionals (1–3 years) | Refresher for QA / test / production engineers who want to transition into embedded design or product engineering. |
| Final-Year Students Planning a Startup | Provides the breadboard-to-PCB-to-deployment muscle needed to build an MVP without outsourcing. |
| Career Switchers from Pure Software | Structured ramp into hardware with simulation safety nets and mentor reviews on every project. |
| Diploma / Polytechnic Graduates | Levels the playing field with engineering grads on practical hardware skills. |
Pre-requisites (Minimum)
- Basic C programming familiarity - loops, conditionals, functions, structs.
- School-level physics - Ohm's law, basic circuits, AC vs DC concepts.
- Comfort with a Windows, macOS, or Linux laptop for software installation.
- A genuine willingness to break things, debug, and try again.
| Feature | What It Means For You |
|---|---|
| Live Hardware Kit Provided | A complete personal kit including Arduino UNO, ESP32, STM32 BluePill, sensors, actuators, and tools - yours to keep. |
| 30+ Professional Labs | Every lab follows industry format: objective, theory, procedure, troubleshooting, viva, real-world application. |
| 3 Industry-Track Mini Projects | Specialised work in Agriculture, Manufacturing, Defense, or Transport - not generic toy projects. |
| Capstone Project per Module | Four portfolio-grade builds across the program; Module 1 produces your Smart Multi-Sensor Node. |
| Foundations Certificate | Digitally verifiable Elysium Embedded School certificate with QR-coded transcript. |
| GitHub Portfolio Building | Every project committed to your public repository under mentor review. |
| Mentor Office Hours | Twice-weekly small-group debugging sessions with industry-trained anchors. |
| Industry Guest Speaker | One real practitioner from the field walks the cohort through current problems. |
| Internship Track Activation | Junior internship eligibility unlocked at module completion. |
| Lifetime LMS Access | All recordings, lab manuals, and resources stay accessible after the cohort closes. |
| Peer Community Access | Slack / Discord channel with current cohort and alumni for ongoing help. |
| Demo Day Panel Review | External faculty and industry mentors review your capstone - interview-grade practice. |
Current Market Demand
Embedded systems engineering is one of the few engineering specialisations where demand has consistently outpaced supply in India. Between the Semicon India Mission, the rise of indigenous EV manufacturing, the agri-tech wave funded across Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, and the steady drumbeat of iDEX defence startups, hiring managers are openly competing for engineers who can wire, code, and debug real hardware. Module 1 builds the exact substrate every one of these employers wants on a fresher's CV.
Hiring Industries
- Automotive Electronics & EV (Tata Motors, Mahindra Electric, Ola Electric, Ather, Bajaj Auto, TVS)
- Industrial Automation (Bosch, Siemens India, ABB, Schneider, Larsen & Toubro)
- Consumer IoT & Wearables (Boat, Noise, Cult.fit, Stellapps for cattle-tech)
- Defense & Aerospace (DRDO labs, BEL, BDL, HAL, Tata Advanced Systems)
- Agri-Tech & Smart Farming (CropIn, Fasal, DeHaat, ITC ABD, Jain Irrigation)
- Engineering Services & R&D (Tata Elxsi, Wipro, HCL, Cyient, KPIT, L&T Technology Services)
- Hardware Startups & Deep-Tech (Detect Technologies, Log9 Materials, Cron AI, AgNext)
- Semiconductors & EDA (Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor Graphics, ARM India)
- Telecom & Networking (Reliance Jio platforms, Tejas Networks, HFCL)
- Smart City & Energy Management (Honeywell India, Siemens Mobility, Schneider Electric)
Entry-Level Job Roles Module 1 Unlocks
| Job Role | Typical Starting CTC (INR LPA) | Why Module 1 Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Embedded Engineer | 3.5 - 6 | Direct match - hardware bring-up, firmware, debugging |
| Hardware Testing Intern / Engineer | 2.5 - 5 | Multimeter, oscilloscope, logic analyzer fluency |
| PCB Design Trainee | 3 - 5.5 | KiCAD project portfolio demonstrated |
| Firmware Trainee | 3.5 - 6 | Arduino, ESP32, STM32 production code |
| Production / Manufacturing Engineer (Electronics) | 3 - 5 | Soldering, reflow, AOI, bring-up experience |
| IoT Hardware Intern | Stipend ₹15-25k | Sensor interfacing, communication protocols |
| Robotics Trainee | 4 - 7 | Motor and sensor control foundations |
| EV Test Engineer | 4 - 6 | Power electronics fundamentals + battery awareness |
| Field Application Engineer (Sensors/MCUs) | 3.5 - 6 | Datasheet fluency + customer demo skills |
| Hardware Sales / Pre-Sales (Technical) | 4 - 7 | Engineering credibility for selling MCU/sensor lines |
Salary Insights
Entry-level embedded engineers in India typically start between ₹3.5 LPA and ₹6 LPA, with significant uplift for candidates carrying verifiable project portfolios. With Modules 1 and 2 complete, internship offers from Embedron's hiring partners regularly cross ₹25,000 per month. Full-time placements after the complete Embedron program move into the ₹6–14 LPA band, especially for edge AI, robotics, and EV battery management specialisations covered in Modules 3 and 4.
Global Opportunities
Embedded systems engineering is one of the most portable specialisations in tech. Engineers with strong fundamentals routinely move into roles across Germany's automotive cluster, the United States' chip ecosystem, the Netherlands' semiconductor industry, and Singapore's IoT and smart-city programs. The Module 1 foundation is identical to what introductory courses at Bosch's training academies, Texas Instruments University Programs, and ARM-accredited engineering tracks teach worldwide.
Career Pathway
Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced Roadmap
Stage 1: Beginner (Module 1 - Where You Are)
You finish Module 1 with the ability to build, code, and debug microcontroller-based systems with sensors, actuators, and basic communication protocols. You can design a simple PCB and read datasheets. This is the substrate every senior engineer expects in a junior hire.
Stage 2: Intermediate (Module 2 - IoT & Cloud)
Module 2 transforms your sensor node into a connected product - Wi-Fi, MQTT, LoRa, BLE, cloud dashboards, and Flutter mobile apps. After this module, you are Internship-Ready and can apply to firmware-junior, IoT developer, and cloud-IoT engineer roles.
Stage 3: Specialised (Module 3 - Robotics & Drones)
Module 3 unlocks robotics engineer and drone engineer career tracks. You build a 4-wheel mobile robot, fly a quadcopter, and learn ROS 2, SLAM, MAVLink, and ArduPilot. The companies hiring at this stage include autonomous warehousing startups, surveillance drone companies, and agritech UAV operators.
Stage 4: Industry 4.0 Ready (Module 4 - Automation & AI)
Module 4 makes you Placement-Ready. You will program PLCs, build SCADA dashboards, deploy TinyML on microcontrollers, and construct digital twins. Graduates at this stage step directly into edge AI engineer, PLC engineer, predictive maintenance specialist, and EV BMS engineer roles.
Role Transition Map
| Year 0 (Graduation) | Year 2 | Year 5 | Year 8+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Embedded Engineer | Embedded Engineer | Senior Firmware Engineer | Embedded Systems Architect |
| Hardware Testing Engineer | Hardware Design Engineer | Senior Hardware Engineer | Hardware Architect / Tech Lead |
| IoT Developer | IoT Solutions Engineer | IoT Platform Architect | Director of Engineering - IoT |
| Robotics Trainee | Robotics Engineer | Robotics Systems Engineer | Robotics R&D Manager |
| EV Test Engineer | BMS Engineer | EV Powertrain Engineer | EV Engineering Manager |
Future Learning Roadmap
Module 1 is the foundation. The journey continues across three more modules in the Embedron program and several adjacent industry certifications that compound your market value.
Industry Certifications to Pursue in Parallel
- ARM Accredited Engineer - for serious embedded firmware roles.
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner & AWS IoT Specialty - for cloud-IoT pipelines.
- Microsoft AZ-220 Azure IoT Developer Specialty - increasingly recognised.
- DGCA Remote Pilot Certificate - required for any commercial drone career in India.
- Edge Impulse Certified Developer - gaining strong recognition in TinyML hiring.
- ISA Certified Automation Professional (CAP) - gold standard for automation engineers.
Emerging Fields This Foundation Connects To
- RISC-V (CH32V, ESP32-C6) - open ISA gaining rapid adoption in cost-sensitive IoT.
- Matter / Thread - cross-vendor smart home standard.
- TinyML on neuromorphic MCUs - sub-microwatt edge intelligence.
- 5G RedCap modems - low-cost cellular IoT replacing NB-IoT.
- Post-Quantum Cryptography for IoT - rolling out from 2025 onward.
- Asset Administration Shell (AAS) - Industry 4.0 standard for self-describing assets.
Embedron Module Progression
| Next Step | What You Will Learn | Career Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Module 2 - IoT & Cloud Integration | MQTT, Wi-Fi, BLE, LoRa, Raspberry Pi gateways, Flutter mobile apps | Internship-Ready |
| Module 3 - Robotics & Drones | ROS 2, mobile robots, quadcopter assembly, SLAM, MAVLink | Field-Engineer-Ready |
| Module 4 - Industry 4.0, AI & Capstone | PLCs, SCADA, OPC-UA, TinyML, digital twins | Placement-Ready |
Detailed Syllabus (Week-by-Week)
Module 1 runs across eight weeks of six-day weekly sessions, totalling 45 days and 67.5 contact hours. Every week ramps the difficulty deliberately while keeping the 70:30 practical-to-theory ratio intact.
Week 1 - Electronics Refresher & Lab Setup (Days 1-6)
You start with multimeter mastery, then move through resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, power supplies, and a full soldering workshop. By Day 6, you can solder a through-hole PCB and reflow a basic SMD board.
| Day | Topic | Practical Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lab Safety & Multimeter Mastery | Voltage, current, resistance, continuity drills |
| 2 | Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors | RC low-pass filter on oscilloscope |
| 3 | Diodes & LEDs | Half-wave and full-wave rectifier with ripple measurement |
| 4 | Transistors as Switch & Amplifier | BC547 relay driver and common-emitter amplifier |
| 5 | Power Supplies & Regulation | 7805 linear + LM2596 buck bench comparison |
| 6 | Breadboarding & Soldering Workshop | Through-hole LED blinker + 0805 SMD reflow board |
Week 2 - Arduino Platform & Embedded C Essentials (Days 7–12)
First contact with microcontrollers. You tour the Arduino UNO, write your first sketches, build a 4-LED chaser, dim LEDs with PWM, sweep a servo, sample analog sensors, and learn to use external and timer interrupts.
| Day | Topic | Practical Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | MCU Architecture 101 | Tour of ATmega328 internals on the UNO board |
| 8 | Arduino IDE & First Programs | Blink, serial print, button read |
| 9 | GPIO Deep Dive | 4-LED chaser, debounced button counter |
| 10 | Timers & PWM | PWM LED dimming, servo angle control |
| 11 | ADC & Analog Sensing | ADC & Analog Sensing |
| 12 | Interrupts | Frequency counter via external interrupt |
Week 3 - Communication Protocols (Days 13–18)
UART, I2C, SPI, and 1-Wire - the four buses every embedded engineer must master. You will sniff bus traffic with a logic analyzer, design a multi-sensor I2C network, and run multiple temperature sensors on a single GPIO pin.
| Day | Topic | Practical Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | UART / Serial Communication | Two Arduinos exchanging messages |
| 14 | I2C Protocol | DS3231 RTC + 0.96" OLED on same bus |
| 15 | SPI Protocol | SD card logging + ADXL345 reading |
| 16 | 1-Wire & Sensor Buses | Multi-DS18B20 temperature network on one pin |
| 17 | Mini Hackathon - Sensor Multiplexer | Combined I2C/SPI sensor node |
| 18 | Logic Analyzer Bus Decoding | Decode UART/I2C live traffic |
Week 4 - Sensors & Actuators Deep Dive (Days 19–24)
Environmental, motion, distance, IMU, and industrial sensors paired with DC motors, servos, steppers, and relays. Track-specific industrial sensors are introduced on Day 22 so each learner starts working with hardware aligned to their chosen domain.
| Day | Topic | Practical Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Environmental Sensors | Mini weather station - DHT22 + BMP280 + OLED |
| 20 | Distance & Motion Sensors | Desktop obstacle alarm |
| 21 | IMU & MPU6050 | Tilt angle with complementary filter |
| 22 | Industrial Sensors (Track Specific) | Track-aligned transducer mini-build |
| 23 | DC & Servo Motors | L298N H-bridge motor control |
| 24 | Steppers & Relays | NEMA17 + A4988 + 230V appliance switching |
Week 5 - ESP32 & STM32 - Stepping Up (Days 25–30)
Time to graduate from Arduino. You will flash the ESP32, set up STM32CubeIDE for the BluePill, learn HAL vs LL programming, configure DMA-driven multi-channel ADC, and run the same project on all three MCU families to feel the trade-offs.
| Day | Topic | Practical Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | ESP32 Introduction | Wi-Fi scan + simple webpage |
| 26 | ESP32 Peripherals | LEDC PWM + capacitive touch + deep-sleep |
| 27 | STM32 Introduction | BluePill blink + UART |
| 28 | STM32 GPIO & Timers | PWM + input capture frequency measurement |
| 29 | STM32 ADC & DMA | 4-channel DMA sampling, serial-plot result |
| 30 | Comparative Lab | Same blinker on Arduino, ESP32, STM32 |
Week 6 - PCB Design Fundamentals (Days 31–36)
KiCAD from blank canvas to Gerber files. You will design a real ESP32-based sensor node PCB - schematic, footprints, layout, ground pour, DRC, and export - exactly the way a junior PCB designer would at a product company.
| Day | Topic | Practical Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 31 | Schematic Design Principles | ESP32 + DHT22 + regulator + USB schematic |
| 32 | Component Footprints & Libraries | Map components, create one custom footprint |
| 33 | PCB Layout Basics | Component placement, routing, ground pour |
| 34 | DRC, Gerbers & Manufacturing | Run DRC, fix violations, export Gerbers |
| 35 | Assembly & Bring-up | Hand-assemble a pre-fabricated PCB |
| 36 | Common PCB Pitfalls | Audit a deliberately flawed design |
Week 7 - Industry-Track Mini Projects (Days 37–42)
Three two-day mini projects, all aligned to your chosen industry track - Agriculture, Manufacturing, Defense, or Transport. These projects become the first verifiable assets on your GitHub portfolio.
| Days | Project | Skills Reinforced |
|---|---|---|
| 37-38 | Mini Project 1 - Industry-Specific Sensor Logger | Sensor read + display + EEPROM/SD logging |
| 39-40 | Mini Project 2 - Actuator Control with Safety | Actuator + control logic + protection circuits |
| 41-42 | Mini Project 3 - Multi-Sensor Protoboard Integration | Multi-bus integration on hand-soldered board |
Week 8 - Capstone Project & Evaluation (Days 43–45)
Three intense days of integration, polish, and demo. You will build the Smart Multi-Sensor Node - your first portfolio capstone - present it live to an external panel, and submit your full portfolio for module certification.
| Day | Activity |
|---|---|
| 43 | Hardware integration, full sensor stack on protoboard, firmware skeleton |
| 44 | PCB review, enclosure mounting, demo rehearsal, documentation |
| 45 | Final evaluation - live demo + viva + portfolio submission |
Sub-Section: Electronics Fundamentals (Week 1)
Overview
The first week of Embedron strips away the textbook abstractions and puts a multimeter in your hand. You will measure, build, and verify every passive and active component you have read about - and discover the gap between theoretical and real-world behaviour that no PowerPoint deck ever shows.
Topics Covered
- Multimeter mastery - voltage, current, resistance, and continuity
- Resistor color codes, RC time constants, capacitor selection
- Diode characterization, half-wave and full-wave rectification
- BJT and MOSFET switching, biasing, flyback diode practice
- Linear vs switching regulators - efficiency and thermal trade-offs
- Through-hole and SMD soldering with ESD discipline
Learning Outcome
By the end of Week 1, you can power, measure, and protect any low-voltage circuit on your bench - a skill that every PCB bring-up engineer uses every single day in industry.
Industry Application
Every electronics manufacturing service company in India - Dixon, SFO Technologies, Syrma SGS - opens a new product bring-up with this exact sequence: verify rails, check for shorts, confirm regulator outputs. Week 1 is your training in that ritual.
Sub-Section: Arduino & Embedded C (Week 2)
Overview
Week 2 is your first contact with a real microcontroller. You will go from blinking an LED to running interrupt-driven frequency counters in six days, learning the Arduino abstraction layer and the AVR architecture underneath it simultaneously.
Topics Covered
- Von Neumann vs Harvard architecture, AVR ATmega328 internals
- Sketch structure, setup/loop, serial monitor debugging
- GPIO modes, pull-ups, pull-downs, sourcing vs sinking
- Timers, prescalers, PWM duty cycle and frequency control
- ADC resolution, reference voltage, sampling theory
- Interrupts, ISR design, volatile keyword, atomic access
Learning Outcome
You will write Arduino code that scales - non-blocking, interrupt-aware, and structured well enough that you could hand it to a senior engineer without embarrassment.
Industry Application
Every consumer IoT product, agricultural sensor, and educational kit company in India uses Arduino or its derivatives for rapid prototyping. The patterns you learn here scale directly to professional firmware development on STM32 and ESP32 in later weeks.
Sub-Section: Communication Protocols (Week 3)
Overview
Embedded systems rarely live alone - they talk to sensors, displays, storage, and other microcontrollers. Week 3 teaches you the four buses that carry that conversation: UART, I2C, SPI, and 1-Wire. You will not just code against them; you will sniff them with a logic analyzer and decode them by hand.
Topics Covered
- UART framing, baud rates, full-duplex async communication
- I2C master-slave, addressing, ACK/NAK, pull-up sizing
- SPI full-duplex, MOSI/MISO/SCK/CS, clock modes 0–3
- 1-Wire protocol, ROM addressing, parasitic power, CRC
- Bus arbitration, address conflicts, mixed-bus design
- Logic analyzer protocol decoding and timing analysis
Learning Outcome
By the end of Week 3, you can read any datasheet's communication section, wire the bus correctly the first time, and debug protocol-level failures using instrumentation rather than guesswork.
Industry Application
Every consumer device - from your smart watch to the fuel-injection ECU in a two-wheeler - runs at least three of these protocols simultaneously. Mastering them puts you ahead of 80% of engineering graduates entering the embedded job market.
Sub-Section: Sensors & Actuators (Week 4)
Overview
Week 4 introduces the input and output muscle of embedded systems: sensors that read the world, and actuators that change it. You will work with environmental, motion, distance, and industrial sensors - and drive DC motors, servos, steppers, and high-voltage relays with the safety circuits industry expects.
Topics Covered
- Environmental sensors - DHT22, BMP280, accuracy vs cost
- Distance sensors - ultrasonic HC-SR04, IR, PIR, ToF basics
- Inertial measurement with MPU6050 and complementary filtering
- Industrial track-specific sensors - soil moisture, current, gas, GPS
- DC motor and servo control with H-bridges and PWM
- Stepper motors with A4988, half-step and full-step modes
- Opto-isolated relay control for 230V appliances
Learning Outcome
You can pick the right sensor for a real-world problem, calibrate it against ground truth, and drive an actuator safely from a microcontroller - including the inductive-load protection that prevents pin damage.
Sub-Section: ESP32 & STM32 (Week 5)
Overview
Arduino is the on-ramp. ESP32 is the workhorse of modern IoT. STM32 is the industry standard for serious embedded products. Week 5 introduces both - and forces a comparative lab where the same project runs on Arduino, ESP32, and STM32 so you feel exactly when to use which.
Topics Covered
- ESP32 dual-core architecture, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, ESP-IDF
- ESP32 peripherals - LEDC, RMT, touch pins, deep-sleep
- ARM Cortex-M0/M3/M4 fundamentals and HAL vs LL programming
- STM32CubeIDE and CubeMX clock-tree configuration
- STM32 GPIO alternate functions, timer prescalers, PWM, capture
- Multi-channel ADC with DMA - circular and single conversion
- Comparative analysis of all three MCU families
Learning Outcome
You will speak fluently about microcontroller selection - power, cost, peripherals, ecosystem - exactly the conversation product managers and senior engineers want a junior engineer to be able to hold.
Sub-Section: PCB Design (Week 6)
Overview
PCB design is the moment a hobbyist becomes an engineer. Week 6 walks you through KiCAD from blank canvas to manufacturing-ready Gerber files - using a real ESP32 sensor node design you can actually fabricate at an Indian PCB house.
Topics Covered
- Schematic capture, net naming, hierarchical sheets, ERC
- Component footprints, package codes (0805, SOIC, QFN)
- Layer stack-up, trace width, current capacity, vias
- Design Rule Check, Gerber export, drill files, BOM, CPL
- Hand assembly and reflow bring-up procedure
- Audit of deliberately flawed designs to build engineering judgement
Learning Outcome
You will leave Week 6 with a real PCB design ready to be ordered from JLCPCB, PCBPower, or any Indian fab house - a deliverable that converts directly into a portfolio asset.
Sub-Section: Capstone Project
The Smart Multi-Sensor Node
The Module 1 capstone is a battery-powered, portable, industry-track-aligned sensor node that integrates at least four sensors across two buses, provides a multi-screen OLED dashboard with menu navigation, logs continuously to SD card with timestamps, implements low-power sleep, and ships in a 3D-printed or acrylic enclosure with full documentation. It is the proof you can take an idea from problem statement to working product in under a week.
Topics Covered
- Working hardware on perfboard with mechanical robustness
- Firmware with cooperative scheduler, power management, and crash recovery
- Multi-screen OLED UI with menu navigation
- SD card logging with timestamp integrity over 30+ minute runs
- Documentation - schematic, BOM, README, user guide
- Five-minute demo video uploaded to GitHub
- Live demo to an external panel of mentors and industry guests
Module Sub-Sections - Granular Page Documents
Each sub-section below is structured as a self-contained landing page block. Use these as supporting content pages, microcopy modules, or as expandable accordion sections on the main course page.
Curriculum Framework
Learning Stages
| Stage | Days | Focus | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 - Foundations | 1-6 | Electronics literacy, lab safety, measurement | Confidence with instruments and passive circuits |
| Stage 2 - Programming | 7-12 | Arduino, embedded C, GPIO, timers, ADC | Fluent microcontroller programming |
| Stage 3 - Communication | 13-18 | UART, I2C, SPI, 1-Wire, logic analyzers | Bus fluency and protocol debugging |
| Stage 4 - Real-World I/O | 19-24 | Sensors and actuators across domains | Sensor calibration and actuator safety |
| Stage 5 - Advanced MCUs | 25-30 | ESP32 and STM32 with HAL and DMA | Multi-MCU selection capability |
| Stage 6 - PCB Design | 31-36 | KiCAD schematic and layout workflow | Manufacturing-ready PCB output |
| Stage 7 - Application | 37-42 | Track-specific mini projects | Three portfolio assets |
| Stage 8 - Capstone | 43-45 | Multi-sensor node integration and demo | Foundations Certificate |
Theory vs Practical Breakdown
| Component | Hours | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Practical Labs (30 experiments) | 35 | 52% |
| Mini Projects (3 builds) | 9 | 13% |
| Capstone Build | 4.5 | 7% |
| Theory Briefings (in-lab) | 13.5 | 20% |
| Datasheet & Concept Sessions | 5.5 | 8% |
Daily Session Blueprint (90 Minutes)
| Phase | Duration | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| Concept Briefing | 15 min | Theory, datasheet walk-through, protocol explanation |
| Demo & Live Code | 12 min | Trainer-led live coding or circuit demo |
| Hands-on Lab | 45 min | Students build, code, and test on their own kits |
| Debug & Discussion | 12 min | Trainer assistance, peer debugging, error analysis |
| Reflection & Logbook | 6 min | Lab journal entry, photos, next-day preview |
Assessment Structure
| Component | Weight | What Is Assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Practical Lab Assessment | 30% | Live execution of a random experiment from the lab manual |
| Mini Project Reviews (×3) | 15% | Two design reviews plus final demo for each mini project |
| Capstone Project | 30% | Build quality, firmware, demo, documentation per rubric |
| Viva Voce | 10% | Oral examination on concepts, datasheets, debugging scenarios |
| Logbook & Assignments | 10% | Daily logbook entries and weekly assignments |
| Attendance & Discipline | 3% | Minimum 80% attendance required |
| Innovation Score | 2% | Bonus features beyond brief, peer help, pull requests |