Modular microprocessor kit for undergraduate laboratory on industrial automation

Teaching microprocessors to mechanical engineering students has become part of the new curriculum of the Escola Politecnica of the University of Sao Paulo, since 1988. The theoretical discipline, where microprocessor small systems design is taught, is complemented with laboratory activities where the student faces a one-semester project for solving a problem with a modular microprocessor kit on the subject of industrial automation. The concept of modularity introduced in this microprocessor kit allows the student to propose his or her own project and configure a system that allows the students to have contact with three basic issues concerning industrial automation: actuation, sensing and I/O commands. The kit is composed of several modules, that can be interconnected between themselves and a linear position system with two actuators versions, one with DC motor and encoder and other with stepping motor. Each module consists of a PC board of 100×130 mm of dimensions and, except for the motor´s drivers, they can be connected to each other by flat cable or by the piggy-back method which creates a stack of boards. This paper describes the modular microprocessor kit and its application to an undergraduate laboratory to solve industrial automation problems