DSC 180A Section B08: Programming Cyber-Physical Systems
This capstone section is designed to support projects that concern instrumentation and programming of cyber-physical systems (CPS) using internet of things (IOT) devices.
What are CPS? Consider an automobile. Fifty years ago it was purely a mechanical device, true to its mechanical mobility functions. It consisted of an energy generating subsystem (combustion that converted heat to internal movements), climate control subsystem, steering subsystem. Electronics made each of these systems more efficient, may be cheaper in some cases. Then we started putting microcontrollers with programs in them for suspension, ignition control etc. Very soon there were more than 100 of these microprocessors and microcontrollers until they all coalsced into a software system. Today's electric car is now an integrated mix of computing (software) and physical (mechanics) that together make the modern car. More interesting CPS are distributed systems such as the electrical grid, parking, transportation network, wildfire control etc.
In order to be effective, these systems need eyes, ears and arms connecting the software to the physical world. This is accomplished using sensors/actuators such as cameras, touch, motion, etc. The computational intelligence -- software -- can be near the sensory endpoint or in the cloud or somewhere in between, or everywhere. These end-points (of a networked system) are called IOTs.
In this capstone section, we will focus on Smart Buildings/Smart City as an umbrella theme for the projects.