Software only becomes a robot when it can drive real hardware. This module covers the electronics and embedded computing underneath every robot: how power flows through a circuit, how a microcontroller reads inputs and controls outputs, and how the parts of a robot talk to each other.
You'll start with voltage, current, resistance, and Ohm's law, then build on them with breadboards and an Arduino board. From there you'll look at how embedded code handles interrupts and timers, the tools that let a controller react to events on time instead of waiting around.
Next come the serial protocols, UART, I2C, and SPI, which connect microcontrollers to sensors and other boards. The module closes with PWM and H-bridge motor drivers, the standard way to control the speed and direction of a DC motor. You'll rely on all of this in Sensors & Actuators and Control Systems.
A full beginner course that starts with the foundations of electronics (voltage, current, resistance, Ohm's law, series and parallel circuits), then moves to breadboards, the difference between a microcontroller and a microprocessor, and programming an Arduino.
The core ideas behind real-time embedded code: why blocking delays are a problem, and how interrupts and timers let a microcontroller respond to events and keep time without stalling.
An overview of how UART, I2C, and SPI work with practical examples. These are the buses robots use to connect microcontrollers to sensors, drivers, and other boards.
How an H-bridge driver lets a microcontroller control a DC motor, and how PWM signals set its speed. A first hands-on step toward driving robot wheels.