Embedded Systems

Hi All,

Welcome to this blog on embedded systems as part of our journey on connected world technologies of IoT/IIoT.

What is an embedded system?

An embedded system is an electronic system with a Processor designed/developed for a specific job,but that is not a general-purpose workstation, desktop or laptop computer.

It is a special-purpose computer system designed to perform a dedicated function generally coupled with real time data acquisition and control,embedded into an electrical/mechanical system and is a part of complete system which includes hardware,software and mechanical/electrical/hydraulic/pneumatic parts.

Unlike a general-purpose computer, such as a personal computer, an embedded system performs pre-defined tasks, usually with very specific requirements.

Embedded systems control many devices in common use today.

Embedded Systems are used to monitor and control robots,aviation systems,data acquisition systems, manufacturing plants, Utilities and other time-sensitive instruments and machines.

Before the emergence of microprocessor/micro controller,in industrial automation applications pneumatic/hydraulic controllers are the good examples of embedded systems.

With the developments in Microprocessor/Micro controller chips and their availability at affordable costs, Today the uses of embedded systems are virtually limitless, every day new products are introduced to the market that utilize embedded computers/controllers.

Some of the applications of embedded systems in industrial automation are

1.Embedded computers with PLC used in the automatic operation and control 
  of a CNC machine.

2.Micro controller based systems used in the operation and control of a 
  Circuit Breaker of an electrical power system.

What is an Embedded Programming?

A specific type of programming which supports the creation of applications for consumer or business or industrial devices that don't operate on traditional operating systems the way that full-scale desktop/laptop computers and mobile devices function. Embedded software is a software written to monitor and control machines or devices that are typically designed for the particular hardware that they run on and has time and memory constraints.

Example is developing sequence control logic application for the operation of a CNC machine,which collects the real time information from various inputs of the Machine and control its various output devices for the smooth operation of the Machine.

Automatic washing machine and Kitchen Microwave Oven are good examples of Embedded systems of our daily life.

What is an Embedded operating system?

These OS are compact, efficient and reliable,designed for the constrained resources(like small memory sizes..) of embedded systems,forsake many functions that non-embedded computer operating systems provide,and which may not be used by the applications they run.

What is real-time computing?

A real-time application is an application program that functions within a time frame that the user senses as immediate or current. The latency must be less than a defined value.The computing system that uses real-time applications is called real-time computing.

What is a real-time operating system (RTOS) ?

RTOS is an operating system (OS) designed to serve real-time applications process data as it comes in,typically without buffering delays. Processing time requirements are measured in tenths of seconds or in some cases even shorter increments of time.

An example of RTOS is RTLinux:

RTLinux is a fully preemptive hard real-time RTOS microkernel Linux operating system.This property makes it possible for RTLinux applications to control data acquisition systems, manufacturing plants, and other time-sensitive sensors/devices and machines.

Who is an Embedded Engineer?

He is one who develops hardware,OS,system software and application software for the specific devices used in industrial or consumer applications.While some develop the hardware and OS,but most take the hardware as set and build software stack on top of it as per user/system requirements. They are normally expected to optimize for low latency and high reliability and availability.

We will be discussing about other concepts of embedded systems in our next posts.

That's all for the day.Have a nice day.

Thanks,

Sailendra

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