Wish to switch career in Embedded Systems: Guidance needed

Dear Members,

I have an Engineering Degree in Computer Science and working as an Unix Admin in Solaris from the past 4 years. However, I need to switch my career to embedded systems , although I have many creative ideas but don't know where to start. Please guide me.

Replies are highly appreciated ....

Thanks

Deepsh

Its good to hear that you need to change the career line,,, but it will take some time to do it as you need to start as a fresher in learning and as well as career start in embedded.....

You need to be expert in 8051 (8 bit controllers) or PIC and 32bit controller (mandatory) and any one RTOS(real time operating system)


If you are begineer then you can go to 8051.com and refer their tutorials for 8 bit controller.. or visit microchip.com and refer their tutorials...

start with simple 8 bit controllers in 8052.com

From my experience i can tell you that you need min.2-3 years of hands-on experience to call yourself embedded programmer. You need to know C language very well, and have a good basic background in electronics, to know the microcontroller you are working on very very well. For ex. in the embedded world you don't have the luxury of garbage collector.

embedded systems is a v interesting field and im myslf attached to it somehow
the basics are knowhow of microcontrollers, hardware based C, some HDL language and some basic electronics
ill suggest you to choose this field after doing some homework

Dear shivaram, LaszloF and fouwad:

Many thanks for your reply. To begin with I have seen a book called Embedded C by Michael Pont in the Market which also contain Keil 8051 simulator with it. Is it worthwhile or if you may suggest the best book which may really help me to learn?


Thanks

Deepsh

Being proficient in C is a given, but in my opinion, you should also learn how to interface hardware to your controller such as sensors and actuators, filtering and analog signal conditioning etc. Even hands on circuit prototyping is useful!

Always remember, reading alone is never enough! You need to put what you've learned into practice. Experience can't be gained from reading books. And don't just stick to one brand/type of micro-controller. All controllers have ups and downs, and a good embedded systems designer should know how to choose the optimal solution between price and functionality.

When you do start writing firmware, learn to write code in a modular and clean fashion. Eg: learn to write low level driver layers and upper level application layers that interact with eachother etc...

I suggest you go out and buy some development kits and just start making personal projects and add them to your resume. Since you've worked with Linux, you can try to blend in your skills with embedded Linux or various networking/webhost stuff or whatever.

As you progress, try to gain your own personal skill set that differentiates yourself from other people uniquely. The better you are at setting yourself apart from others, the better chance you are at winning a spot in the field.

wish you the best of luck! :grin:

Gerald

Dear Gerald,


Thanks for your reply. Can you please suggest with development kit shall I purchase to begin with. I have heard that Keil is one of the best that suits industrial standards.


Thanks,

Deepsh

Dear deepsh,

Yes, keil is on of the best, but also very expensive, you don't need industry standard prototype boards. Look at the olimex board (olimex.com) they can be bought trough farnell also (sorry for the advertising), if you are interested in 8 bit microcontrollers look toward microchip boards, very cheap and good quality.
If you want to start with a big step, choose one arm based processor(32bit, very widely used), like NXP's LPC family, example LPC1343, there is the nxp LPCXpresso board very cheap and versatile..

For start you need a cheap board, free compiler, free IDE and some demo codes (i will send you in pm the link).

I started a few years ago with atmel controllers, the avr family(8bit), for a beginner i can recomend the atmega family, but you can also start directly with 32 bit arm core based processors also, blink the led, 7 segment display, simple motor control, lcd displays or whatever.

I've never used Keil to be honest.

The thing about embedded systems is that they all have the same fundamental concepts, just different flavors. Once you know how to use one very well, you should be able to pick up how to use other controllers easily.

I'm probably not the best person to ask in terms of which development board to buy, but make sure you buy one with a lot of I/O's and functionality and big enough so that it's easy to work on.

DON'T get an Arduino

first thing learn some basic electronic stuff like switching using transistor,sensors etc
then learn basic c ( you need only basic c language in order to do embedded programing ) also try to learn assembly language this will increase your logic analyzing capacity.
try to read the projects in various magazine ( if your in india try to read efy , elektor )
just go and try small projects (don't go for large go for small , feasible stuffs ).
believe that you got potential, done that is it.

Hi amralaa13,

My advice: don't start with something complex, you will get tired, bored, frustrated, as a general approach start first to light a simple led, than make it blink with variable speed controlled from a simple push-buttons, one for increase and one for decrease the speed(frequency).
This simple project will guide you trough the development environment setup(compiler, IDE, programmer), pin configuration, timer(software and hardware), debounce techniques.
After this, well its your choice, could be robotics, interfacing with pc(serial), some controller like temperature, logging with sensors, displays(7segment/LCD)+matrix keyboard and so on.

With embedded systems one is working at the interface between software and hardware. Therefore, even as a programmer it is very useful to have some understanding of basic electronics, digitial circuits and use of test equipment such as signal generators and oscilloscopes. This enables one to talk to electronics engineers and understand the problems they face, read the very technical data sheets on microcontrollers and other devices and test simple circuits.
Have a go a interfacing some simple devices. A good development kit is Microchips microstick
**broken link removed**
it is cheap (about £16 in UK), has an onboard programmer and a header to plug into a breadboard for you own circuits.

@deepsh, most folks have given excellent advice... however 1 way I might be able to add is that I've come from a similar (Comp. Sc.) background, although I've had ample C/C++ programming experience (and even some x86 assembly). In my bridge to embedded world, the one thing which stirred and retained my interest was taking small baby-steps, but lot of them, and very frequently. This was made possible by Arduino. It is an open source board based on ATMEL AVR (8 bit uC). Surprisingly there are not too many fans of Arduino (and more so AVRs) in India -- which seems to be dominated by 8051's and PICs (at most), Arduino does make the learning curve really-really easy. Also graduating from Arduino, to bare-metal is well documented, and there are sufficient tutorials to take you from there back to the breadboard.

Personally, I skipped 8051 completely. While it might be instructional, I find that a useful step only if you are keen on learning an arcane CISC assembly, and looking for ultra-cheap books, and very cheap uC's. The difference really is that the 8051 processor price starts from about Rs.35/-, and AVR one from about Rs.130/-, but then the capabilities that the AVR brings is significantly more than 8051. Even neglecting the features, programming AVR in standard 'C' (thanks to GNU C ports) is pleasure, and you have ample open-source tools (e.g. WinAVR). Apart from regular Arduino (Arduino NEO being the latest), you have many Indian Arduino clones, or Arduino "inspired" simpler/cheaper alternatives.

hi all, i had a great interest in embedded domain in electronics..i m 2010 Btech (ECE)...tried lot of jobs interviews to get into this domain for 1.5 years..but unable get one...so i m working as a Technical support associate...now can i shift into embedded domain???...or is there any course that can divert me into this domain....i thought of java or android???
please help me....

@nitinronaldo007- its better u try to join & work in a project developing institute for an year. it will help much better than a course. from where u will get hand-on experience on live embedded projects/products.