Embedded Labs

This repo contains the code for serveral of our embedded design labs, this readme contains writeups for them in reverse chronological order

Lab 10

Complete Spider Robot Locomotion

Click the image above to see a video

Lab 10 was the apex of this project. Over the previous five labs, we progressed from basic I/O control to servo motor management and coordinated multi-joint systems. In this final lab, we synthesized everything into a fully functional hexapod robot walker.

We implemented a Spider class that orchestrates six legs using tripod gait(RF/LM/RB vs LF/RM/LB) for stable, coordinated movement. The system supports multiple locomotion commands:

Features

• Gait Control: Alternating tripod coordination for natural hexapod walking
• Movement Commands: Forward, backward, rotate left/right, standup, and reset
• Speed Control: Adjustable servo speed (0-100 scale)
• Interactive CLI: Real-time command interface for live robot control
• Pattern Execution: Pre-programmed patterns (e.g., move in square)

Commands

• w - Move forward
• s - Move backward
• a - Rotate left
• d - Rotate right
• p - Set speed
• t - Reset to default stance
• z - Execute square pattern
• q - Exit program

Key Accomplishments

• Synthesized lab 6-9 concepts into a cohesive robotic system
• Implemented complex servo coordination across six independent motors
• Demonstrated practical gait algorithms for legged locomotion
• Created robust hardware abstraction through layered class design

Lab 9

Servo Motor Control with Spider Leg Implementation

This lab reinforced OOP principles by implementing servo motor control and applying it to a spider robot leg system. We created a Motor class to handle individual servo control, then built a SpiderLeg class composed of three motors (hip, knee, ankle).

Assignments

1. Motor Control: Implemented Motor class methods (Move(), SetSpeed(), Reset(), IsReady()) to control servo angle and speed. Connected button presses to move three servos in synchronized 15-degree increments, with speed constraints and readiness checks.
2. Spider Leg Motion: Built SpiderLeg class that manages three motors as a single unit. Implemented MoveJoint() to selectively move hip, knee, or ankle, enabling realistic spider leg walking patterns.

Key Accomplishments

• Developed PWM-based servo control (angle ↔ duty cycle ↔ clock cycles)
• Implemented speed mapping (0-100 scale to 1000-1700 cycle delay)
• Created method chaining and object composition patterns
• Validated motor readiness before accepting new movement commands

Both assignments compiled and ran successfully on the spider robot hardware.

Seven Segment Display Control with Object-Oriented Programming

This lab extended our understanding of OOP by creating an inheritance hierarchy to control seven segment displays on the DE1-SoC. We implemented the DE1 base class, a SevenSegment derived class, and an LEDControl utility class.

Parts

1. Display Count: Built a SevenSegment class with methods to write to individual displays and multi-digit numbers. The program counts from -15,625 to 15,625 (−25³ to 25³) in fifty steps, displaying values on all six seven segment displays.
2. Button-Controlled Display: Extended Lab 6's button control functionality to update seven segment displays alongside LEDs. Buttons perform increment, decrement, left shift, and right shift operations on a value loaded from switches.

Key Accomplishments

• Implemented class inheritance (SevenSegment extends DE1)
• Developed reusable methods for multi-digit number display
• Leveraged previously built classes to minimize code duplication
• Demonstrated practical OOP design for embedded hardware control

Both programs compiled and ran successfully on the DE1 board.

Lab 6

Hardware I/O Control via Embedded Linux C++

This lab involved controlling physical hardware on the DE1-SoC using embedded Linux and C++. We interacted directly with GPIO memory addresses to read switches/buttons and control LEDs.

Parts

1. Read/Write via Terminal: Implemented user prompts to read individual switches and write to individual LEDs
2. Bulk Register Control: Read entire switch register and write to LED register with 10-bit values
3. Interactive Button Control: Programmed LEDs to respond to button inputs (increment, decrement, shift, reset counters)
4. Object-Oriented Redesign: Refactored code using DE1 and LEDControl classes for cleaner, reusable hardware interfaces

Key Accomplishments

• Direct register manipulation for hardware control
• Event-driven programming with button inputs
• Demonstrated OOP principles to reduce code duplication and improve maintainability

All programs compiled and ran reliably on the DE1 board.