An introductory laboratory course on wearables and the Internet of Things

One of the most exciting developments in the last decade has been the democratization of electronics hardware. Formerly, creating electronics projects that performed useful tasks required working with low-level components (transistors, ICs, resistors, etc.). Now, however, the introduction of Arduino and numerous other related microcontroller platforms coupled with sensors and actuators that can “plug-and-play”, combined with low-cost and frugal wireless communications makes it possible to create interesting projects quickly and at low cost. These new electronics platforms necessarily incorporate software, providing a rich set of topics across Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Despite this excitement, there are no introductory classes in EECS that expose students to this ecosystem.