8051 Embedded Design during Trying Times

Engineering design early in a student's course sequence captivates the student's interest in engineering. However, in recent times, it has been necessary to shift from in person instruction to online only instruction. Additionally, as the economy has been disrupted by supply chain issues, electronic parts availability has been unpredictable. Maintaining an embedded design project in an online only sophomore course has been a challenging experience. In this paper, an embedded design project in an online only sophomore course is presented. The design project is based on the EFM8BB1 from Silicon Laboratories. The EFM8BB1 is an 8051 series microcontroller that is self contained, economical, and very student friendly. What follows is a discussion of the sophomore course, an overview of the EFM8BB1, and an example of the project design based on the EFM8BB1.