HITES: Hybrid Introductory Training on Embedded Systems

HITES was a Certified Training Program composed of two-day hybrid training sessions (one day offline and one day online) in three IEEE hubs for engineering students across Kerala powered by INCUBE. The event was co-hosted by IEEE SB Sahrdaya College of Engineering & Technology at the Kochi hub, College of Engineering Perumon at the Travancore hub, and College of Engineering Vadakara at the Malabar hub.

Malabar Hub

The first offline session was on 29th May 2022 at College of Engineering Vadakara. The event started off with an inaugural ceremony. Prof. Shalini M Venugopal, Membership Development Chair IEEE Education Society delivered the welcome address. She conveyed her warm welcome to everyone. The event was blessed by the presence of the guest of honour Prof. Lyla B Das, Associate Professor, Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, NIT Calicut. In her speech she mentioned her enthusiasm towards embedded systems, and how she worked to develop her knowledge in that field. She shared her experience and it really was inspirational enough to touch the young hearts
before her. Following her inaugural address, Mr Muhsin C A, Director Incube shared how he came to this field and what brought enthusiasm in him.
Later on, Prof. O A Joseph, principal CEV and Sarath S, Student Activities Chair IEEE EdSoc KC felicitated the gathering. The inaugural ceremony was concluded by the Interim Chair of IEEE SB CEV, Aathsha Meher.
Soon after the inaugural ceremony, the students were taken to the lab for the workshop. The workshop began with brushing up the topics
taken in the online mode. Mr. Muhsin started by explaining the architecture of a kettle. He showed quick animations and designs which made it more simpler for the beneficiaries to understand the topics. He covered the portions of Microcontrollers & Architectures, Programming & Circuit Design Upskilling, Combinational & Sequential Logics, Raspberry Pi, AVR GPIO, Interfacing with WiFi & Bluetooth Modules. He showed live demonstrations of IoT & IIoT. He conducted rapid quizzes in between so as to make sure all the participants were on track. He personally assisted the students to work on programs. As it came to the end of the event, feedback was taken from the students and most responses were positive. The event concluded by 5.00 PM.

Kochi Hub

In the Kochi Hub, the event was co-hosted by IEEE SB Sahrdaya College of Engineering & Technology. The online session was on 4th June 2022. The session was handled by the Director of INCUBE, Mr. Muhsin C A. He began the session with an introduction to electronics and basic programming rules. Further session was split up into three sections: brainstorming , code the logic and wire the idea. Brief explanations on relevant topics including basics of Embedded C, C programming and its features, GPIO, how to program a port, varieties of switches and their uses, relays, microcontrollers, and digital circuits were provided. An introduction to Proteus was also given during the session. The session was interactive with few tasks to engage the audience.

The offline session was conducted on 5th June 2022 at Sahrdaya College of Engineering & Technology. During the session, Mr. Muhsin C A brushed up on the topics of basic circuit designs that the students have learned in their curriculum and began his session by introducing basic components and circuit designing. He explained how to design circuits and also introduced Arduino and how to code in it. He explained about microcontrollers, and how to use Bluetooth and wifi modules. Apart from that, he gave an Arduino Project as a task to the students. One of the tasks was to create a traffic light. Then he taught students to create a simple motor car using an Arduino. He divided students into different teams, giving them time to discuss the given problem statements and assisted them in the process. Later towards the end of the session, he discussed the answers in common and addressed the doubts of the participants. At the end of the session, he delivered a motivational speech to the students, inspiring them to thrive forward.

Soon after the session, feedback was taken from the students and most responses were positive. With that, the event concluded by 4:00 PM.

The training was hybrid and included training for 50 students in the Kochi hub alone. The students were provided with materials taken in class for future reference and internship opportunities were also given. Through this event, the beneficiaries were able to set up a foundation on embedded systems. The worthy participants got internship opportunities from Teclon.

Travancore Hub

College of Engineering Perumon had hosted the session at Travancore Hub. The online season was conducted on 18 June 2022, Saturday. The session was handled by Mr. Muhsin C A, the Director of INCUBE. He began the session with an introduction to electronics and basic programming rules. Further session was split up into three sections: brainstorming , code the logic and wire the idea. Brief explanations on relevant topics including basics of Embedded C, C programming and its features, GPIO, how to program a port, varieties of switches and their uses, relays, microcontrollers, and digital circuits were provided. An introduction to Proteus was also given during the session. The session was interactive with few tasks to engage the audience.Hence, through the online session, he prepared the participants for the hands-on session by providing the basic concept of embedded systems.

The offline session was conducted on 19 June 2022, Sunday. To commence with the session, Ms. Vishnu Priya, volunteer, IEEE SB CE Perumon welcomed the resource person to begin the session. Mr. Muhsin C A, the Director of INCUBE started the session by discussing the topics taken in the online session. He explained the architecture of Arduino and Arduino integrated development environment Further he discussed coding for a traffic signal.

The whole participants were divided into ten groups and they were provided tasks and questions to ensure the active participation of the students. The feedback was collected at the end of the session and received many positive reviews on the session. The participants quoted their interest in attending more such interactive hands-on sessions.Prof. Tasneem Salam H, Branch Counselor, IEEE SB CE Perumon has delivered the vote of thanks. The session concluded by 4:30 PM.

The workshop focused on creating a deep interest in embedded systems among the participants. As expected, the session helped the beneficiaries to pave a great foundation on the topic. Also, the best-performed participants got internship opportunities from Teclon Innovative solutions