AutomationShield: An Open-Source Hardware and Software Initiative for Control Engineering Education

This paper presents the AutomationShield open-source initiative and framework, which offers small and affordable devices suitable for take-home experiments in the education of future control engineers. Every device embodies a dynamic feedback system based on different physical phenomena. These devices, so-called shields, are meant to be installed on Arduino or similar development boards with the Arduino R3 compatible mechanical and electronic layout. An application programming interface and instructional examples in C/C++, MATLAB, and Simulink come with the devices. This interface serves hardware functions, so that the user may focus on creating embedded applications for automatic control. Hardware design and program codes are published under the open-source paradigm, and thus may be reproduced and built upon by anyone. In the paper we also focus on integration of the shields into the educational process and describe the experience and feedback gained so far.