Software Development Modules for Microcontroller-Based System

Microcontrollers are small devices commonly used for control purposes over a wide range of applications. As the control strategies and the selection of hardware differ from one application to another, it is a common practice for engineers to develop the application programs based-on the selected hardware and the control methodologies. Such development process requires time for programming and testing, especially for large projects which need to interface and integrate with a number of different hardware and software. This paper presents an approach using the concept of soft development modules to shorten the application program development time for control systems using microcontrollers. A set of soft modules has been developed for a widely used microcontroller. The testing conducted on the serial communication and fuzzy logic control modules successfully produced application programs within a much shorter time, and reduced human programming errors. The application of soft development modules will allow system developers to focus on the system design level without the need to spend large amount of time on generic programming details. Such an approach provides a useful programming development platform for future applications using microcontrollers.