Embedded Systems: Electrical Engineering Basics & User Interface

[dsambo]

Hi, I am working on a project but I am new to electrical engineering. The project is going to be a mechanical device with an inductive heater controlled through a console with software to receive inputs for the settings through a user interface. I have read about microcontrollers and their uses but I am not sure how they work in a real system i.e. if you need multiple microcontrollers for different functions.

I also need some clarification on how embedded software works as well as the physical components that need to be designed in order to use the software.

This project is just an idea so far but I am working on making it tangible any help, information, or reference will be greatly appreciated.

 

[mgb_phys]

Start here http://www.practicalarduino.com/
The book is about $30, as is the circuitboard+micro

 

[dsambo]

Thanks for the response. However, because I am inexperienced in electrical engineering the design work is going to be done by someone else I am just looking for individual parts. I will browse through their website and see what it is about.

 

[Frank.J]

A starter kit that include hardware and software could be quit helpful. I myself started learning embedded systems with a starter kit from http://www.arm9board.net" , their kits typically come with Demos for embedded OSes like Embedded Linux, Windows CE, Android, uCos/II, and a plenty of sample applications with detailed comments. By looking into these source code and their documents you may learn a lot about the systems.

 

[schip666!]

Another hobbyist site is Sparkfun Electronics, who have a range of controller boards that might save you the hardware development time:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php

If you insist on doing it yourself look at the PIC micro-controllers from MicroChip:
http://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?branchID=1002&mid=10&lang=en&pageId=74

With a the few inputs and just a couple outputs you need, one of the PIC 16 pin chips like the 16F818 could work. Presuming that you are hiring someone who knows what they are doing to execute this part of your plan, they _should_ know this already...