Assignments
Full Stack

Full Stack

Preamble

You may have heard the term “full stack” before. Web developers have coined it as meaning all the systems from the database (backend) to the user interface (frontend).

But web developers don’t get all the fun. As Electrical Engineers, we have our own definition of “full stack”.

For us, the full stack is:

  1. Hardware
  2. Firmware
  3. Communication
  4. User Interface

You’re half way there! In one fell swoop, we’re going to finish off the last two.

Assignment

In this assignment you will become a full stack engineer by learning to create a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a communication system to interact with a microcontroller.

You will create a client (the GUI running on your computer/phone) which communicates with a peripheral (your microcontroller) over some medium.

You are once again faced with an important decision

You have two* pathways to choose from: (kind of four pathways)

USB: Python & Arduino or Rust BLE: Swift & Arduino or Rust
⚠️
You must have a Mac and an iPhone to use Swift for this assignment.
⚠️
Only use Rust if you completed the Rust path from Spinning and Blinking.

Your Options

USB

The first two options will teach you how to conduct serial communication over USB1. On your computer you will use Python to create the client.

You have probably heard of Python before, as it is hugely popular. It’s also very easy to learn.

BLE

The last two options will teach you how to communicate with BLE2. You will develop an app for your phone using Swift and SwiftUI.

Swift is a programming language made by Apple3 primarily for app development. SwiftUI is the framework Apple provides for declaratively designing modern, responsive, and frankly beautiful user interfaces across the Apple ecosystem.

  1. Universal Serial Bus (USB). The classic ports on your computer, phone, and the DevBoard. ↩︎

  2. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The most modern “style” of Bluetooth communication. ↩︎

  3. Chris Latner was an employee at Apple when he created Swift. He received a lot of push back, and in fact, had to keep it mostly a secret until he had enough notoriety at the company to convince his higher ups to devote resources to it. He also created LLVM, the world’s most advanced compiler backend, which Rust (and naturally Swift) relies on to provide many of it’s features. This one man has improved the lives of tens, if not hundreds of millions of people simply by following his passion for engineering and design, despite the adversity he faced. He has ushered in the next chapter of global technological advancement. It would be wise to read about his life, you could very quickly become a better engineer! ↩︎

Spinning and Blinking