The course gives an introduction to sensors and actuators and how they can be programmed and used in a commercial embedded system (such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi). The course has a theoretical part in which different properties of sensors and actuators and their respective input and output signals are examined, as well as a practical part directed towards realisation of an interactive multi-modal installation.

After passing the course, the student should be able to

• explain basic principles of sensors and actuators
• explain the function of different sensors and actuators (e.g. ultrasonic sensors, temperature and humidity sensors, light sensors, accelerometers, magnetometers, pressure sensors, simple electrical and mechanical actuators),
• recommend appropriate sensors for implementing a specific input modality
• recommend appropriate actuators for implementing a specific output modality
• program an embedded platform
• design and program interactive applications that use sensors and actuators

in order to

• be able to use embedded platforms, sensors and actuators to design interactive applications.

In this course, slots marked as 'lecture' are class meetings where the teacher will convey information to the whole group of students. In 2023, we will have only one introductory lecture that will give an overview of the course and present practical matters for students to arrange during the first week of the course. Associated slides will be available after the class.

Slots marked as 'seminar' will combine the teacher providing knowledge to the whole group of students, with some in-class exercises to be done individually or in pairs during the class meeting. Some seminars will require students to prepare for them by doing some readings. This information will be available from the beginning of the course. Associated slides will be available after the class and whenever possible, also beforehand.

Slots marked as 'laboratory' are sessions where the teachers will be available to provide assistance with the lab assignments to groups of students that work together. Students can work on the assignments whenever they want, and we recommend that they start before the lab sessions when possible, so that they can make the most out of them. The last two laboratory sessions will be dedicated mostly to coding assistance for the final project.

Slots marked as 'tutorial' are supervision sessions where a teacher will meet a group of students that work together, to provide feedback and guidance towards the final project. Each group might arrange with their assigned teacher to have the session at a different time than the one in the schedule, if they all find a suitable slot. Each group will only attend at their assigned slot. In 2023, we will have these sessions in person, except when teachers are travelling for work. 

Finally, the 'presentation' slot corresponds to the last class meeting, in which the whole group of students will present their final projects to the teachers and to the rest of the group and will receive comments and questions.

The detailed plan for the learning activities will be always up-to-date in the official schedule on KTH Social

There will be no preparation for the first lecture, but there will be some key preparation for the first seminar (which also happens the first week of the course). The preparation tasks will be available on Canvas from the moment the course is published there, as well as mentioned in the official schedule on KTH Social. Students should also be prepared to be responsive the first week of the course as they have to form groups and coordinate to pick up hardware from KTH (or buy it on their own, or contact the teachers to find some other solution).

There is no textbook, and the recommended readings will be linked from Canvas.

The students should have access to a device from which they can attend Zoom meetings, as well as to a device in which they can programme (i.e. where they can install the Arduino IDE, Processing, etc.) and use USB ports. Pairs of students will also need access to a smartphone to complete one of the labs.
KTH will provide basic materials such as sensors, actuators, breadboards, Arduino boards, etc.,  to pairs of students that work together, but students are welcome to buy their own extra equipment to increase variety and/or have the material always available at home.

We strongly recommend the students to update Zoom to the latest version if their device allows this.

A variety of free software will be used during the course, and the instructions to install it will be available on Canvas.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

Students without Funka support who think they may be eligible are strongly encouraged to get in contact with Funka as soon as possible.

Students with Funka support who wish to give us additional detail about their required arrangements are welcome to contact the course responsible as early as they can.

A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

• LAB1 - Laboratory work, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PRO1 - Project, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Unless an exception is granted by the examiner, students will work in pairs towards LAB1 and PRO1, although PRO1 will require the collaboration between two pairs of students that form a group. For this reason, students should commit from the beginning of the course to complete PRO1 (and not just LAB1), in line with the ethics approach and the code of honour (see below).

To pass LAB1 or PRO1, active attendance at seminars is required (you are allowed to miss two seminars).

Passing LAB1 requires passing all the labs. Formative feedback will be given along the course, after each lab's deadline. Students can get a preliminary Pass in LAB1 (i.e. in Canvas, not in Ladok) earlier than the end of the course.

The grade in PRO1 is assigned according to the project's grading criteria, which will be available on Canvas, as part of the project assignment's description.

The final grade for the course will be the same grade of PRO1, provided that LAB1 is a Pass.

If by the moment the examiner is ready to report the passing grades a student has not yet passed LAB1 or PRO1, they will be informed that they have 6 weeks to compensate and be then re-examined. In this case, the grade during re-examination will not be higher than the minimum passing grade.

See previous section (Grading criteria/Assessment criteria)

Lab sessions are completely optional, a lab group might not participate if they do not have any problems with their assignments and are not interested in feedback.

Attendance to tutorials (supervision) is adviced for the whole project group, but if a student must miss sessions they can make arrangements within their group, without teachers' intervention. A whole group might decide to not attend a tutorial slot, but they must contact the teacher to cancel it if they have already arranged date and time.

If a student knows they are going to miss more than 2 seminars, they are welcome to contact the course responsible to evaluate the situation.

Attendance to the final presentation is very important given that this is the main examination instance in the course. If a student knows they cannot avoid missing it, they should contact the course responsible to arrange an alternative examination.

After the final deadline for the final project, the examiner will grade the students' work towards LAB1 and PRO1 and report the final passing grades 3 weeks later. If a student did not achieve a passing grade, the examiner will communicate instead that they have 6 extra weeks to compensate and be then re-examined.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Being responsible for the group's work is crucial to stay within the ethical approach.

This includes:

1) being responsible for the group's equipment, i.e. taking good care of the materials provided by KTH, picking them up on time, returning them on time, and being held accountable if, e.g., a component was lent to another group. More details on this will be covered in the first lecture

2) committing to work towards the final project and not just towards completing the labs.

Several changes have been implemented, including: 

- adding lab sessions for final project work and coding assistance

- reordering of the lab assignments (and revising the scope of the last one so that it integrates more smoothly with the final project)

- replacing a lab about radio communication for one on internet communication

- improving seminar materials (theoretical and practical) and assignments descriptions

- restocking the course in terms of sensors, actuators and general components, and counting with the studio manager for extra assistance regarding hardware.