Teaching Electromagnetic Interference on Microcontrollers through Lab Experiments

Abstract

New lab experiments were developed for the students to investigate the effect of electromagnetic interference on the operation of microcontrollers. The objectives of the experiments include exposing students to the effect of noisy power supply on microcontroller performance and to learn how to use modern instruments for recording the results. In the experiments, the noise is restricted to electromagnetic interference picked up by the power supply conductors from external sources at radio frequencies. As wireless communication technologies have been widely used, such lab investigation is of current interest to the students. There was no simple way to produce the radio frequency interference of sufficient magnitude in our lab. A method was used to emulate the picking up of such interference on the power supply conductors. This paper describes such method. It also describes the new experiments, their benefits for the students, the evaluations, and suggestions for improvements.