System Architecture¶

The system architecture is an overview of how your IoT system is built. You describe how the different parts of your system are connected and how the data is processed.

You add a clear wiring diagram created in Fritzing. This diagram helps you connect everything correctly and shows others how your system is put together. You also add a Bill of Materials (BoM) in which you describe the required components and their quantities.

You have written code for your microcontroller to control the sensors and actuators. You describe how you wrote this code.

Fritzing¶

Fritzing is a free program that lets you design and simulate electronic circuits. You can add, connect, and test components in it. It is a useful tool for designing and testing your embedded system architecture.

By default, Fritzing’s component list contains the most common components. If you cannot find a component, you can add it yourself. You can do this by searching for the component online and downloading it. Or, if you really cannot find a component, you can also create it yourself.

Fritzing

Always carefully check that you selected the correct model/version of a component. Also make sure your wiring diagram is easy to read: preferably use different colours for different wires and add labels for the different connections. Use mostly straight lines for wires.

Downloads¶

You can install Fritzing by downloading the source code and compiling it yourself, or more easily by creating a free account on fritzing.org and downloading the program from the website.

Component downloads:

Quality indicators¶

When assessing this product, the following quality indicators will be considered:

The system architecture is a self-contained document that starts with an introduction/context and then describes the different parts of the system.
The document contains a wiring diagram that includes all components used in the system.
The wiring diagram uses only the actual components that are in the system, with the correct versions.
The wiring diagram clearly shows how the components are connected. Wires do not overlap, different colours are used for different wires, and labels are added for the different connections.
The document contains a Bill of Materials that lists all components in the system; for each component you can read the brand, name, version, and price, plus a link to the product’s website.
The document includes code that controls the sensors and actuators. This code is easy to read and follows code-writing conventions.
The document includes a list of sources describing the materials you used to design and build the system.

Template¶

To create your own system architecture, you can use the following template:

# System Architecture

In this section, describe in a few sentences what the embedded system does and which problem it solves. This is the main text of your document.

## Wiring Diagram

Here you add the wiring diagram created in Fritzing. This diagram helps you connect everything correctly and shows others how your system is put together. This is an image.

## Bill of Materials

Here you add the Bill of Materials in which you describe the required components and their quantities. This is a table.

## Code

Here you add information about the code you wrote: you explain what the code does and how you wrote it. In this text you mainly add references to the code in GitLab and use code snippets to describe the code.
Include the code here for the full system architecture.

## Sources

List here the sources you used to design and build the system. Think of YouTube videos, websites, books, and so on.
Also include sources that helped you write the code.