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 classes where the teacher will convey information to the whole group of students. In 2024, we will have two lectures in person (first and last class), and the rest will be based on videos, for students to consume at their own pace. Slides for all the lectures will be available before the class. Some lectures will require students to prepare for them (this information will be available from the beginning of the course, so students can properly plan their time). The in-person classes will not be recorded, so students are strongly encouraged to attend. 

The slot marked as 'workshop' is an in-person session where students will get some hands-on experience to better prepare for the first lab.

Slots marked as 'laboratory' are in-person 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 three laboratory sessions will be dedicated mostly to coding assistance for the final project (or catch up for incomplete labs).

Slots marked as 'tutorial' are in-person 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 will only attend at their assigned slot.

Finally, the 'presentation' slot is an in-person class where the whole group of students will present their final projects to their peers and teachers, and will receive comments and questions from the audience.

The detailed plan for the learning activities will be always up-to-date in the official schedule on KTH Social, as well as on the TimeEdit platform.

No preparation is required for the first lecture, but there is some key preparation for the second class (which also happens the first week of the course). The preparation tasks will be available on Canvas from the moment the course is published, as well as mentioned in the Schedule (KTH Social and TimeEdit). The optional workshop before the second lecture will complement this key preparation.
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 if this were necessary due to illness in the teaching staff (for example), 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. Buying extra material does not influence at all the examination criteria (i.e. it is not necessary at all to get a high grade).

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 examiner 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.

Please notice that two lab groups that work together in a project might get different grades, since their deliverables are submitted and thus assessed separately.

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 an E. This restriction does not apply to students with FUNKA support that directly affect examination (e.g. flexible deadlines).

Additional note: The attendance criteria is not relevant in 2024 because this version of the course only has 2 in-person lectures.

See previous section (Grading criteria/Assessment criteria)

Lectures are optional but we strongly recommend attending the first and the last one in person, as well as watching carefully the videos of the other classes.

The workshop in the first week of the course is optional.

Lab sessions are optional: A lab group might not participate if they do not have any problems with their assignments and are not interested in feedback. However, we recommend attending.

Tutorials (supervision) are optional. However, we recommend the whole project group to attend. If a student must miss some supervision session, they can make arrangements within their group, without the need of telling the teachers. A whole group might decide to not attend a session, but they must contact the teacher to cancel, with reasonable time in advance.

Attendance to the final presentations 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 form of examination.

Additional note: The attendance criteria is not relevant in 2024 because this version of the course only has 2 in-person lectures.

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. (This doesn't apply to students with FUNKA support who have flexible deadline adaptations.)

• 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, with the biggest changes being: 

- adding an introductory workshop in the first week of the course

- adding one more session for coding assistance for final project at the end of the course

- reordering and adjusting lab assignments and lectures

- improving lecture materials and assignments' descriptions and format

- replacing some in-person lectures for videos 

- restocking the course in terms of sensors, actuators and general components