Recommendations for Future Students
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Cadence and KiCad are somewhat different in that they are more powerful. But at the same time it can be more difficult to operate. Read the relevant websites given by your professor and follow the material step by step. They will occasionally have software crashes or errors, remember to save available files often. Be sure to always ask TAs for help in case of problems.
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Coordinate with your team. Communicate more often. Let them know as soon as possible if there is any content or things that need to be improved. They depend on you as much as you depend on them.
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The project will take longer than you expect. Give yourself extra time to fix any errors. Be sure to complete the task early so that if any problems arise, you will have enough time to finish it.
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If you don’t know enough about the chip you want to use, look up the relevant information and schematics online and make sure they are feasible before you choose to buy and use them.
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The assignments for the beginning of the semester are relatively simple. Don’t be fooled by their tiny scores, the actual content of each assignment is very important and they can even influence your future work. Trust us they can teach you a lot of knowledge and also to know how to solve it while you are building your project.
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It is strongly recommended that incoming students review the C/C++ languages. While writing functional code for each individual subsystem may be relatively straightforward, the more challenging aspect lies in identifying the appropriate locations for applying interrupts and debugging the code. We encountered instances where the code worked for one subsystem but not for others. Enhancing one’s coding proficiency can be a valuable asset in achieving success.