... is the laboratory for embedded systems technologies at the Faculty of Computer Science and is used for teaching and projects relating to embedded systems.

The laboratory with its equipment is used in particular for courses in the dual Bachelor's degree programmes and the Technical and Graphical Systems specialisation in the Master's degree programme. In the practical courses, students gain an understanding of the requirements for software development in the embedded sector. The course content can be prepared in the open laboratory concept. Students deepen their knowledge in student projects, gaining experience of working in a team at the same time.

Embedded systems are information-processing systems that are integrated into a technical context. They are usually not consciously recognised by the user as an independent computer, as they are integrated into a larger product. Progressive miniaturisation is giving rise to new areas of application in which computers previously visible as mainframes or PCs are disappearing from view and being replaced by ubiquitous computing. Today, complex products such as vehicles usually contain a number of embedded systems that are networked and interact.

• Motor vehicles, aerospace technology, autonomous mobility
• Communication technology and consumer electronics
• Medical technology
• Home automation and intelligent building technology
• Automation technology in production and manufacturing plants

In Germany, embedded systems achieved a turnover of 17 billion euros in 2010, with estimates predicting growth to 40 billion by 2020. The providers of embedded systems employ around 40,000 people (primarily electrical engineers and computer scientists). In addition, there are another 250,000 employees in user industries who integrate embedded systems into products and develop customised software for the respective application scenario [1].

In addition to the functional requirements of information processing for the respective application, non-functional requirements in particular must also be implemented for embedded systems. These include

• Real-time requirements
• Reliability, availability, serviceability, safety, weight, size and energy consumption
• Weight, size, energy consumption
• Memory requirements, computing requirements
• Reliable real-time communication
• Connections between digital, analogue and hybrid operating principles

Increasingly complex systems require increasingly complex software. It is estimated that 40% of the vehicle costs of today's new cars are determined by software and electronics. 90% of all innovations are in the field of electronics and software. If you look at the development costs, 50-70% are attributable to software development. Software packages with more than a million lines of programme code and up to 100 embedded, networked computer systems are installed in today's vehicles. It is assumed that this complexity will increase significantly in the coming years, with strong system dependencies being observed [2].

The ever-increasing penetration of the human environment by products with embedded information processing is accompanied by the coining of new terms for this trend. The Internet of Things (IoT) links the increasingly intelligent objects of everyday life, which are no longer perceived as computers in the traditional sense. Portable devices (wearables), sensors and actuators communicate with each other in a variety of ways. The term cyber-physical systems (CPS) emphasises the effect that the networking of many embedded systems is merging the physical world with virtual cyberspace. Intelligent power grids coordinate power generators and consumers in a decentralised manner. Vehicle movement profiles are used for navigation instructions to coordinate traffic. As Industry 4.0, the networking of means of production and production goods serves the ever-increasing configurability of the end product through to customised production integrated into the customer's business processes.

The EST laboratory of the Faculty of Computer Science is used for teaching and projects relating to embedded systems. The laboratory with its equipment is used in particular for courses in the dual Bachelor's degree programme KESS and the specialisation in Technical and Graphical Systems in the Master's degree programme. In the practical courses, students gain an understanding of the requirements for software development in the embedded sector. The course content can be prepared in the open laboratory concept. Students deepen their knowledge in student projects, gaining experience of working in a team at the same time.

[1] Manfred Broy (ed.), "Cyber-physical Systems - Innovation durch softwareintensive eingebettete Systeme", Springer Verlag, 2011, ISBN 9783642149016

[2] Karsten Berns, Bernd Schürmann, Mario Trapp, "Eingebettete Systeme - Systemgrundlagen und Entwicklung eingebetteter Software", Vieweg+Teubner Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8348-0422-8