Embedded Systems Design (ES) - RESCHIP4EU

Academic Coordinator: prof. Christian Pilato

Programme Manager: Federico Schiepatti federico.schiepatti@polimi.it

Programme website

Academic Coordinator: Dr Tomi Westerlund, tomi.westerlund@utu.fi

Programme website

Programme website

Academic Coordinator: Tamás Dabóczi, daboczi@mit.bme.hu

Embedded Artificial Intelligence specialisation: The exit year specialisation aims to educate engineers who develop intelligent applications based on embedded systems, using artificial intelligence methods. Application examples include (1) from the automotive field Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), support for different levels of autonomous driving, intelligent processing of vibro-acoustic signals; (2) from the healthcare field medical signal processing, sports/lifestyle support using wearable electronics; (3) from the smart manufacturing field predictive maintenance; (4) from the development field hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, and model-in-the-loop testing. Engineers active in this area should have an understanding of hardware platforms including advanced chips, programmable circuits and hardware accelerators, as well as the intelligent signal processing methods and the artificial intelligence algorithms running on them.

Academic Coordinator: Alain Bravaix alain.bravaix@yncrea.fr

Specialisation description (Analog and Digital conception of advanced IC): Exit specialization at ISEN-Méditerranée focuses on the scholarship for engineers on Analog and Digital conception of advanced IC. This is done from devices to circuits up to architecture and system level with the helps of AI developments and advanced tools (Synopsis, Verilog, labview). The main focus of the courses is to extend the Engineering skills for the conception of advanced circuits with consumption, performance and security criteria, for various technology applications as IoT, automotive, communication and Space.

Academic Coordinator: TBC

Specialisation description (Energy-Efficient and Reliable Embedded Systems): This specialization emphasizes the understanding and design of energy-efficient solutions for embedded devices, considering factors such as power supply management, workload analysis, and battery lifespan. It also covers the challenges posed by non-idealities in modern digital systems (due to technology scaling, temperature, and aging) and how to mitigate these issues through hardware-software co-design, including advanced topics such as edge computing. Furthermore, the specialization integrates a strong focus on testing, dependability, and fault tolerance in embedded systems, providing knowledge in techniques like Built-In Self-Test (BIST), Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA), and the use of virtual platforms for hardware-software co-simulation. This holistic combination of energy management, reliability testing, and advanced computing paradigms prepares students to design robust, efficient, and dependable embedded systems.

Academic Coordinator: Peeter Ellervee peeter.ellervee@taltech.ee

Specialisation description (Distributed Control for Embedded Systems): The focus of the courses is on control software supported by additional topics like communications and electronics. All courses are electives, except the master thesis and internship in the last semester. Compared against the other exit years, the main differences can be outlined as distributed control for embedded systems – systems that consist of multiple embedded devices and controlled in a distributed manner. In addition, courses to develop hardware accelerators on FPGA-s and/or ASIC-s for machine learning and artificial intelligence are offered for the students.

Academic Coordinator: Hannu-Matti Järvinen hannu-matti.jarvinen@tuni.fi

Specialisation description (Embedded Systems Architecture and Software): This specialisation offers both hardware and software design for embedded systems, essentially closing the gap between hardware and software design. In embedded systems, interoperability between hardware and software is an absolute requirement. The specialization focuses on this part and provides students with the understanding of a complete system design, part of which is then implemented in hardware and part in software. Traditional hardware studies are complemented by studies on software engineering at the technical and process level. The compulsory part of the second-year courses includes courses on dependable embedded systems and software testing. Dependable embedded systems emphasises safety issues in creating software close to hardware. Software testing contains general testing and quality assurance, and it includes an embedded-systems-related assignment that covers cross-development and hardware-in-the-loop. Other compulsory courses are related to the thesis. Elective studies include courses Internet of things, Software design, Embedded systems and electronics productization, Software architectures, a project, and special topics. The topics of the two latter ones may change annually or even on a personal basis. In the project work, students make software for locally defined hardware. Special topics may be, for example, a seminar or small study on any interesting topic around embedded systems.

Programme website

Academic Coordinator: Prof. Annalisa Franco annalisa.franco@unibo.it

Intelligent embedded systems. The University of Bologna will offer a program focused on the application of embedded systems for the implementation of intelligent services, rangin from vehicular systems to robotics and application of AI to the interaction with the physical world.

Academic Coordinator: Roberto Passerone roberto.passerone@unitn.it

Specialisation description: The exit year concentrates on the design of high-performance, low-power architectures, with particular attention to embedded and smart systems. The specialization covers aspects related to architectural and micro-architectural design, with particular attention to high-performance computing, IoT and robotics. The conventional courses on advanced computing architectures and embedded systems are complemented by courses dealing with high performance computing, giving the basis of parallel programming paradigms and techniques, and the implementation of systems on chip. A set of courses is dedicated to networking and low-power systems, both from the perspective of the architecture, and from the perspective of communication in the context of IoT devices, which are pervasive and must be able to operate autonomously without maintenance. These are complemented by courses on sensing and signal processing, including machine learning techniques, which today dominate performance requirements for both traditional and embedded architectures. Embedded software development in the context of collaborative robotics is also part of the program. The student is also able to conduct individual projects under the supervision of a faculty member.

Academic Coordinator: Tomi Westerlund, tovewe@utu.fi

Specialisation description (Edge for AI and Robotics): In our exit year specialization, "Edge for AI and Robotics" at UTU, students will gain expertise in integrating System on Chips (SoCs), FPGAs, and GPUs for next-generation robotics. The programme delves into the main hardware and software components that drive autonomous drones (UAVs), unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), and other intelligent mobile systems. Students will learn how to optimize the limited computational capabilities of these systems by leveraging advanced hardware acceleration platforms and efficient deep neural networks. With our comprehensive robotic lab, students will have the chance to work on diverse robotic platforms, from aerial to quadrupedal and other ground robots, developing intelligent, context-aware systems. Graduates will be set to lead the future of AI-driven robotics and edge computing platforms.