Embedded Android Boot Camp (New!)

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Barr Group's Embedded Android Boot Camp™ is a one-week immersion into utilizing Android on embedded hardware platforms, consisting of a series of lectures and hands-on exercises. This intense educational (and exciting!) program is designed to lead software engineers through the steps of bringing up embedded hardware with Android, developing custom Android device drivers, and exposing custom hardware functionality in Android apps.

What You'll Learn

Everyone who attends the Embedded Android Boot Camp learns a ton, including:

• How to modify bootloaders for embedded hardware
• How to modify and build the Linux kernel
• How to create and debug Linux device drivers
• How to customize and build the Android software stack
• More than 50 practical tips for simplifying and speeding Android ports
• How to avoid common Android development pitfalls

Day-by-Day Schedule

The public Embedded Android Boot Camp runs for 4-1/2 days and is broken up as follows:

Monday - Embedded Linux Foundation

Porting the Linux-based Android kernel is a critical step in creating an embedded Android device. The lectures and exercises will focus on the key challenges associated with bootloader and Linux-based Android kernel bringup on a new hardware platform.

Tuesday - Embedded Linux Device Driver Development

The development of drivers for embedded Android devices is full of challenges. Tools and techniques will be discussed for working with device driver models, common hardware initialization and interface, interrupt support, multithreading, and synchronization.

Wednesday - Android Software Stack

The Android operating system is designed for embedded devices, but still must be customized when being ported to new hardware. Architecture, approaches to kernel customization, development of hardware abstraction libraries, and embedded-specific app development techniques are all important concepts that will be explored in detail.

Thursday - Capstone Programming Project

Teams comprising 2-4 students aim to complete an entire Android coding project (from requirements through design and design review to implementation) in a single, fun, learning-packed day.

Friday (half-day) - Making The Android Decision

As with all operating systems, there are pros and cons for using Android. Benefits and pitfalls are discussed, as are issues related to licensing and intellectual property, and alternatives to Android are considered.

Full outlines and other details for each of the courses on which the Embedded Android Boot Camp is based are available via these links:

• Embedded Linux Foundation
• Embedded Linux Device Driver Development
• Android Software Stack
• Making The Android Decision

What You Get

At the Embedded Android Boot Camp you will receive:

• A development board with the following hardware features:
  • Texas Instruments Sitara ARM Cortex-A8 AM335x Processor
  • 256MB DDR3
  • 4.3" touchscreen LCD
  • Dual Gigabit Ethernet ports with integrated switch
  • WiFi WL1271 with Wifi Direct Support
  • Bluetooth®
  • USB
  • USB-UART
  • USB-XDS100 emulator
  • Android navigation buttons
  • User configured LEDs
  • Audio out
• All necessary cables for the development board
• A printed copy of all lecture slides
• A printed Exercise Manual with instructions for all programming exercises,
• A USB thumb drive containing:
  • Source code starting points for the exercises,
  • An electronic copy of the book Programming Embedded Systems with C and GNU Development Tools by Michael Barr and Anthony Massa,
  • An electronic copy of the book Embedded C Coding Standard by Michael Barr,
  • An electronic copy of the book Embedded Systems Dictionary by Jack Ganssle and Michael Barr,
  • Datasheets and User's Manuals for all of the hardware and tools,
  • Dozens of articles for in-depth "further reading" on advanced topics, and
  • A backup electronic copy of all lecture slides.
• Source code solutions for all of the exercises including the capstone project,
• A certificate of course completion, and
• A few other free trinkets.

Lunch is provided each of the first four days. All exercises are done using the Texas Instruments target development board.

Target Audience

Typical attendees have from 2 to 15 years of embedded software experience and an electrical engineering, computer science, computer engineering or similar degree. Some have been working with other embedded operating systems and want to make the switch to Android system software development; others are Android application developers who want to understand and begin learning to customize Android for new hardware. These well-tested lectures and exercises provide an easy-to-follow path through the material with deep dives on advanced best practices. And there's plenty of even deeper information on the thumb drive to explore after you leave.

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