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TESA Open Knowledge

Embedded C Foundations on PSoC Edge

Level L3 · status alpha · 6 modules, 17 lessons · about 30 hours

This course closes the largest gap in the catalogue: the core engineering skills the Embedded Systems Engineering Roadmap marks as required, namely C, memory management, building, debugging, peripherals, basic buses and testing. Every lesson points to real C examples in the TESAIoT PSE84 Dev Kit SDK (Apache-2.0), pinned at commit ef72c1b. Where the SDK has no example yet, the lesson says so and cites the chip vendor’s documentation instead.

The lesson pages are Thai-first; English lesson pages are pending (translation: pending).

Who it is for

Section titled “Who it is for”
  • Developers who already write MicroPython or another language and want to move to C firmware
  • Students who finished AIoT in Action or equivalent
  • You need a TESAIoT Dev Kit (the SDK template at this commit targets KIT_PSE84_AI), ModusToolbox, and a logic analyzer for module 5
  • Every example and practice file runs on a computer without a board; you need gcc or clang, make, git and python3. Each lesson’s lab uses the board
  • Firmware is built from the SDK’s fw-c-only-v1.10.0 release zip, not a git clone, because the git repository carries no prebuilt libraries (*.a); lesson 2.1 explains

Outcomes

Section titled “Outcomes”
  1. Write C that handles bits, registers and memory safely on a microcontroller, explaining where each piece of data lives.
  2. Build, flash and version firmware reproducibly with ModusToolbox, Make and Git.
  3. Debug firmware over SWD with GDB and diagnose faults from evidence rather than guesses.
  4. Use GPIO, interrupts, timers, the watchdog and DMA correctly under ISR and RTOS rules.
  5. Communicate over UART, I2C and SPI and verify the signals with a logic analyzer.
  6. Separate logic from hardware to unit-test it on the host, and set up CI that checks every change.

Modules and lessons

Section titled “Modules and lessons”

Module 1 — C for microcontrollers and memory (m01-c-and-memory)

Lesson Topic Time
c-found.m01.l01 C on a microcontroller 70 min
c-found.m01.l02 Memory map, stack and heap 70 min
c-found.m01.l03 Structs, pointers and ring buffers 70 min

Module 2 — Building with ModusToolbox and Make, and Git for firmware (m02-build-and-version)

Lesson Topic Time
c-found.m02.l01 The toolchain and a first build 70 min
c-found.m02.l02 Make and build flags 70 min
c-found.m02.l03 Git for firmware work 70 min

Module 3 — Debugging with SWD and GDB (m03-debugging)

Lesson Topic Time
c-found.m03.l01 SWD and GDB basics 70 min
c-found.m03.l02 Diagnosing faults from evidence 70 min

Module 4 — Timers, interrupts, watchdog, DMA and clocks (m04-peripherals)

Lesson Topic Time
c-found.m04.l01 GPIO and interrupts 70 min
c-found.m04.l02 Timers and clocks 70 min
c-found.m04.l03 The watchdog 70 min
c-found.m04.l04 DMA 70 min

Module 5 — UART, I2C and SPI with a logic analyzer (m05-serial-buses)

Lesson Topic Time
c-found.m05.l01 UART 70 min
c-found.m05.l02 I2C 70 min
c-found.m05.l03 SPI 70 min

Module 6 — Unit testing and CI (m06-test-and-ci)

Lesson Topic Time
c-found.m06.l01 Unit tests on the host 70 min
c-found.m06.l02 CI for firmware 70 min

Status

Section titled “Status”

The course is in alpha. All 17 lessons follow the same structure: goals, before you start, look at the real thing first, concepts, a complete example, practice, solution, a comprehension check (each lesson’s quiz.yaml), a lab and next steps.

  • Every example and practice file was checked on a computer: each practice file fails its tests before it is filled in, and each solution passes. The exception is the GDB scripts of lesson 3.1, which can only be checked with a board attached
  • The board labs are written from the SDK’s code and documentation at commit ef72c1b, but have not yet been trialled on a real board. If a step does not match your board, report it as described in CONTRIBUTING.md
  • Every SDK link is pinned to one commit and was checked to exist at that commit
  • Every hardware and API fact is taken from the SDK source or from Infineon mtb-pdl-cat1 release-v3.24.0. Infineon examples are linked by repository and tag, not copied

Main references

Section titled “Main references”

Licence

Section titled “Licence”
  • Content: CC BY-NC 4.0
  • This course’s code (every lesson’s examples/, practice/ and solution/ folders): Apache-2.0
  • SDK code is not copied as files. Lessons quote short excerpts of at most 25 lines, each with a link to the file at commit ef72c1b and the credit (Apache-2.0, tesaiot-pse84-devkit-sdk)
  • Infineon code is not copied; it stays under its own licence at the linked source
  • Unity (MIT), used in module 6, is cloned by the learner at tag v2.7.0 and is not included in this repository

How to cite TESA

Section titled “How to cite TESA”

When you use, share or adapt this course, credit it as follows:

“Embedded C Foundations on PSoC Edge” from TESA Open Knowledge by the Thai Embedded Systems Association (TESA), https://github.com/tesaiot/tesa-qualification-program, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Add “(adapted)” at the end of the credit, with a short note of what you changed, when you change the material. Crediting TESA does not mean TESA endorses your work. Details and examples are in ATTRIBUTION.md.

Companion videos for this course

Watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Videos by Thai Embedded Systems Association (TESA) · The whole series in the playlist AIoT Foundation

TESA Open Knowledge · © 2026 สมาคมสมองกลฝังตัวไทย (TESA) · CC BY-NC 4.0

Content is licensed CC BY-NC 4.0. Reuse it non-commercially and credit the Thai Embedded Systems Association (TESA) every time. · How to cite TESA