Autonomous on-Chip Debugging for Sensors Based on AVR Microcontrollers

Abstract

Sensors are often based on minimalistic microcontrollers for their reduced power consumption and size. Because of the specific hardware of sensors, their software development, including debugging, is also particular. Simulators and external computers are conventional approaches to sensor debugging, but they both face limitations such as the supported hardware and debugging conditions. In this paper, we propose a fully autonomous on-chip debugging solution for sensors (and other devices) based on AVR microcontrollers, with a particular focus on human-machine interaction. The proposal is then validated in practice through various experiments, notably involving real-world sensors. Formal measurement of the induced overhead is also conducted, which eventually demonstrates the applicability of the proposal.