FutureLearn

Design and Prototype Embedded Computer Systems (FutureLearn)

Offered by Raspberry Pi Foundation, National Centre for Computing Education,
Design and Prototype Embedded Computer Systems (FutureLearn)

Discover embedded system design and work your way through the product design lifecycle. Supported by Google. Learn how to design your own embedded system. On this course from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, you will explore how embedded systems are used in the world around us. You will learn what makes an embedded system different from a general purpose system (such as a PC) and discover how embedded systems are specialised for a particular use case.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see FutureLearn's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

As you explore the iterative design process, you will discover how the purpose of a system affects how it is designed, from choosing its components to the look of the final product. You will also investigate the design of an algorithm and, ultimately, design your own embedded system.

What topics will you cover?

  • The difference between embedded systems and general-purpose systems
  • How to decompose a product into features, tasks, and components using a block diagram
  • What is real-time computing is and why is it important?
  • How to apply an iterative design process
  • Prototyping
  • Designing a finished physical product
  • Connecting a device to the internet to provide functionality

Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Compare embedded systems to general-purpose systems
  • Investigate the design of a smartwatch as an example of an embedded system
  • Apply a design process to both an algorithm and a whole product
  • Develop a prototype of an embedded system

Who is the course for?
This course is designed for teachers delivering lessons on embedded systems in the classroom, at a GCSE level or equivalent.
This course will also be of interest to those with some experience of physical computing who want to move on to creating their own products.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Introduction to the Internet of Things and Embedded Systems (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Introduction to the Internet of Things and Embedded Systems (Coursera)

CS: Software Engineering

The explosive growth of the “Internet of Things” is changing our world and the rapid drop in price for typical IoT components is allowing people to innovate new designs and products at home. In this first class in the specialization you will learn the importance of IoT in society, the current components of typical IoT devices and trends for the future. IoT design considerations, constraints and interfacing between the physical world and your device will also be covered. You will also learn how to make design trade-offs between hardware and software. We'll also cover key components of networking to ensure that students understand how to connect their device to the Internet.

Jul 20th 2026
4 Weeks
Hardware Internet Microcontrollers
Details
Human-Centered Design for Inclusive Innovation (Coursera) Coursera
University of Toronto

Human-Centered Design for Inclusive Innovation (Coursera)

Business

This course introduces the principles and practices of human-centered design (also sometimes called “design thinking”) which are essential for developing innovative and inclusive products, services, processes and policies. You will learn by doing, experiencing the design process through exercises and a mini-bootcamp. In this course, you will learn about and experience key human-centered design practices: empathize, reframe, ideate, prototype and test. You will learn why human-centered design is a central component of Gender Analytics. You will develop skills in problem finding (and not just problem solving) by understanding users', stakeholders’ and beneficiaries' lived experiences.

Jul 27th 2026
4 Weeks
Business Innovation Prototyping
Details
Managing Innovation: Learning to Prototype for Business (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
St George's, University of London,Bayer

Managing Innovation: Learning to Prototype for Business (FutureLearn)

Business

Understand how to pitch innovative ideas using prototypes, and develop your skills by creating your own prototype. In order for companies to remain competitive, they have to create innovative products, processes or services to satisfy new or existing customers. Prototypes allow you to test your ideas early on to get invaluable feedback informing you about what the customers really want.

Self Paced
3 Weeks
Business Innovation Prototyping
Details
Product Management Essentials (FutureLearn) FutureLearn
FutureLearn

Product Management Essentials (FutureLearn)

Business

Develop your skills to successfully take products through the product development process, from design to launch and beyond. Learn to effectively manage each stage of the product lifecycle Over the last decade, product management has continued to become an important and influential business discipline, with product manager roles now a common occurrence in any organisation with a digital presence.

Self Paced
4 Weeks
Product Management Product Design Product Strategy
Details
Product Design: The Delft Design Approach (edX) EdX
Delft University of Technology,DelftX

Product Design: The Delft Design Approach (edX)

Management & Leadership Engineering

Learn to design meaningful products and services in this challenging design course. Do you want to learn how to design? Using the Delft Design Approach, you will learn how to use a number of key design methods to create meaningful products and services. This course is an introduction to the Delft Design Approach offering a set of signature methods from Delft to teach you how to get from understanding the user in context to defining a meaningful design challenge and – in the end – deliver a great design!

Self Paced
Self-Paced
Creativity Design Thinking Product Design
Details
Foundations of Objective-C App Development (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Foundations of Objective-C App Development (Coursera)

CS: Software Engineering CS: Programming

An introduction to the Objective-C programming language. This will prepare you for more extensive iOS app development and build a foundation for advanced iOS development topics. Objective-C programming requires a Mac laptop or desktop computer. An iOS device is optional if the learner is willing to working exclusively with the simulator. Some learners have been able to work with an OS X virtual machine on Windows, but explaining how to do that is beyond the scope of this course.

Jul 20th 2026
4 Weeks
Mobile Objective C iOS
Details
Management of Fashion and Luxury Companies (Coursera) Coursera
Università Bocconi

Management of Fashion and Luxury Companies (Coursera)

Management & Leadership

Learn how fashion and luxury companies work and understand their brands, products, retail, and communication strategies. Travel through business models, international development, and product categories with industry influent experts. Adopting a case-study approach, the course presents strategic brand management in luxury and fashion companies as a balancing act: tradition vs. innovation, expertise vs. experimentation, casual vs. stylish; in order to increase the brand value by nurturing the brand heritage and at the same time staying fresh, relevant, and contemporary in the global marketplace.

Jul 27th 2026
5-12 Weeks
Management Strategic Management Fashion
Details
Creative Design, Prototyping, and Testing (Coursera) Coursera
University of Maryland, College Park

Creative Design, Prototyping, and Testing (Coursera)

Marketing & Communication Business

Designing the customer and user experience is essential to creating great products today. Gone is the old paradigm of “form follows function” model of design. The process must be iterative and follow the best product design and development processes. While designing a great user experience can be a lengthy and expensive process, there are approaches to doing it faster and smarter, without compromising results.

Jul 27th 2026
4 Weeks
Prototyping Testing UX
Details
Human-Centered Design: an Introduction (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, San Diego

Human-Centered Design: an Introduction (Coursera)

CS: Design & Product

In this course, you will learn how to design technologies that bring people joy, rather than frustration. You'll learn several techniques for rapidly prototyping and evaluating multiple interface alternatives -- and why rapid prototyping and comparative evaluation are essential to excellent interaction design. You'll learn how to conduct fieldwork with people to help you get design ideas. How to make paper prototypes and low-fidelity mock-ups that are interactive -- and how to use these designs to get feedback from other stakeholders like your teammates, clients, and users. Armed with these design-thinking strategies, you’ll be able to do more creative human-centered design in any domain.

Jul 27th 2026
4 Weeks
Prototyping Interaction Design Human-Computer
Details