Enhancing Embedded Systems Education Through Remote Laboratories with Real-Time Firmware Observability

Microcontroller programming is a key element in engineering education, enabling students to acquire practical skills in embedded systems. Despite its importance, limited access to physical laboratories at many institutions restricts hands-on learning experiences. Remote laboratories have been introduced as a solution; however, most rely solely on external visual feedback, which constrains observability and limits analysis of internal program behavior. This paper introduces a remote laboratory for microcontroller education utilizing an STM32 platform within a Cloud–IoT framework. The proposed system allows real-time monitoring of internal firmware variables through compilation artifacts, without requiring direct interaction with traditional debugging tools. A pilot study involving 40 students in a microcontrollers course, who engaged with the system remotely using standard development workflows, was conducted. Usability was measured via the System Usability Scale (SUS), yielding an average score of 75.19 and reflecting high satisfaction. The platform enables real-time observation of internal system states during program execution, facilitating program analysis while maintaining an experience similar to traditional on-site laboratories. These findings indicate that the system offers a robust and scalable alternative for embedded systems education, with improved observability over existing remote laboratory solutions.