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ian writes:
A simple development board seems like a fun project. I’m recording my ideas here, and hope to get some input from other members of the ‘uC (or anyone else).
To avoid feature creep, I think several levels of dev-board would be a good idea. This page will describe my ideas for a level one board, I will add pages for additional boards as ideas arise.
A simple PIC development board – [Link]
The Microchip Microstick for dsPIC33F and PIC24H is a DIP socketed development environment for the dsPIC33FJ64MC802 and PIC24HJ64GP502 16-bit digital signal controller and microcontroller. The board is USB powered with an integrated programmer/debugger, an onboard debug LED, utility LED and reset switch. Pin header spacing is 0.025″. List price is $24.99 from Microchip Direct. [via]
Microstick dev board for dsPIC33F and PIC24H – [Link]
The XGS AVR 8-Bit system was developed to be a very competitive entry/midrange development kit for the Atmel ATmega644 AVR processor with 64K FLASH, 4K SRAM, and running at 28+ MIPs. The kit includes everything you need to get started developing applications on the very popular platform.
XGS AVR 8-Bit development system – [Link]
This tutorial shows you how to setup an AVR Eclipse development environment on Windows. The AVR-GCC toolchain is a collection of tools which are used to compile and upload firmware to AVR microcontrollers. The toolchain comprises of:
- GCC – The C/C++ Compiler
- GNU Binutils – A collection of tools, including the assembler, linker and other tools to manipulate the generated binary files
- AVR Libc – A subset of the standard C Library with additional AVR specific functions.
- GDB – The debugger
- AVRDude – Used to upload and download firmware
AVR Eclipse Environment on Windows – [Link]
FTDI released Vinculum-II (VNC2) development board, inspired by the Arduino. The Vinculo is a dual channel USB Host/Device Controller is targeted at rapid development and prototyping of USB Host/Device interfaces. The Vinculo has an Arduino shield pinout, with an extra row of 10 pins on the digital side. It can be programmed using a subset of standard ANSII ‘C’ using the FTDI free of charge software development environment. [via]
Vinculum-II (VNC2) development platform – [Link]
Texas Instruments has introduced a cheap and easy to use development tool based on the MSP430 microcontroller. LaunchPad is intended for beginners and experienced users that want to create microcontroller-based applications. The Launchpad kit includes a development board, 2 programmable MSP430 micrcontrollers and a mini USB cable. A good place to start is the Launchpad wiki and you can buy it from the TI-eStore or Mouser. Shipping is free from TI!
TI MSP430 Launchpad for $4.30 - [Link]
This article discuss how to setup an AVR development platform based on free available software and tools like WinAVR or AVR-GCC. WinAVR is a toolset for C programming the AVR microcontrollers including avr-gcc compiler, avrdude programmer, avr-gdb debugger and more. The article also discuss how to use an integrated development environment (IDE) like AVRStudio to complete a simple project. Check this article on the link below.
Setting up AVR development platform – [Link]
USB is very common interface today. If you look around, many of devices today comes with a USB port. Computers, printers, routers, usb keys, etc. All this devices have a USB controller inside. These devices can be divided in two groups:
- USB Host (like a computer, routers, modern LCD TV’s);
- USB Device (like flash drive, mouse, keyboard);
Most of hobby electronic projects still are in RS232 serial communications world. Think in that great market,
Microchip create a very smart line of microcontrollers, USB capable, to move your projects to future. They have great introductory kits, one of them is the “Low Pin Count USB Development Kit”.
USB Low Pin Kit - [Link]
Electronics is my hobby. When I was in college I had some experience with microcontrollers; I did few projects with Atmel’s AT89C51. Recently, I have grown interest on PIC microcontrollers, and I thought I should start with 8-pin microchips. I picked PIC12F683 microchip. This microcontroller fascinated me a lot because I wanted to see what we can do with an 8-pin microcontroller (out of which 2 pins goes to power supply, so actually just 6-pins are left for I/O). So I thought of making my own learning board for this. In this project, I am first going to describe the learning board that I made, and then will demonstrate few experiments on it.
Learning Board for PIC12F683 Microchip - [Link]
Back in July 2009, we reviewed Protostack’s ATMEGA8 development kit. The heart of the kit was Protostack’s 28 pin AVR board. This week Protostack released a new version of that board and it includes a whole bunch of improvements. You can read the original review here.
This release is the 3rd one to date and includes the following improvements over the one we previously looked at.
- Addition of power supply block
- ISP-6 interface is now 2×3 pin instead of 1×6 pin
- Addition of a section for double row headers and IDC connectors
- Clearer labeling of power busses
The board is available on its own or as part of an ATMega8 or ATMega168 development kit from www.protostack.com. Pricing starts at $9.60 for a single board.
