MCU evaluation and IoT designs get new development kits
15-09-2016 | By Paul Whytock
A dev board for designing with 16 and 32bit PIC MCUs has been launched by Microchip and kit that uses the STM32 microcontroller ecosystem for prototyping IoT devices with LoRa Wireless LPWAN connectivity has been announced by STMicrolelectronics.
Microchip's Explorer 16/32 board comes with an integrated programmer/debugger and several new features that provide a flexible tool while being backwards compatible to the classic Explorer 16 Board.
It serves as a platform for customers to evaluate the 16bit PIC24, dsPIC33 and 32bit PIC32 families of devices through Processor Plug-In-Modules (PIMs) for easy device swapping. It facilitates prototyping of the end application for proof of concept before migrating to the actual design. The board features a mikroBUS interface to easily add new functionalities using Click Boards from MikroElectronika.
In addition, the board also supports an integrated USB for both power and communication eliminating the need for an external power adapter and communication accessory.
The Explorer 16/32 Development Kit (DM240001-3) includes the main Explorer 16/32 Development Board as well as a PIC24FJ1024GB610 Plug-In-Module and two USB cables. The Plug-In-Module features a 16-bit PIC24FJ1024GB610 microcontroller with 1MB Flash, a superset of memory and functions for the lower power PIC24F family.
Low cost ST kit
The STMicroelectronics product is a low-cost development kit costing $40. The P-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 combines the ultra-low-power STM32L073 Nucleo (NUCLEO-L073RZ) microcontroller board with an RF expansion board based on the SX1272 LoRa transceiver from Semtech.
The STM32L073 MCU with its ARM Cortex-M0+ core and proprietary ultra-low-power features is said to provide a good host for devices such as utility meters, alarm systems, positioning devices, trackers and remote sensors. Users can further extend functionality by adding extra expansion boards such as the X-NUCLEO-IKS01A1 sensor board for motion, humidity and temperature sensing.
LoRa enables long-range communication with several advantages over conventional cellular connections, including lower power and cost. Features include multiple communication modes, accurate indoor and outdoor location awareness, and native AES-128 security.
The kit contains everything needed to build bi-directional end devices that comply with LoRaWAN version 1.0.1 and support class A and class C protocols. Devices can be activated using Over-The-Air Activation or Activation-By-Personalisation (ABP). An application for LoRaWAN certification tests is included in the kit.
