CNXSoft – Embedded Software Development

Atmel has just announced its SAM D20 family of embedded Flash micro-controllers based on ARM Cortex-M0+ processor core, designed for low power applications such as home automation, consumer, smart metering and industrial applications.

Atmel SAM D20 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit

The key features of Atmel SAM D20 MCUs are as follows:

• Cortex M0+ @ 48MHz, 2.14 Coremark/MHz
• Single-cycle IO access, supporting a pin toggling frequency up to 24 MHz
• Eight-channel event system
• Peripherals:
  • Four to six serial communication modules (SERCOM) configurable as UART/USART, SPI or I2C
  • Up to eight 16-bit Timer/Counters
  • Peripheral touch controller (PTC) that supports up to 256 channels and supports buttons, sliders, wheels, and proximity
  • Real Time Clock (RTC) and calendar with leap year correction
  • 12-bit 350ksps ADC and 10-bit DAC
• Power Consumption:
  • <150µA/MHz
  • <2µA RAM retention and RTC
  • Options between internal and external oscillators and on-the-fly clock switching

The family supports features 14 new devices available in 32-, 48- and 64-pin package options with 16 to 256KB of Flash memory, and 2 to 32KB RAM.

Atmel SAMD20 Block Diagram

SAM D20 series is supported by the same Atmel Studio and Atmel Software Framework used for Atmel AVR MCUs. The company also providesSAM D20 Xplained Pro evaluation kit (Pictured at the top of this post) with the following specifications:

• SAMD20J18 microcontroller (64-pin package, 32KB SRAM, 256KB flash)
• One mechanical reset button
• One mechanical user pushbutton (wake-up, bootloader entry or general purpose)
• One yellow user LED
• 32.768kHz crystal
• 3 Xplained Pro extension headers
• Program/debug interface for external targets
• Embedded Debugger
  • Auto-ID for board identification in Atmel Studio 6.1
  • One yellow status LED
  • One green board power LED
  • Symbolic debug of complex data types including scope information
  • Programming and debugging
  • Data Gateway Interface: SPI, I²C, 4 GPIOs
  • Virtual COM port (CDC)
• USB powered
• Supported with application examples in Atmel Software Framework

The Xplained PRO kit also comes pre-loaded with software that can be re-programmed, debugged and prototyped without any additional tools.

Samples of 128KB 32-pin, and 256KB 48-and 64 pin products are available in QFN and QFP packages now with pricing starting at $1.02 USD for 1K units of the 16KB, 32-pin QFN package. SAM D20 Xplained Pro kit can be purchased for $39 from Atmel Store.

Further information is available on Atmel SAM D20 microsite, and you may want to read “An intelligent remote control with Atmel’s SAM D20 under the hood” blog post to see a practical application using SAM D20 MCU.

Texas Instrument launched SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 in Q1 2012 in order to bring WiFi connectivity to any device including 8-bit or 16-bit MCU, as CC3300 internally handled all networking tasks, and exchange data with the MCU via an SPI interface. This Wi-Fi processor allows to use Wi-Fi for data transmission for the Internet of Things, and offers much better battery than other system relying on software to handle network traffic. Today, the company has just announced SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 BoosterPack, a low cost evaluation platform that works with both MSP430 and Tiva C Series LaunchPad evaluation kits, and sells for $35.

SimpleLink CC3000 BoosterPack

SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 BoosterPack features and benefits as seen in the press release:

LaunchPad Board with CC3300 BoosterPack

• SmartConfig technology:
  • One-step Wi-Fi configuration using smartphones, tablets or PCs
  • Easy network setup for display-less (headless) devices
  • Simultaneous multiple device provisioning
  • iOS, Android and Java sample applications available
  • Royalty-free software
• Flexible memory size – Small memory foot print of CC3000 module for easy integration with low-cost MCUs such as ultra-low power MSP430 Value Line
• Service discovery – Quick discovery of network-provisioned devices via smartphones and tablets using mDNS
• Pre-certified $9.99 CC3000 module – Reduces costs to add Wi-Fi to MCU-based designs

Other interesting details is that it support 802.11 b/g, and IPv4 TCP/IP Stack. There’s no mention of IPv6, which might be an issue for some IoT applications. Transmisstion power is +18dBm at 11Mbps, CCK, and Rx Sensitivity -86dBm, 8% PER, at 11Mbps.

CC3300 BoosterPack measures 16.3mm × 13.5mm × 2mm, can operate in -20°C to 70°C temperature range, and comes with porting and user guides, an API guide, sample applications, and support via the community. There’s also a “Radio Tool Package” executable for Windows, which probably contains the tools needed for development.

You can watch the introduction video below.

The SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3000 BoosterPack is available now through TI eStore for $35 including shipping, or through distributors. Two other bundles are also available:

• CC3000 BoosterPack with MSP430 LaunchPad (MSP-EXP430G2-CC3000BOOST) for $40.99, and available now.

• CC3000 BoosterPack with the Tiva C Series LaunchPad (EK-TM4C123GXL-CC3000BOOST) for $43.99. Not available yet, and ETA has not been provided.

More information is available on www.ti.com/cc3000boost.

On top of announcing its first Linux powered board, Arduino also announced its first official robot at Maker Faire Bay Area called “Arduino Robot”. The robot comes with 2 wheels and  two boards:

• The Motor Board controlling the motors.
• The Control Board reading sensors and deciding how to operate.

Each board, based on Atmel ATmega32u4 MCU, is programmable like any other Arduino board using the Arduino IDE.

Control board specifications:

Control Board (Click to Enlarge)

• MCU – Atmel ATmega32u4 @ 16 MHz with 32KB flash, 2.5KB SRAM, and 1KB EEPROM
• External Storage – 512 Kbit EEPROM (I2C) + SD card reader for FAT16 formatted cards
• Display – Full color LCD over SPI communication
• I/O interfaces:
  • 5x Digital I/O Pins
  • 6x PWM Channels
  • 4x Analog Input Channels  (of the Digital I/O pins)
  • 8x Analog Input Channels (multiplexed)
• Misc – 5 keys keypad, Knob potentiometer attached to analog pin, 8 Ohm speaker, digital compass
• “Playground” – 3x I2C soldering ports, 4x Prototyping areas
• Power – 5V

Motor board specifications:

Motor Board (Click to Enlarge)

• MCU – Atmel ATmega32u4 @ 16 MHz with 32KB flash, 2.5KB SRAM, and 1KB EEPROM
• I/O interfaces:
  • 4x Digital I/O Pins
  • 1x PWM Channels
  • 4x Analog Input Channels (same as the Digital I/O pins)
  • 5 IR line following sensors
• “Playground” – 1x I2C soldering ports, 2x prototyping areas
• Misc – Trimmer for movement calibration
• Power – 5V. Input Voltage 9V to battery charger, AA battery slot four alkaline or NiMh rechargeable batteries.

Hardware, software and documentation are all freely available and open-source. You can power and program it by connecting it to  one of the USB ports of your computer (Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X) . You’ll have to insert 4 rechargeable batteries to use it without computer, as for safety reason, the motors are disabled when it is powered via USB.

The Arduino was available for purchase at the Maker Faire on May 17-19 (but I could not find the price), and will be available to all early July 2013 via Arduino store and the company’s distributors. Further information is available on Arduino Robot page.

Via Atmel Blog and Liliputing

Massimo Banzi announced the Arduino Yún, the first of a  family of Wi-Fi products combining Arduino with Linux, at the Maker Faire Bay Area. The company used the name Yún (云), meaning “cloud” in Chinese, as the purpose of this board to allow connection to web services directly from Arduino.

Arduino Yun Specifications:

• MCU – Atmel ATMega32u4 @ 16 MHz (same as the one used in Leonardo board) with 2.5KB SRAM and 32KB flash
• SoC – Atheros AR9331 MIPS-based Wi-Fi SoC running Linino, Arduino’s own Linux distribution based on OpenWRT. It’s the same chipset as in TP-Link WR703N router.
• Storage – microSD card slot
• USB – micro USB connector + full USB host port
• Connectivity – Ethernet + Wi-Fi
• 14 digital input/output pins (of which 7 can be used as PWM outputs and 12 as analog inputs)

Arduino Yún ATMega32u4 can be programmed as a standard Arduino board by plugging it to your computer with the micro USB connector, or via Wi-Fi.

The company explains that during Yún first boot, it acts as an Access Point, and creates “Arduino”  Wi-Fi network. So you can simply open its configuration page into your browser, and set-up the Wi-Fi network name, security type, and password.

Arduino created a Bridge library which delegates all network connections and processing of HTTP transactions to the Atheros chip running Linux, so you can link the Atmel MCU to Linux, launching programs and scripts, passing them parameters (sensor readings for example) and reading their output with your own sketches. Since Linino is a customized version of  OpenWRT, shell and Python scripts are supported out-of-the-box, and you can install open source software and tools that are already working in OpenWRT.

Over one hundred APIs will be available thanks to Temboo, and developers will have access to  multiple platforms such as  Twitter, Facebook, FedEx or PayPal, from a single point of contact.

Arduino Yún should be available at the end of June for 69$.

Via Greg Kroah-Hartman

Microchip Technology has announced several new tools,  expanding its Arduino compatible chipKIT platform ecosystem, based on Microchip’s 32-bit PIC32 microcontrollers (MCUs) available in  low pin count SOIC or SPDIP packages.

Digilent chipKIT DP32

Digilent’s chipKIT DP32 board features basic I/O and interface components, including a prototyping aera, user buttons, and a potentiometer. The board (part # TDGL019) costs $23.9, and should be available on May 17 at microchipDIRECT.

ChipKIT Fubarino

The chipKIT Fubarino Mini board, from a partnership between FUBAR Labs and Schmalz Haus, provides another option for Arduino-compatible development with 32-bit PIC32 MCUs, using a smaller form factor. The board is supposed to be available today for $19.95 on microchipDIRECT, but I could not find it yet.

If you don’t want/need a development board,  the company also provides PIC32MX250F128B MCU in PDIP package (28-pin) preprogrammed with chipKIT USB Bootloader.  This MCU, clocked up to 40Mhz, includes 128 KB Flash and 32 KB RAM, as well as  integrated peripherals for touch sensing, graphics, audio processing, USB and control applications. So you can just plug it into a breadboard together with other components, and start developing your own applications. This MCU (part # TCHIP-USB-MX250F128B) should be available on May 24, for $5.95 on microchipDIRECT.

You can also get the 2 development boards at a discount, if you go to the Bay Area Maker Faire on May 18 & 19, 2013. More information is available on chipKIT Community Site.

Embedded Pi is a platform capable of interfacing the Raspberry Pi with 3.3V and/or 5V Arduino shields, based on an 32-bit ARM Cortex M3 STMicro STM32 MCU. It can also be used in standalone mode as an Arduino compatible ARM MCU evaluation board.

Embedded Pi Block Diagram

VIA Technologies has recently announced the VAB-600 Pico-ITX embedded board featuring WonderMedia WM8950 ARM Cortex A9 SoC clocked at 800MHz. VIA targets in-vehicle infotainment as well as mobile and healthcare applications for the board despite an operating temperature range between 0°C and 60°C.

VIA VAB-600 Pico-ITX Board (Click to Enlarge)

Here are the key features of this embedded board:

• SoC – Wondermedia WM8950 Cortex-A9 @ 800MHz  + Mali-400 GPU
• System Memory – 1GB DDR3 SDRAM
• Storage – 4GB eMMC Flash memory + 512KB SPI Flash for Boot Loader + microSD slot
• Video Output – Mini HDMI, on-board DVO (Digital Video Output) for TTL or LVDS display
• Video Codecs – MPEG2 MP@HL, MPEG4, H.264 BP/MP/[email protected], VC-1 SP/MP/AP, VP8 and JPEG/MJPEG.
• USB -  2x mini USB 2.0 host ports
• Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (VT6113), 3G (SIM card slot) and optional WiFi support (VIA VNT9271B6050 WiFi module shared with one USB port)
• On-board Connectors:
  • 2x COM connectors
  • 1x RTC battery pin header
  • 1x USB 2.0 connector
  • 1x SPI connector for programming SPI Flash ROM
  • 1x Keypad connector
  • 1x CIR connector
  • 1x Front audio pin header for Line-in, Line-out and MIC-in
  • 1x Front panel pin header for system power-on, reset and power LED
  • 4-wire resistive touch screen FPC connector (through VT1603A)
  • 1x pin header for 1 I2C pair and 8 GPIO
  • Optional battery charger connector with Smart Battery function
• Operating Temperature Range – 0°C to 60°C
• Operating Humidity – 0% ~ 95% (relative humidity ; non-condensing)
• Dimensions – 10cm x 7.2cm Pico-ITX form factor

The company provides board support packages (BSPs) for Android 4.0 and/or Embedded Linux (Kernel 3.0.8). Android 4.0 EVK is available for download here, but there’s nothing for Linux yet. Before downloading the file you’ll have to agree to a “Non-Disclosure and Recipient Acknowledgment for Short Term Sample Products Evaluation”, which I find a bit silly for a publicly available file…

VIA also offers a startker kit including VIA VAB-600 Pico-ITX board, VAB-600-A I/O card, VAB-600-C TTL Converter card, a 7” touch screen TTL panel, cables and a 18W AC adapter.

VIA VAB-600 Starter Kit (Click to Enlarge)

Sample units of the VIA VAB-600 Pico-ITX board are available now at an undisclosed price. Further information, including the board user’s manual and product brief, is available on VIA’s VAB-600 page.