Users of NXP Semiconductors' LPC178X microcontroller family -- the industrially tuned devices equipped with built-in motor controllers MCUs -- just got another choice in developer boards, via the KickStart Kit from IAR Systems.
Background: The LPC178x is an ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller family. The 32-bit devices come in clock speeds of up to 120MHz and feature low-power consumption along with connectivity to Ethernet, USB 2.0, and CAN 2.0B. For automation and control users, the MCUs have a built-in motor-control pulse-width modulator (PWM) driver.
What: IAR Systems' KickStart Kit pulls together an evaluation board, software tools, and debug probe. The board is fitted with an LPC1788, which is the top-of-the-line NXP Cortex-M3. On the output side, the board has a 3.5-inch color touch screen, along with connectors for USB, Ethernet, and CAN.
On the software development side, the KickStart Kit is intended to be used with IAR Embedded Workbench. That's a C and C++ development environment, which is sold separately. However, a trial version with limited functionality is available for free download.
Price/availability: The KickStart Kit is available now, directly from IAR, for $399. Note that other development environments for the NXP LPC178x family are available from Embedded Artists and from Future Designs Inc.
In some cases, lots of neat hardware gives engineers, programmers, and product designers a lot to work with, but on the other hand, the complexity of these added I/O devices can create problems due to lack of schematic diagrams, lack of complete information--or links to it--about the external devices and ports, lack of easy-to-use driver software, and lack of basic code examples. Also, keep in mind that the external devices on a dev board use MCU I/O pins that you might need for other circuits, so check documentation first to ensure you can disconnect things you don't need. And review documentation before you buy a development-kit board.
I like the IAR Embedded Workbench software-development tools and the company's debugging and flash-memory/debugging hardware, but have used them only under the 30-day license or with a code limits (I can't remember which applies). Remember to check the NXP site for information about the CodeRed tools and the LPCXpresso tools for NXP ARM processors. Also, check out the ARM Keil tools for the Cortex-M3 processors. --Jon Titus
I feel like an (embedded) kid in a weird kind of developers' candy story when I read about all the great dev kit options out there these days. The key, though, to successful development is/are software tools, good compilers, and most important of all the training to successfully exploit the capabilities of MCUs which today are more capable than the microprocessors of only a few years ago. That's the high bar, which engineers have to work every day to reach.
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