TI Introduces $4 Development Kit

Texas Instruments Inc. hasunveiled a $4.30 development kit targeted at the 25-cent, 16-bitmicrocontroller line that it rolled out earlier this year.

Known as LaunchPad, the new kit is intended tohelp engineers who want to transition their future applications from eight-bitto 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs).

"We're trying to make thedevelopment process as simple as possible, so that they don't have to startfrom the ground, up, and deal with all the bits and bytes of programming," saysAdrian Fernandez, a product marketing engineer for TI's MSP430 team. "By doingit with LaunchPad, everything is modular. All they have to worry about is theirapplication and what they want to do with it."

The new productrepresents a departure from other development kits, which cost about $50 apieceon average, with some reaching as high as $200, TI says. As such, the electronicsgiant is targeting the new kit at two groups: engineers who want to graduatefrom eight- to 16-bit designs; and engineers who have never employed a TIMSP430 or an MCU of any kind.

TI releasedthe so-called MSP430 Value Line family of microcontrollers in March, withthe idea of going head-to-head with eight-bit devices in the low end of the $13billion MCU market. Price for the 16-bit family, which offers more MIPS andlower power consumption than most eight-bit devices, start at just 25 centsapiece. To date, the company has released 27 separate types of Value Linedevices, with the ultimate plan calling for about 100 of them in the next 15months.

Applicationsfor the device include capacitive touch and remote sensing, as well as lighting,safety and security, fitness equipment, and consumer electronics, such as 3-Dglasses. At a TI Wiki page created forthe product, users have posted videos of LaunchPad being applied in thecreation of simple games, LED controllers and servo motor controllers.

Fernandezsays that the development kit was created in response to demand from engineers."We received a lot of customer feedback regarding the need for a low-costdevelopment kit for (the Value Line)," he says.

He addsthat the cost of the kit is encouraging developers to try it. "It's cheaperthan a Happy Meal," he says. "We can't wait to see what our customers do withit."