Targeted at 10/100 Ethernet applications, the new PIC32 Multimedia Developers Kit from element14 and Microchip, offers comprehensive design software support for rapid evaluation and engineering development projects. Available to element14 customers from 23 January, the new development kit is offered at an exclusive price for a two month period. Optimised for multimedia applications such as audio, graphics and touch screen development, the kit features a PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit and Multimedia Expansion Board. By inserting the Starter Kit into the MEB a powerful development tool is created with extra functionality provided by a PICTail socket that offers access to additional I/O. A free-to-download version of Microchip’s MPLAB PIC32 C compiler provides code development support.
Ethernet-based projects will be up and running in no time using the combination of PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit and Microchip’s free TCP/IP software. Among its many features, the PIC32 has an available CAN 2.0b peripheral and USB host/device/OTG, while the Ethernet Starter Kit offers a form factor and expansion connector that is compatible with other PIC32 starter kits. There are also several notable features of the Multimedia Expansion Board, which provides PIC32 starter kit users with an integrated yet flexible solution for the development of high impact user interfaces. The board comes with a 3.2 Colour TFT touch-screen QVGA display, onboard FCC certified WiFi module, 24-bit stereo audio code, three-axis accelerometer, joystick and MicroSD memory card slot. Simply connect the PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit to the Multimedia Expansion Board and it’s possible to commence developing, programming and debugging code for the user interface features. The kit comes pre-loaded with software and design examples that support evaluation of PIC32 functionality, while project files and pre-programmed example code are freely available for download from element14. Also included in the kit are: a standard A to mini B cable for debugging devices; a standard A to micro B cable for USB application development; an Ethernet cable; and information sheet and documentation.
