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Rich Quinnell

Low-Cost Development Board Features Triple Compatibility

Rich Quinnell

Developers seeking flexibility in their choice for a low-cost platform will not need to wait much longer. NXP has announced plans to create a board compatible with three different platforms, and scheduled its release for April.

The LPC-800 MAX development board that NXP is announcing at Embedded World uses the LPC812 MCU as its central processor. The board's native format follows the LPCXpresso platform patterns used in other NXP development boards. The LPCXpresso IDE will support programming and debugging the board using the on-board CMSIS-DAP interface, with no LPC-Link needed, and the LPCXpresso connector on the board is compatible with existing baseboards.

But to maximize the developer's options, the board offers two additional pin out patterns. By leveraging the I/O switching matrix embeddedd in the LPC812, NXP is able to re-route I/O to match the popular Mbed and Arduino Uno. This means that the many different hardware extensions available for these platforms are pin-compatible with the LPC-800 AX, as are many of the development tools.

Because the LPC812 is based on the ARM Cortex M0, for instance all the Mbed online development tools will support the new board. The environment will be able to recognize the LPC-800 MAX and treat it like a mass storage device, allowing you to drop your code's binary image onto the platform and have it automatically program the code into Flash memory. The board will also show up as a CMSIS-DAP compatible device allowing users to develop and debug code using any compatible ”off-line” tool chain, such as the ARM-MDK.

Because the Arduino is based on a different processor, its tools will not produce a compatible binary image. Still, the more than 50 hardware shields and any related source-level drivers now available for the Arduino will be pin-compatible with the LPC-800 MAX, giving developers access to a tremendous range of hardware options.

The board's expected cost target is $20 USD (16 Euro) with target availability in April.

I find this board's introduction particularly interesting in its inclusion of Arduino compatibility. Intended as an educational tool and popular among hobbyists, the Arduino has seen considerable grass-roots support arise. The advent of a professional development board that can leverage that support represents an important bridge between the two development camps.

What's your opinion?

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andyk1
andyk1
3/15/2013 12:43:24 PM
User Rank Program Manager
Re: Another option
When i said "add arduino HAL to mbed" , i meant port it , in full or just the parts you need now.

I didn't yet found a HAL over the net.

And i think at least some cases will be easier to port , since you port from one high level description(arduino HAL) to another high level description(mbed HAL). Porting a register level HAL to regsiter level HAL is more complicated because registers contain many more details and the details are more obscure.

 

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Rich Quinnell
Rich Quinnell
3/14/2013 6:07:08 PM
User Rank Blogger
Re: Another option
Interesting approach, andhk1. I was not aware there was an arduino hardware abstration layer for the mbed. That does indeed open possibilities.

I haven't found a full reference for the abstraction layer, but I did find this:

http://mbed.org/users/rbohne/code/ArduinoHAL/file/40396527a068/Arduino.c

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andyk1
andyk1
3/13/2013 12:37:13 PM
User Rank Program Manager
Another option
If we're talking about arduino mbed compatability , i think another interesting option is to go the other way:


Start with the mbed open source[1] that runs on a freedom cortex-m0 board(for $13)[2].

On top of that add and arduino hardware abstraction layer , and get access to the arduino library richness.


The advantage of this: the license of the Mbed allow you to keep your source closed.

BTW , There are some arduino libraries with commercial friendly licenses(MIT and LGPL licenses for example, and some libs without a license-whatever that means.)

I wonder if we'll see the arduino/mbed software combine into one
, with time ?

[1]https://mbed.org/blog/entry/mbed-SDK-is-now-Open-Source/

[2]https://mbed.org/blog/entry/mbed-enabled-Freescale-FRDM-KL25Z-board/

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Davidmicro
Davidmicro
3/6/2013 9:06:09 PM
User Rank Program Manager
Re: license terms
As far as I knew, automotive industry does not use this Arduino platform yet.  As open source platform, I am not sure if open source platform is applicable for mass production beyond license.  It sound like there might be an unproved portion for bootloader and driver.

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Rich Quinnell
Rich Quinnell
3/6/2013 6:23:09 PM
User Rank Blogger
Re: Good move to have Arduino compatibility
raul, I see your point about the cost, but I suspect that in this case the easy expansion opportunities that the arduino and mbed compatibility offer are well worth the cost difference.

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raul
raul
3/6/2013 6:11:38 AM
User Rank Program Manager
Re: Good move to have Arduino compatibility
Rich, I'm thinking mainly from the price competitivity standpoint, considering that for example the STM32F0 Discovery Cortex-M0 costs $8.00.-, but of course the LPC-800 MAX has their Arduino Shield and mbed hardware compatibility and perhaps some advantages in software and tools I don't know about.

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Rich Quinnell
Rich Quinnell
3/5/2013 7:32:37 PM
User Rank Blogger
Re: Good move to have Arduino compatibility
raul, just how inexpensive do you want it to be? I found the boards costing $5 or so to be way too limited. This seems a very good price to me for a development board. If I were in a cost-sensitive application, I'm sure I could prototype with this and still pull cost out for the production version.

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Rich Quinnell
Rich Quinnell
3/5/2013 5:55:15 PM
User Rank Blogger
Re: Freescale Freedom Cortex M0+
Good point. hardware compatibility by itself is of limited value. Software is almost everything in MCU design these days.

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Rich Quinnell
Rich Quinnell
3/5/2013 3:03:17 PM
User Rank Blogger
Re: Drivers
Looking forward to your report on this, Duane. It seems like a nifty product but hands-on is really the best way to be sure.

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duanebenson
duanebenson
3/5/2013 10:37:08 AM
User Rank Blogger
Re: Drivers
Rich - I purchased a few LPC812s, in SOIC 20 packages, which should be here within the next day or two. I'll build the CAD footprint and design it into a little board and write up my thoughts on it.

I bought 10 at $1.27 each. That'snot a bad price for what you get.

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