Microcontroller development kits offer a fast-track route for engineers to evaluate and prototype new embedded system designs. This can accelerate the architectural selection and initial design phases, advises the company. The use of development kits with the relevant software libraries and code examples can support engineers to rapidly assess device capabilities and demonstrate initial product features and functions.

Security has become a vital aspect of any IoT application and one of the new kits available is the OPTIGA Trust M IoT security development kit from Infineon Technologies. It lets embedded developers evaluate and prototype end-to-end security for IoT-based use cases. It comprises the OPTIGA Trust M security IC, an Infineon PSoC 62 Arm Cortex-M4/M0 microcontroller and an Infineon ARICOC CYW43012 low-power Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 wireless transceiver. The board is supplied with two ready-to-use IoT security examples. It can also be used to prototype other use cases such as IP protection, crypto offloading, and secured firmware updates for smart door locks, smart lighting and industrial automation.

The distributor has also added Microchip Technology’s WBZ451 curiosity board for its WBZ451PE combined Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Zigbee 2.4 GHz RF module. The board is powered from either a USB or Li-Po battery source and features a user LED, a user-configurable switch and an RGB LED connected to a PWM output. This board integrates several other Microchip ICs, including the MCP73871 Li-ion/Li-Po battery charger, an MCP9700A low-power temperature sensor and an SST26VF064B 64Mbit external QSPi flash memory. The onboard programmer utilises a Microchip SAME70 microcontroller and additional sensors or peripheral ICs may be accommodated using the board's mikroBUS socket.

For prototyping LoRa LPWAN designs, the XCVR SX126x development board and reference design from Connected Development is a cost-effective and pre-tested development platform for evaluating the Semtech SX126x sub-Ghz 915MHz transceiver, says the company. IoT use cases, from smart meters to agricultural sensors, use LoRa with programmable data rates from 62.5kbit/s to 300kbit/s. The transceiver offers receive sensitivity down to -148dBm and a switchable TX power of 15 or 22dBm. The XCVR SX126x is packaged in an Arduino Uno shield form factor and software support includes using Nordic Semiconductor devices (Zephyr and MBED) and the BG21 series of BLE SoCs from Silicon Labs.

The MCSPTE1AK344 motor control development kit from NXP Semiconductors is available to order from Mouser. It serves automotive engineers designing a range of brushless direct current (BLDC) and three-phase permanent magnet synchronous (PMSM) motor control applications. Based on the 32-bit Arm Cortex-M7 S32K3 microcontroller series and a functional safety FS26 system basis IC, designs which comply with ISO 26262 ASIL D can be developed. Typical examples are active suspension, electric power train, eTurbo, and HVAC pumps. The kit includes a low voltage three-phase permanent magnet motor, current and position sensors.