Robotics development for academics, hobbyists

Microchip Technology announced the availability of a PIC32 32-bit microcontroller (MCU)-based robotics development kit through Digilent Inc.The Digilent Cerebot 32MX4 Robotics Development Kit addresses the growing interest in robotics applications in the academic and hobbyist markets. The Cerebot 32MX4 is designed to work with Digilent’s Robotic Starter kit, and is Digilent’s latest entry in the fast-growing robotics engineering education market. Example applications include university robotics competitions, senior capstone projects, and robotics workshops for educators.

The board that ships with the kit can control up to eight servos and three DC motors using Digilent PMOD H-bridge modules. The kit comes with a free version of Microchip’s MPLAB C Compiler for PIC32, and an integrated programming/debugging circuit that is compatible with the free MPLAB IDE.
The Cerebot 32MX4 board has numerous I/O connectors and power-supply options, including USB power. The onboard PIC32 MCU operates at 80 MHz, and features 512 Kbytes of Flash program memory and 32 Kbytes of RAM memory; as well as numerous peripherals, such as a USB On-The-Go (OTG), host and device controller, timer/counters, serial-interface controllers, Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and more. The board inside the kit features two push buttons, four LEDs, eight connectors for RC servos and nine connectors for the Digilent PMOD peripheral modules, including H-bridges, ADCs, and Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs), speakers, switches, converters for easy connection to RS-232, servo motors and more.

The Cerebot 32MX4 Robotics Development Kit (part # 32MX4) is available for purchase today, at https://www.digilentinc.com/microchip . Normally $79, the kit is being offered at a special introductory price of $59 for a limited time.The free versions of Microchip’s MPLAB IDE and C Compiler for PIC32 can be downloaded from https://www.microchip.com/free .
For further information, visit on Microchip’s Web site . Digilent’s Web site at https://www.digilentinc.com/microchip . More information is also available

– Edited by Renee Robbins, senior editor
Control Engineering News Desk
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