PIC32 based Arduino Compatible Dev Board

Earlier this week we were contacted by Microchip PR asking if we would like to check out a new Arduino compatible board based around the PIC32. We of course replied with a yes. We should have our sample here in the lab within a week. Microchip teamed up with Digilent Inc. to design and distribute the board, and today Digilent Inc released the chipKIT Max32™ Arduino-Compatible Prototyping Platform. Keep reading after the jump for a quick overview and a photo.

We plan on posting a ton of info and photos once our testing sample arrives but until then the official specs from Digilent’s site will have to do. 

The chipKIT™ Max32™ combines compatibility with the popular Arduino open source hardware prototyping platform with the performance of the Microchip PIC32 microcontroller. The Max32 is the same form factor as the Arduino Mega board and is compatible with standard Arduino shields as well as larger shields for use with the Mega boards. It features a USB serial port interface for connection to the Arduino IDE and can be powered via USB or an external power supply.

The Max32 board takes advantage of the powerful PIC32MX795F512 microcontroller. This microcontroller features a 32-bit MIPS processor core running at 80Mhz, 512K of flash program memory and 128K of SRAM data memory. In addition, the processor provides a USB 2 OTG controller, 10/100 Ethernet MAC and dual CAN controllers that can be accessed via add-on I/O shields.

In addition to operation within the Arduino development environment, the Max32 is fully compatible with the advanced Microchip MPLAB development environment and the PICKit3 in-system programmer/debugger. 

• Microchip® PIC32MX795F512 processor
  • 80 Mhz 32-bit MIPS
  • 512K Flash, 128K RAM
  • USB 2.0 OTG controller
  • 10/100 Ethernet MAC
  • Dual CAN controllers
• Provides additional memory and advanced communications peripherals
• Compatible with Arduino IDE and libraries
• Can also be programmed using Microchip's MPLAB (along with a PICkit 3 or 6-pin header)
• Arduino Mega form factor
• Compatible with Arduino shields
• 83 available I/O
• User LED

Yes you read that right. It is compatible with the Arduino IDE as well as the Arduino Library. What does this mean for the future of Arduino? We foresee a lot of more powerful projects in the future.

Check back next week for more info, photos and our thoughts on the new board. In the mean time, head over to Digilent and pick up one of your own for around $50 USD.