efm32tg110

StackFoundry would like to announce the first of our upcoming development boards based upon the Energy Micro EFM32 “Gecko” series of processors. The Gecko series are the lowest power microcontrollers available on the market, across all 8, 16 and 32-bit products.

The EFM32 is a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 core, running at up to 32MHz. Depending on the series, run-mode power consumption varies from 150µA to 200µA per MHz, with sleep currents as low as 20nA to 900nA (with a real 32kHz timer running, not just a real time clock). It includes numerous exciting low power peripherals such as a 150nA UART, autonomous pulse and inductive, resistive and capacitative sensor interfaces, integrated op-amps, 12-bit ADC and DACs, and more.

We also feel it is one the easiest to use Cortex-M3 microcontrollers, with the provided libraries and application notes.

Our first development board is based on the EFM32 “Tiny Gecko” EFM32TG110 processor in a tiny 24-pin DIP form factor (similar to our AVR32 Copper design). Features include:

  • 24-pin 0.6inch DIP formfactor
  • Optional 32kHz crystal on board
  • 0.05 inch pitch 10 pin Cortex-M debug port with serial wire debug (SWD) and serial wire output (SWO)
  • Programming over the integrated Gecko boot loader using two GPIO pins (with a USB->serial breakout), with provided buttons on the board to enter boot mode

We feel this board is a perfect development tool for hobbyist projects running on batteries, and as a perfect add-on to Energy Micro’s EFM32 Tiny Gecko starter kit as your design goes to the prototype phase.

Target price is $25. Availability by end of January, 2012.

Its been a busy time in the back room at StackFoundry. In the past year of selling our development boards, we have fine tuned our delivery and manufacturing cycles. More products, faster, with less out of stock problems.

We have a line of new products being released in the coming months as part of our refresh cycle.

First off, the following products are “end of life”.

  • Megavore XMega Development Board
  • Magnetavore XMega Development Board

There is no replacement in place for these products. If you are still interested in MRAM based hardware, please contact us as we still have inventory.

New products include:

  • EntropyKing – LPC1343 based, USB-key formfactor, open hardware design, true random number generator device.
  • USB Gadget Collection – Test automation and debug tools for engineers, including a HID input device (make your own kiosk or test stand with big buttons!), digitally controlled voltage regulators, and more
  • Ultra-low Power Development Hardware – Including the ARM Cortex-M3 based EFM32 Gecko family of processors.

We will continue selling the AT32UC3B156 based Copper board. If there is sufficient interest, we are discussing including a floating-point version based around the AT32UC3C processor.

Look for our store re-launch soon.

More information on supporting boards coming soon!

(And yes, this order was placed over 10 months ago…)

We are now in the process of shipping all of the backorders for the AVR32 Copper!. Starting next week, we will have a limited inventory of boards available to ship from stock. Any customization such as adding headers or not including the processor usually adds to the lead time – if you’re in a hurry, let us know and we can accommodate your schedule.

For those of you who are waiting on more AVR32 microcontrollers to become available for the Copper development board, there is good news to share. We have a limited quantity coming our way in the next week, and will be able to fullfill all of our backorders and have some more parts available on the website.

If you need a larger quantity, please contact us to get a lead time.

Our current stock of the Copper AVR32 module is almost depleted. Currently, Atmel is very behind on the manufacturing and delivery of numerous parts (AVR, AVR32, Dataflash) – our order for more AT32UC3B1256-AU parts is currently scheduled into March of 2011, meaning that once our existing stock runs out we will be unable to ship more Copper AVR32 modules.


We’ve been busy in the labs cooking up a series of new products which will be launching in the next few months. The first of four is the subject of this post – Beagleboard Hardhat! The Beagleboard Hardhat is an industrial analog and digital I/O expansion board for the Beagleboard. Features 4-20mA transmitters and inputs, 0-10V outputs and inputs, along with RS485 and a set of dry contactors.

Hardware On-board

  • 12bit 4 channel Delta-Sigma ADC with programmable gain amplifier, over I2C bus.
  • 12bit 4 channel DAC with EEPROM (keeps state after power cycle), on the I2C bus.
  • Connectors on board: All connectors utilize pluggable terminal blocks for ease of use and prototyping.
  • 2x Highly accurate 4-20mA sourcing transmitters (up to 600ohms in the loop) with common ground capability, powered by a 12bit DAC (full range 4-20mA input requires a minimum of 21VDC input voltage as the voltage source is a high accuracy 19V regulator)
  • 2x Highly accurate 0-10V analog outputs at up to 10mA each.
  • 2x 0-10V inputs, on the 12bit ADC.
  • 2x 4-20mA loop sensors (150ohms loop resistance), 12bit ADC.
  • 2x opto-isolated dry-contact outputs, protected up to 250V nominal (BeagleBoard GPIO)
  • 2x dry-contact inputs (GND to 3.3V) (BeagleBoard GPIO)
  • RS485 2-wire interface, tied to the BeagleBoard USART2.
  • 24V DC input with switching buck converter, powers all analog circuits as well as the BeagleBoard 5V system.
  • All needed level converters (I2C, UART, GPIO) and supplies (5V, 19V, 3.3V)

The design is Open Source Hardware under the Creative Commons Share-Alike Attribution License.

More pictures will be posted soon, along with pre-order information. Pricing starts at $79 with connectors and mounting hardware

I have created a no-nonsense skeleton project you can use with the AVR32 GNU Build toolchain, without having to use the AVR32 Software Framework.

The project includes:

  1. A Makefile geared for the AT32UC3B1256 Microcontroller (as on the Copper development board)
  2. The needed trampoline code (for JTAG and other use)
  3. The needed linker script for the microcontroller
  4. Generation of the .elf and .hex images

To add more source files to the project, simply append to the OBJECTS line in the Makefile.

You can grab the Git repository from Gitorious:
http://gitorious.org/avr32-skeleton, or just download the latest snapshot: http://gitorious.org/avr32-skeleton/avr32-skeleton/archive-tarball/master

For the month of May, we will be offering the Copper AVR32 module at a new low price of $30.99.

Copper is an AVR32 UC3B1256 mounted on a DIP32 breadboard friendly module, giving you the smallest AVR32 development board available (and one of the cheapest!). Features integrated voltage regulator, USB connector, and in-system programming via the USB port.

Word of warning: The Makefiles in the AVR32 Software Framework version 1.7 feature broken GCC Makefiles (hardcoded paths, incomplete files, etc).

For now, make sure you are using an older revision if you don’t need the new UC3C and UC3L files.

We host a local mirror of the 1.5 version: AVR32-SoftwareFramework-AT32UC3-1.5.0.zip

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