July 21, 2010 — Microchip Technology announced Microstick for dsPIC33F and PIC24H development board. This product provides a complete, low-cost solution for designing with Microchip’s 16-bit PIC24H microcontrollers and dsPIC33F Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs), in a compact 20x76 mm footprint. The low cost Microstick offers an integrated USB programmer/debugger, which shortens learning curves. For maximum flexibility, the Microstick can be used stand-alone or plugged into a prototyping board. Additionally, educators are eligible for a 25% discount on the product.
Many engineers, educators, students and hobbyists need a low-cost solution for working with and debugging code on 16-bit microcontrollers and DSCs. In addition to its other benefits, the Microstick is populated with a socketed microcontroller that can be easily swapped out. The Microstick works with the PIC24HJ64GP502, which is the highest performance 16-bit MCU in the industry, and the dsPIC33FJ64MC802 DSC, which seamlessly blends DSP and MCU resources into a single architecture. Software support includes the same free MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and software libraries that work with all of Microchip’s 8/16/32-bit PIC® microcontrollers and DSCs.
Additionally, the dsPIC33F DSCs are supported by the free demo version of Microchip’s Device Blocksets for the MATLAB language and Simulink® environment, which work seamlessly within the MPLAB IDE. This combination of low-cost tools and free software provides an industry-leading platform for experimentation and development of smart-sensor and a host of other embedded-control applications.
