The new Cerebot MX7 cK board from Digilent is essentially a PIC32 chipKIT^TM Max32, a chipKIT Network Shield, and an MPLAB PICkit 3 all on a single board. At just US $99.99, that's a great deal. I haven't had a chance to play with one myself yet, but the value is obvious just from the description. I can't wait to try it out. For more info, visit http://bit.ly/CerebotMX7cK

The Cerebot MX7cK is a microcontroller development board based on the Microchip PIC32MX795F512L, a member of the 32-bit PIC32 microcontroller family. It is compatible with Digilent’s line of Pmod™ peripheral modules, and is suitable for use with the Microchip MPLAB® IDE tools. The Cerebot MX7cK is also compatible for use with the chipKIT™ MPIDE development environment. ChipKIT and MPIDE is a PIC32 based system compatible with many existing Arduino™ code examples, reference materials and other resources. 

The Cerebot MX7cK is designed to be easy to use and suitable for use by anyone from beginners to advanced users for experimenting with embedded control and network communications application. A built in programming/debugging circuit compatible with the Microchip MPLAB® IDE is provided, so no additional hardware is required for use with MPLAB. The kit contains everything needed to start developing embedded applications using either the MPLAB® IDE or the MPIDE. 

The Cerebot MX7cK provides 52 I/O pins that support a number of peripheral functions, such as UART, SPI and I2C™ ports as well as five pulse width modulated outputs and five external interrupt inputs. Its network and communications features also include a 10/100 Ethernet interface, Full Speed USB 2.0 OTG interface, and dual CAN network interfaces. Ten of the I/O pins can be used as analog inputs in addition to their use as digital inputs and outputs. The Cerebot MX7cK can be powered in various ways via USB, or using an external AC-DC power adapter.

DesignSpark's chipKIT Challenge Open for Entry

RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, announced full details of its DesignSpark chipKIT™ Challenge, a global competition launching on 28 November 2011. Registration and further information can be found at: www.chipkitchallenge.com

Run in partnership with Elektor and Circuit Cellar magazines across Europe, Asia Pacific and the US, the chipKIT Challenge is an online competition that challenges electronics design engineers, students and hobbyists to produce an energy efficient, eco-friendly design. Entrants will use the award-winning, free-of-charge DesignSpark PCB software tool from RS and the Digilent chipKIT Max32™ development platform featuring the 32-bit PIC32 microcontroller from Microchip Technology, a leading provider of microcontroller, analogue and Flash-IP solutions, to realise their designs.

A panel of judges, comprising design engineers and experts, has been established to evaluate the projects based on a range of criteria including energy efficiency, originality, usefulness, and design optimisation. The competition winners will share a total cash prize of US$10,000. During the competition entrants will also be encouraged to share ideas and post updates to the RS online DesignSpark community and automatically qualify for a bonus Community Choice Award as well as entry into prize draws.

Visit www.chipkitchallenge.com for more information

Digilent chipKIT™ Basic I/O Shield™ & Network Shield™ Introduction

Digilent is proud to introduce two new expansion boards designed for use with the chipKIT™ line of Arduino™-compatible 32-bit microcontroller boards. They are the chipKIT Basic I/O Shield™ and the chipKIT Network Shield™. These expansion boards greatly increase the power and flexibility of chipKIT microcontroller boards, giving beginners more options while allowing advanced users to increase the scope of their designs.

chipKIT for the Arduino™ Community has launched

In case you haven't heard the news, the chipKIT™ for the Arduino™ community has launched! These chipKIT™ development boards are the first 32-bit microcontroller-based platforms that are compatible with existing Arduino™ hardware and software. chipKITs can be programmed using an environment based on the original Arduino™ IDE modified to support PIC32 that also still supports the original Arduino™ line.

You can order a board directly from Digilent Inc. NKC Electronics already has protoshields available, just a few days after the chipKIT launch.

Download the multi-platform IDE software from github and leave us constructive feedback in the community forums.