Microchip Technology today announced the MPLAB Starter Kit for PIC18 Microcontrollers (part # DM180021), which contains all of the components, documentation, schematics, debugging and programming capabilities needed to evaluate the high-performance PIC18 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) family in low-power USB and touch-sensing applications. The kit includes a development board featuring a 44-pin PIC18F46J50 MCU with nanoWatt XLP technology for extreme low power, mTouch™ capacitive touch sensing, Bosch Sensortec BMA150 accelerometer, 64 KB Flash program memory, and much more. This complete evaluation kit is available from ACAL Technology, allowing engineers to evaluate the performance and peripherals of the entire PIC18 family for only £40.00

Hardware debugging and programming come integrated with the MPLAB Starter Kit for PIC18 Microcontrollers, meaning an additional debugger or programmer is not required. The kit is completely USB-powered, so a separate power supply does not need to be purchased. Pre-programmed touch-sensing code, as well as Microchip’s free USB application stack and bootloader, eliminate the need for engineers to develop their own code. Additionally, the board includes demo application software that enables it to read from the memory card (MSD), or function as a USB mouse or joystick (HID), or simple COM port (CDC) using the free Microchip stacks. By simply scrolling through code options using capacitive-touch buttons, engineers can demonstrate the PIC18 MCUs with a MicroSD memory card, potentiometer, acceleration sensor, and OLED display—functions that are essential for a wide range of low-power applications.

The MPLAB Starter Kit for PIC18 Microcontrollers includes the Bosch Sensortec BMA150 digital triaxial accelerometer, which enables the PIC18 Starter Kit board to detect acceleration in 3 perpendicular axes for sensing the board’s tilt and motion. The board ships with demo code that enables it to function as a USB mouse or joystick using the accelerometer. Acceleration on all three axes is used to compute the board tilt, which is then converted to movement of the mouse cursor on the X and Y axes. The accelerometer allows the cursor to move slowly when the board is tilted a small amount, and quickly when there is a steeper tilt.

Pricing & Availability
The MPLAB Starter Kit for PIC18 Microcontrollers (part # DM180021) is priced at £40.00 and can be purchased from ACAL Technology

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