Texas Instruments shows low-cost development kits at MakerFaire

Texas Instruments showed off its latest tools at MakerFaire Bay Area on May 20–22, including the company’s Maker-ready development systems, such as LaunchPad, the famous BeagleBoard kits and the SimpleLink multi-standard SensorTag kit.

The SimpleLink Wi-Fi CC3200 wireless microcontroller LaunchPad development kit uses the industry’s first single-chip programmable MCU with built-in Wi-Fi. The CC3200 MCU is based on a Cortex–M4 core. The board can be connected to a PC via a USB port and can be powered by that port or by two AA batteries. Also included is an accelerometer, a temperature sensor, and a chip antenna.

The board can use development tools such as the Code Composer Studio Cloud integrated development environment (IDE) or the IAR Embedded Workbench. It costs $29.99, and the software is free. A compatible BoosterPack can be stacked on top of the LaunchPad using two 20-pin header connectors.

TI’s new SensorTag IoT kit (CC2650STK) invites you to create a cloud-connected product. It includes 10 low-power MEMS sensors in a small red package. Measurements available include light, sound (digital microphone), magnetic sensor, humidity, pressure, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, object temperature, and ambient temperature. DevPacks lets you add your own sensors or actuators. The system particularly targets building automation.

You can connect this little package to the cloud with BluetoothSmart and get your sensor data online in 3 minutes. The SensorTag is ready to use right out of the box with an iOS and Android app, with no programming experience required to get started. It offers years of operation from a single coin-cell battery. The SensorTag includes iBeacon technology, which allows your phone to launch applications and to customize content based on SensorTag data and physical location. The SensorTag can also be enabled using ZigBee/6LoWPAN.

Educators can benefit from hardware development kits and from many accessories that are perfect for makers and students of electronics. The Sidekick Basic Kit includes resistors, capacitors, switches, LEDs, buzzer, diode, shift register, transistors, potentiometers, temperature sensors, wires, and a breadboard. You can pair it with a LaunchPad board to create a great way to teach circuits and entry-level programming. The kit costs $29.99 from distribution. Access all of the documentation and 10+ circuit examples at www.energia.nu/sidekick. The Educational BoosterPack MKII adds nine functions to the kit, including an accelerometer, a joystick, and a color LCD screen.