Author:Cabe Atwell
EET Electronic Engineering Magazine Original
Like single-board computers (SBCs), CPUs, GPUs, and other electronic products on the market, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the production of microcontrollers, leading to shortages. However, the current chip shortage is expected to improve in the coming months. Regardless of how severe the shortages are, manufacturers had already released many new microcontrollers before the pandemic and patched popular platforms. This article will introduce the 10 most popular microcontrollers and microcontroller boards among engineers in 2021.
1. Groboards Giant Board
Image Source: Groboards
The Groboards Giant board is a microcontroller the size of an Adafruit Feather, with FeatherWing support. It contains a Microchip SAMA5D2 ARM Cortex-A5 processor with 128Mb DDR2 RAM and a micro-SD card slot. This microcontroller also includes a 6X 12-bit ADC with a 3.3V reference voltage and external trigger, 4X 16-bit PWM with external trigger, and I2C, SPI, and UART. Additionally, it is powered via USB, supports LiPo batteries, can run a full Debian, and can utilize Adafruit Blinka (CircuitPython on Linux).
2. Seeeduino XIAO
Image Source: Seeed Studio
The XIAO from Seeed Studio is one of the smallest boards supporting the Arduino architecture, embedded with a SAMD21G18 chip, which includes ARM Cortex-M0+, 32Kb SRAM, and 256Kb flash memory. The I/O includes 14X GPIO, 11 analog, 11 digital, one DAC output pin, as well as I2C, SPI, and UART. Power and programming use USB Type-C connection, and it includes some LEDs for displaying status and user programming. The XIAO Seeeduino also features a pair of reset buttons (short connection to reset) and is fully compatible with the Arduino IDE.
3. BBC micro:bit V2
Image Source: micro:bit
The BBC micro:bit V2 is an improved version of the original microcontroller, including speakers, microphones, and several other enhancements. This version features a Nordic nRF52833 processor, 512Kb flash memory, 32Kb RAM, and an NXP KL27Z interface chip. This micro board also includes a 5 X 5 LED matrix, status LED, MEMS-based microphone/speaker, touch-sensitive logo, and user-programmable buttons. This version also includes a 25-pin edge connector, 4X GPIO, PWM, I2C, SPI, and several ring pin holes for connecting crocodile clips and banana plugs. Wireless connectivity includes 2.4GHz RF and Bluetooth 5.1 / BLE. The board also contains multiple sensors, including an accelerometer, thermometer, and electronic compass.
4. Adafruit Gemma M0
(Image Source: Adafruit Industries)
Adafruit’s Gemma M0 is about the size of a quarter, designed as a wearable electronics platform, applicable in various fields from stage cosplay to biomedical monitors. This small microcontroller contains an ATSAMD21E18 32-bit Cortex M0, with 256Kb flash memory and 32Kb RAM, along with a DotStar RGB LED and several large sewing holes that can be used with conductive thread or crocodile clips depending on the application. Each I/O pad can also serve as a 12-bit analog input or digital input/output, and even as a hardware capacitive touch sensor. According to Adafruit, the Gemma M0 can drive NeoPixels or DotStars, with enough memory to support over 8,000 pixels.
5. Arduino Uno Rev3
Image Source: Arduino
The Arduino Uno has been used in various forms for nearly 10 years, having been part of many successful projects. The latest development board, Arduino Rev3, uses the ATMega328p microcontroller, with 32Kb flash memory, 2K SRAM, and 1K EEPROM. The board includes 14 digital input/output pins (6 of which can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator (CSTCE16M0V53-R0), a USB connector, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. Users connect it to a computer via USB cable for project development or power it through an AC-DC adapter or battery.
6. Adafruit Industries ESP8285
Image Source: Adafruit Industries
The Espressif Systems ESP8285 microcontroller has been implemented in many aftermarket boards and is an excellent chip for many projects. Adafruit’s ESP8285 is one of the most popular boards, featuring a Wi-Fi frontend (as a client and access point) and a TCP/IP stack. The chip also integrates an antenna switch, RF balun, power amplifier, low-noise receiver amplifier, filter, and power management module. The ESP8285 also contains a Tensilica L106 Diamond series 32-bit processor and an enhanced version of on-chip SRAM, with 1Mb flash memory. Adafruit’s product has been pre-programmed with NodeMCU Lua firmware, so it is ready to use immediately.
7. MPLAB PICkit 4 Online Debugger
Image Source: Microchip
Microchip’s MPLAB PICkit 4 is a portable online debugger that supports offline programming (Programmer-to-Go) via the integrated MPLAB X integrated development environment (IDE), suitable for 8/16/32-bit PIC MCUs, dsPIC, and SAM MCU devices. The kit is driven by the SAME70 MCU and supports various interfaces, including 4-wire JTAG and Serial Wire Debug with flow data gateway. It is also backward compatible with demonstration boards and target systems using 2-wire JTAG and ICSP. As mentioned, the PICkit 4 also has offline programming capabilities, allowing users to program different project codes and voltages, which can then be saved via the onboard microSD card slot. Additionally, the debugger can be powered by the target board, making it convenient for field use.
8. PJRC Teensy 4.1
Image Source: PJRC
PJRC’s Teensy is a widely used development board, with the 4.1 being its latest version, claimed to be 10 times faster than Teensy 3.1. The latest version includes an ARM Cortex-M7 (@ 600MHz), 7936K flash memory, 1024K RAM, and 4K EEPROM, along with 55X digital I/O pins, 18X analog inputs, 8X serial, 3X SPI, and 3X I2C ports. Other features include 2X I2S/TDM and 1S/PDIF digital audio ports, 3X CAN bus, Ethernet (10/100Mbps), 32X general DMA channels, and onboard RTC for date and time. Moreover, it provides encryption acceleration, random number generation, peripheral cross-triggering, and power on/off management features.
9. NodeMCU V2
Image Source: Seeed Studio
NodeMCU V2 is an open-source development platform based on the ESP8266 microcontroller. This is another chip popular for IoT projects, featuring an ultra-low-power UART 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi module for wireless connectivity. The board integrates a built-in TCP/IP protocol stack, allowing up to five clients to connect. It includes an onboard PCB antenna in a 2.54 through-hole package, enabling users to debug devices or directly apply products. The board also uses a Node.js-style web API to accommodate event-driven web applications, speeding up the development of IoT applications. It also has 10 GPIO pins, allowing users to represent each pin as PWM, I2C, IIC, ADC, or 1-wire according to the application.
10. Microchip CEC1712 Encryption Controller
Image Source: Microchip
Microchip Technologies is known for its PIC and SAM-based MCUs and produces other microcontrollers, including those for encryption security. Its CEC1712 cryptographic controller uses an Arm 32-bit Cortex-M4, providing a secure boot with hardware root of trust (RoT) protection for operating systems booted from SPI Flash in pre-boot mode. Before the firmware and applications are loaded into the operating system, the BootLoader decrypts and authenticates them to ensure the embedded system is not compromised. The Soteria-G2 firmware used by this chip helps designers accelerate the adoption of secure boot features, with the Soteria-G2 firmware implementing the CEC1712 immutable secure bootloader in ROM as the system root of trust.
Compiled by：Jenny Liao
