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 chip shortage situation is expected to improve in the coming months. Regardless of how severe the shortage is, manufacturers had already released many new microcontrollers before the pandemic and patched popular platforms. This article will introduce the 10 best microcontrollers and microcontroller boards of 2021.
1. Groboards Giant Board
Image source: Groboards
The Groboards Giant Board is a microcontroller that is 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 an external trigger, 4X 16-bit PWM with external trigger, as well as I2C, SPI, and UART. Additionally, it is powered via USB, supports LiPo batteries, can run a full Debian, and can utilize Adafruit Blinka (CircuitPython for 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 an ARM Cortex-M0+, 32Kb SRAM, and 256Kb flash memory. I/O includes 14X GPIO, 11 analog, 11 digital, one DAC output pin, and I2C, SPI, and UART. Power and programming use USB Type-C connections, including 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 initial microcontroller and includes a speaker, microphone, and 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 contains a 25-pin edge connector, 4X GPIO, PWM, I2C, SPI, and several ring pins for connecting crocodile clips and banana plug holes. Wireless includes 2.4GHz RF and Bluetooth 5.1 / BLE. This board also contains multiple sensors, including an accelerometer, thermometer, and electronic compass.
4. Adafruit Gemma M0
(Image source: Adafruit Industries)
The Adafruit Gemma M0 is about the size of a 25-cent coin, designed as a wearable electronics platform, with applications ranging from stage cosplay to biological monitors. This small microcontroller includes an ATSAMD21E18 32-bit Cortex M0, with 256Kb flash memory and 32Kb RAM, along with DotStar RGB LED and several large sewing holes, which 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 and has been part of many successful projects. The latest development board, Arduino Rev3, uses the ATMega328p microcontroller, containing 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 the computer using a USB cable during project development or power it via 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, containing a Wi-Fi front end (as both client and access point) and a TCP/IP stack. The chip also integrates an antenna switch, RF balun, power amplifier, low-noise receive amplifier, filter, and power management module. The ESP8285 also contains an enhanced version of the Tensilica L106 Diamond series 32-bit processor and on-chip SRAM, with 1Mb flash memory. Adafruit’s product is pre-programmed with NodeMCU Lua firmware, so it is ready to use right away.
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) through 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 multiple interfaces, including 4-wire JTAG and Serial Wire Debug with stream 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, and 4.1 is its latest version, claimed to be 10 times faster than Teensy 3.1. The latest version includes an ARM Cortex-M7 (@ 600MHz), with 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 (10/100Mbit), 32X general-purpose DMA channels, and onboard RTC for date and time. Additionally, it provides encryption acceleration, random number generation, peripheral cross-triggering, and power on/off management capabilities.
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, containing an ultra-low-power UART 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi module for wireless connection. 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, allowing users to debug devices or directly apply product applications. The board also utilizes a Nodejs-style web API to accommodate event-driven web applications, speeding up the development of IoT applications. It also comes with 10 GPIO pins, allowing users to represent each pin as PWM, I2C, IIC, ADC, or 1-wire according to the application.
10. Microchip CEC1712 Cryptographic Controller
Image source: Microchip
Microchip Technologies is known for its PIC and SAM-based MCUs and produces other microcontrollers, including those for cryptographic 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 booting from SPI Flash in pre-boot mode. Before firmware and applications are loaded into the operating system, the BootLoader loads, decrypts, and authenticates them to ensure that the embedded system is not compromised. The Soteria-G2 firmware used by the chip helps designers accelerate the adoption of secure boot functionality, with the Soteria-G2 firmware implementing the immutable secure bootloader of the CEC1712 in ROM as the system root of trust.
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