Digital section summary

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Various digital boards, including all microcontrollers.

A few of these boards aren't microcontrollers, but most are. The exceptions include a programmable clock generator which can be controlled by a micro via SPI to produce a wide frequency range square wave.

Digital boards
NameDescriptionApplications
HC908QB/QCA small Freescale processor in a 16 pin SOIC package.The 'QB and 'QC both have an RS-232-timed serial port and an SPI port. These allow the L'il4.01 to be used to receive commands from a computer via a L'il6.01 USB or other source of RS-232, and control a large number of SPI devices.
HC908 programmerConvert a source of RS-232-timed serial data to programming requirements for the HC908 series of µControllers, and supply the high voltage (8 V) needed to enter monitor ROM to enable programming devices which have already been programmed.Connect your development system to one of the HC908 processors for programming and debugging. Designed to plug directly onto a L'il4.01, but can be adapted to many other situations.
18 pin PICSeveral PICs come in the 18 pin SOIC package, such as the popular PIC16F628A.Any application that can use this size PIC.
SOT-23-6 PICA PIC in a microscopic package. Eight possible parts: PIC10F200 through '206, and the '220 and '222, with the newer '320 and '322 parts untried so far. The board is designed so that either the SOT-23, 6 pin package or the 8 pin DIP can be installed: either side can be “up”. A special 4-way solder blob “switch” allows an on-board LED to be connected to any of the 3 output-capable pins or just to the Vcc rail.Any application where only 4 I/O pins are enough (3 I/O and one In, actually.) Code space is either 1/2 Kwords or 1/2 that.
ATtinyx4 chipATtiny24/44These popular 8 bit ATtinys can be used many places. One “feature” is inherent in the programming environment from Atmel: the C compiler is unrestricted and inherent in the AVR Studio environment.
MSP430F201xOne of TI's 14-pin MSP430 family. This L'ilboard shares the same programming interface (Spy Bi-Wire) that TI implement on their low cost development system, the “eZ430-F2013”.Any application that needs up to 8 port pins. Fast (up to 200 ksps @ 10 bit) converter or 16 bit ΣΔ converter chip variants.
Programmable Clock GeneratorThe chip used here is an LTC6903 which contains a resistor-controlled oscillator (where the resistance is controlled by a 4-bit code) followed by a 10-bit divider. It can produce a wide range of clock frequenciess. The device is SPI controlled via a 16 bit word.Produce a square wave clock signal from about 1 kHz up to a bit more than 68 MHz.
The board can be used without the LTC6903 if only the 4-way buffer, the PI6C18551, is desired.
NameDescriptionApplications
Real Time Clock (RTC)Provide a real time clock for time of day and date. SPI I/O.Maintain the time and date in your system, even when the power is off.
SPI portAn implementation of the Microchip MCP23S08 8 bit generic SPI port.Use as a stand-alone SPI port, or with (i.e. underneath) any of the following:
L'il5.01 4 push-button, 4 LED human interface;
L'il5.02 2x8 LED array;
L'il5.05 Dual HEX rotary switch.
Propeller, the processor.A basic implementation of the Parallax Propeller chip. All I/O pins are available, which is not the case in some of the competition.See Parallax's Propeller site, http://www.parallax.com/tabid/407/Default.aspx, for ideas.
L'ilduino.ATmega168