Microchip, element14 Launch Raspberry Pi chipKIT Expansion Board

Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHP), a leading provider ofmicrocontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, today announcedthe expansion of its Arduino™ compatible chipKIT™ platform ecosystem,including a new Raspberry Pi^® tool that it co-developed with partnerelement14—the chipKIT Pi Expansion Board. On the software side, volunteersfrom the chipKIT and Arduino communities collaborated with Microchip'sengineers to expand the free chipKIT Multi-Platform IDE (MPIDE), to allowusers to create, compile and program Arduino sketch-based chipKIT applicationswithin the Raspberry Pi operating system. The chipKIT MPIDE is open source andcompatible with the Arduino programming language and development environment.Both of these tools are based on Microchip's 32-bit PIC32 microcontrollers(MCUs) in prototyping-friendly, low pin count SPDIP packages, which waspreviously only available with 8-bit MCUs for the Arduino community. Thisenables all users—including hobbyists, academics, makers and professionals—tobenefit from the PIC32's high performance, memory and integrated peripheralswhile using the basic hobbyist prototyping equipment that is found in mosthome workshops.Watch a brief video: http://www.microchip.com/get/598SThe Raspberry Pi is widely viewed as one of the easiest and most affordablecomputers on which to program, and recently shipped more than one millionunits in less than a year on the market. element14's chipKIT Pi ExpansionBoard is the world's first to enable the development of 3.3V Arduinocompatible applications for the Raspberry Pi using a 32-bit, high-performanceMCU in a prototyping-friendly package. Because the Raspberry Pi's processor isa 3.3V chip, its digital I/O and communications (I^2C™, UART, SPI) pinsrequire 3.3V. Meaning that existing prototyping-friendly Arduino boards, whichare all based on 5V 8-bit MCUs, require users to create or purchase additionalcomponents to translate the voltages. The chipKIT Pi can interface directly tothe Raspberry Pi I/O Expansion header without any additional components,reducing both cost and design complexity.In addition to being 3.3V compatible, the chipKIT Pi is also the only Arduinocompatible board that brings a 32-bit MCU in a prototyping-friendly package toRaspberry Pi users. Previously, hobbyists, academics, makers and professionalswho wanted to develop Arduino applications for the Raspberry Pi usingprototyping-friendly, through-hole packages were forced to use boards based on8-bit MCUs. The chipKIT Pi's 32-bit PIC32 MCU is in an SPDIP package, so evennon-experienced users can easily swap out the pre-populated PIC32 with a newone—without having to replace the entire board.The PIC32's high level of performance, memory and integrated peripheralsallows users to create applications with greater functionality, includingtouch sensing, audio processing and advanced control. Additionally, users cantake advantage of the PIC32's Peripheral Pin Select feature, which providesthe flexibility to re-map certain peripheral I/O pins to suit theirapplications. The chipKIT Pi board and the Raspberry Pi compatible version ofthe MPIDE software further enable users to tap into the large repository ofavailable Arduino tutorials, reference materials, curriculum and more, tocreate a diverse array of designs.