Thanks for the opportunity to RoadTest one of the PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kits.
I have received it in a tiny package conatining the really small (5 cm x 6.5 cm) sized board, cabels and a CD.
There is a notice also included suggesting to download the latest software and drivers from the Microchip web site. So did I.
The Starter Kit Users Guide is leading you through the installation process and guides to make the first steps in order to make the beginning really easy.
The board contains a PIC32MX795F512L MCU, an on/board debugger (built on an other PIC32 MCU), the ethernet PHY, VRs, LEDS, push buttons, USB connectors for the debugger, HOST and DEVICE mode applications and the expansion connector.
Following the Users Guide you can quickly have the SW installed and easily try out the ready to use demo projects.
There are some simple projects introducing you the way of using the GPIO ports, timers, DMA. And there are also some more complex examples introducing the USB interface in host and device mode and the final one is covering the ethernet if.
These projects are really "one click" demos. All you have to do is to open, compile, download and run them. They work as is. The source files are clean and easy to understand. Microchip did a great job when put them together.
I think this kit could be an ideal tool for educational or hobby purposes. But unfortunately there is a "little thing". This is the expansion connector.
Microchip have chosen a tiny connector for providing access to all the ports of the MCU. The problem is that it requires a counterpart in order to really can have access to these signals.
Microchip provides the PIC32 I/O Expansion Board for this purpose. It is a simple board populated with the counterpart of the expansion port connector, place for standard 100 mil pin headers and some PicTail Plus connectors. No active parts are there. But it have the same price as the Starter Kit itself. Ingenious.
At the first glance for $72 you have a cool starter kit. It is cheap, has a lot of features, software, demo projects everything. Fine. As soon as you decide to use any other peripherals than those originally made available you are facing the fact that you have to double your investment and pay an other $72 for the I/O Expansion Board.
Yes, for this price you have a great board with all the peripherals available and you can do whatever you want. But now this is not in the "cheap and easily available for everyone" category.
Anyway, the Kist itself is great. I have really enjoyed to work with it. The MPLAB IDE is really handy and easy to use. The demos are good starting points for creating your own projects. Microchip also provides software libraries for the peripherals making the coding much simpler. The PIC32 MCU is a quite powerful device and fulfilled with goodies (I2C, SPI, UART, ADC, DMA, CAN, USB, Ethernet, Timers, PWM, RTCC, Comparators). The Flash and RAM is big enough to implement really complex applications. The architecture (Reset system, Interrupt Controller, built in oscillators, WDT, On-chip VR, power saving modes) can compete with other 32 bit architectures (like ARMs) on the market.