What Are Your Most Popular Dev Kits or Reference Design Kits?

Agree. I think Renesas is well-known within the Automotive market. So, it is nice to see their microcontrollers get wider attention.

However, it is strange to me that the Uno R4 was released before having mbed_os support.

(But maybe I misunderstood a previous Arduino statement about fully supporting mbed_os on Arm-based Arduino cores moving forward.)

I wouldn't count the Pi or Beaglebone as Dev Kits or reference designs because they are intended to be used as parts in their own right, rather than as a starting point for a chip level design. Others may define things differently.

I've bought quite a few processor demo boards in my time and have found the ST Nucleos the most satisfactory.

This is in part because I have found ST's approach to making and supporting ARM cortex based micro-controllers a very good fit with the way I work.

But the Nucleos tick other boxes too:

• Low cost
• Simple design
• Standard connections on 0.1" pins
• Not made too small so are easier than many to modify
• Properly documented
• Based on good and purchasable parts
• Multiple software tool support

I have bought at least one dev board for any FPGA that I have used - the simpler ones have been the most useful.

MK

shabaz said:

Pre-Pico, I used Mbed-enabled boards a lot! They are awesome.

And, you still can or maybe you still do :-)

When using Pi Pico, I tend to always go with the Arduino MbedOS option.

Other favourite Arduino/MbedOS dev boards include Arduino Nano 33 BLE and the Arduino Giga R1 WiFi board.

If I'm considering BLE wireless options, then I tend to start with the Nordic nRF52840 dev board or similar (e.g. BLE dongle). More recently, SeeedStudio introduced their Xiao nRF52840 dev board which is super handy too.

If thinking about NFC/RFID then I look at NXP options, starting with the older PN532 breakout boards, for example.

If thinking about WiFi then it tends to be ESP32 derivatives.

If thinking about multi-radio options then Texas Instruments and ST Microelectronics have a good options.

Also, if thinking about wired comms protocols like Ethernet and CAN bus then I definitely start with STM32 boards.

For me, the best dev kits are generally three types:

1) smallest possible with all GPIOs on headers or just soldering holes (or maybe even castelated edges, which, however, require to design own PCB) and with integrated programmer / debugger. Example: Microchip Curiosity Nano boards.

2) larger boards like STM32 Nucleo, which have some standard form factor. Easy access to all pins, no connectors from unobtainium. I don't particularly like Arduino shields, because I usually need a different connection from the main board to the daughter board. I also don't like building 4 layer bricks to get 4 small sensors connected to an MCU. But Arduino layout is popular and if I can get a one daughter board that fits my needs, this type of board is the way to go.

3) application specific boards with integrated electronics, like display, CAN drivers and PHY, WiFi / BT connection, depending on the use. I don't want to pay for a devkit with electronics I will never use in that application and also hate boards with connectors that have no use, since there is nothing to connect to them, as  baldengineer mentioned.

My estimate of how much boards of each type I have:

1) 10

2) 15

3) 1

I have almost exclusively ESP32s around here because of the price point and its wifi support.

Coupled with the Arduino environment for ESP32 and I can do pretty much everything that I can think of

Favorite in-circuit programmer/debugger 

Microchip has and continues to offer many of their parts in DIP packages. So you just connect pwr/gnd and start prototyping.... 

I've just had delivered an Analog Devices ADTF3175 1MPix ToF camera dev kit (after a looong wait!). Love to hear from anyone else who's got one !

Just had a quick look here and perhaps 'compatible' after attacking with a Dremel...

Limor even says it in the video, so not like it was a typo that was copy and pasted all over the website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBipTe69x-o&t=186s

I pulled PICkit3 out of my box about a month ago. Still works with the latest MPLAB X. Currently, there is PICkit5 and supports both PIC and AVR parts.