Embedded PC/104 Board delivers real-time control.
Press Release Summary:
Powered by PIC18F8722 microcontrollers, MC104P controller modules provide access to external memory and interrupts. They can utilize various PC/104 modules that offer peripheral expansion, including serial ports, 16-bit ADCs, optically isolated I/O, Pamux I/O, VGA Video capability, modems, and support for industrial networks. With MPLAB® ICD 2 in-circuit debugger, users can single step, watch individual variable changes, set breakpoints, and program Flash memory from within MPLAB IDE.
Original Press Release:
Calmotion Announces: MC104P Embedded Control PC/104 Board
CHATSWORTH, CA - December 5, 2005 - Calmotion, a motion control engineering organization, today announced the MC104P controller modules for industrial automation and embedded control applications. The MC104P modules provide access to external memory and interrupts, just like industrial control PCs, allowing them to utilize a wide variety of standard PC/104 modules that offer peripheral expansion, such as: multiple serial ports, 16-bit A/D converters, optically isolated I/O, Pamux I/O, VGA Video capability, modems and support for many industrial networks.
"Powered by Microchip Technology Inc.'s PIC18F8722 microcontrollers, the MC104P combines a rich peripheral set for real-time control with the flexibility of the PC/104 standard bus," says Walter Calmette, chief technology officer, Calmotion. "With the low-cost MPLAB® ICD 2 in-circuit debugger, users are able to single step, watch individual variable changes, set breakpoints, and program the Flash memory from within the popular MPLAB IDE Integrated Development Environment. The low cost and ease of use of the Calmotion MC104P board is matched only by the ease of use of Microchip's development tools."
"Calmotion's MC104P is an ideal platform for rapid development of industrial control applications," says Lucio Di Jasio, Product Marketing Manager of Microchip's Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division. "PIC® microcontroller users now have access to a whole new world of possibilities, thanks to the thousands of expansion modules and products available for the PC/104 standard."
The PIC18F8722 microcontroller enables Calmotion to offer a very low-cost solution for use in embedded-control applications, since most of the desired features and peripherals are integrated on chip, such as: timers/counters (five), watchdog timer, 10-bit AD converter, 1-Kbyte of data EEPROM, and two configurable serial communication ports.
Designed with a 40 MHz clock, the MC104P board includes hardware that complements the PIC18F8722's rich peripheral set and makes it available on the PC/104 stack. Of the two asynchronous serial ports, one is configurable as RS-232/RS-485 while the other is a dedicated RS-232 port. Four of the 10-bit A/D converter inputs are available for 0 - 5 volt measurement. The MC104P offers eight digital inputs, eight digital outputs and four additional inputs tied to either the PIC18F8722's high speed input ports or used as IRQs from the PC/104 stack. With full addressing access to the PC/104 bus, additional user inputs and outputs can be easily added with the addition of PC/104 compatible I/O cards from the large number of PC/104 compatible vendors.
Furthermore, 128k of SRAM has been added to the processor's 4k, for a total of 132k. Also, the MC104P provides a generous amount of RAM memory. This allows designers to store large amounts of temporary data in acquisition applications without the constraints of typical microcontroller applications.
The MC104P development kit includes C libraries that provide support for standard I/O APIs familiar to the PC/104 users community, such as inportb() and outportb(). Additionally, select PC/104 video cards are supported, providing standard C functions, such as printf(), that allow designers to transparently add video capability to existing applications. A free development and diagnostic software package capable of monitoring Special Function Registers and internal RAM during run time is also available. The MC104P documentation as well as the full development kit and C libraries are available online by visiting www.calmotion.com/.
The MC104P is expected to ship in Q3 2005, with single-unit quantities priced at $135 MSRP.
For more information, please visit www.calmotion.com/. Calmotion, 9909 Topanga Canyon Blvd #322, Chatsworth, CA 91311, tel: 818.357.5826, fax: 818.357.5827, sales@calmotion.com or support@calmotion.com.
Note: The Microchip name and logo, PIC, and MPLAB are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. in the USA and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies.
About Calmotion
Calmotion is an industrial automation engineering company focused on delivering open standard solutions to engineering professionals. The drives and controllers offered by Calmotion are designed to reduce man-hour development and maintenance costs in automation projects that are typically several orders of magnitude greater than the combined hardware and software purchase costs.
Typical products offered by Calmotion minimize development costs by allowing software engineers to program in familiar languages supported by the engineering community. By maximizing the use of open standards, OEM's can avoid expensive and time-consuming to integrate proprietary hardware/software, allowing a quick response to changing market conditions and new customer opportunities. Additionally, the effects of product obsolescence and technology advancement are reduced by providing an easy and inexpensive technology migration path. For more information, please visit: www.calmotion.com/.
Walter Calmette 818.357.5826 wcalmette@calmotion.com
