The TI Piccolo processor’s excellent price/performance ratio has already won it quite a few sockets in green power applications ranging from solar micro-inverters to energy-efficient motor controllers, so it was not very surprising to see that their latest development kit is aimed squarely at the solid-state lighting market. With 32 bits of processing power, a wide range of memory options, and some of the most innovative analog I/O on the market, I’ve always had a soft spot for TI’s Piccolo digital signal controller (DSC) – even if they now insist on calling it an MCU. Their well-provisioned, dev kit is a welcome and potentially important tool for helping designers use their Piccolo MCU to create flexible, cost-effective LED controllers.

Much like the innovative kits they’ve developed for their ultra-low-cost MSPS430 MCU, TI’s done an excellent job on creating a platform for the Piccolo. The DC/DC LED developer’s kit is an application-specific board contains all the power conversion and high-powered analog driver electronics. It’s driven by the F28035 controlCARD, a compact DIM-100 form factor plug-in module that contains the Piccolo processor and its support chips (see the picture below). Another set of quick-attach wire terminals allow you to use the TI-supplied LED strings or easily substitute your own components. Between this and TI’s extremely mature development tools, they’ve created an excellent platform for rapid development of advanced lighting applications.

TI's press release that follows this review (see below) gives you a very good overview of the dev kit’s capabilities but still leaves a few important questions unanswered. Among the things I’d like to know are: (EDITOR's NOTE- A couple of days after I published this interview, I was able to spend some time getting answers to these questions - the answers, and the details about a contest where you can win one of these dev kts can be see by clicking here.

1 – What sorts of applications would need the fine-grained dimming and fast response time that the Piccolo processor and its hardware PWM channels can provide?

2 – The announcement says that the dev kit supports up to 8 PWM channels but the Piccolo has 14 PWM channels. Is the software capable of running all 14 channels at their maximum resolution, and can the dev kit be expanded to support those additional LED strings?

3 – What is the architecture of the high-powered LED driver stage and what are the driver transistors used in the dev kit?

4 - What is the practical range of output power levels that the kit can support, and are there provisions to help developers who want to create drivers that support outputs beyond the kit’s maximum power?

5 – How does the Piccolo stack up as a lighting controller in terms of features, capabilities, and overall solution cost per channel against the formidable competition from products like Microchip Technologies’ dsPIC MCUs and Cypress Semiconductor’s EZColor HBLED contoller?

I could not get a briefing with a technical person at TI prior to the deadline for this review but they have promised to get back to me shortly. When/if I do, I’ll update this review with whatever I learn.

The video tutorial for the DC/DC LED developer’s kit was not available as of this writing but the platform has enough in common with their to their high-voltage m motor controller  dev kit that I thought it would be worthwhile to share it here (see below).

If you still have not gotten a complete green-tech video fix, you can also check out the cool video that TI shot to introduce their Piccolo-powered renewable energy developer kit. And for those who want to simply get a little familiarity with the Piccolo for around $39, here’s a link to a demo of TI’s clever controlSTICK development system that’s housed in a USB memory stick form factor.

The new Piccolo MCU DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit (part number: TMDSDCDCLEDKIT) is priced at $379 US and is immediately available for order at www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-es. controlSUITE software is free and can be immediately accessed at www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-cslp.

 Texas Instruments says:

 Design intelligence and advanced features into cost-efficient lighting applications with new digital DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit based on TI’s Piccolo MCU

New LED controller kit includes complete hardware and software needed to digitally control up to 8 LED strings plus digital power supply with single Piccolo MCU

Bringing the intelligence and precision of real-time digital control to expanding LED applications, Texas Instruments Incorporated has announced its new TMS320C2000 Piccolo microcontroller (MCU) DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit. The new LED controller kit enables developers to leverage the performance of low-cost Piccolo MCUs to differentiate LED designs with advanced features such as dimming, color tone adjustment, power line communication and fault detection. Additionally, developers can reduce system cost through the integrated control of LED and power stages using a single Piccolo MCU. The kit is easily adaptable for varying design needs, as it supports multiple power configuration options, modular Piccolo controlCARDs and a detachable LED panel. The DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit comes complete with all of the open source hardware and software needed to jumpstart design of energy-efficient LED electronics, including backlighting, street lighting and building automation lighting.  For more information, go to www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-sw.

Piccolo MCU DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit key features and benefits (TMDSDCDCLEDKIT)

• Piccolo F28035 controlCARD provides 60MHz of 32-bit performance, 14 PWM outputs, a 12-bit, 4.6 megasample-per-second ADC, and 128KB of flash memory to support advanced lighting features
• Digitally controlled buck/boost DC/DC 12-24V power conversion stage allows developers to adjust voltage to match varying LED configurations
• 8 independent 5 watt LED strings allow unique current sensing for features like individual brightness adjustment and blown string detection
• Onboard isolated XDS100 USB JTAG emulation simplifies debugging and programming while reducing system cost
• Easy-to-use, open source controlSUITE software includes examples for closed loop control of DC/DC power and LED driver stages as well as detailed lab documentation of software structure and functionality
• Modular controlCARD concept allows developers to choose the right C2000 MCU to fit varying price, performance and peripheral requirements

Find out more about TI’s DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit and support by visiting the links below:

• DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-sw
• Video overview of DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-v
• LED Reference Design Cookbook: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-mc
• Multi-String LED Driver block diagram: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-mssbd-pr-ee
• General lighting block diagram: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-glsbd-pr-ee
• TI lighting solutions: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-ledlp
• controlSUITE software: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-cslp
• TI's microcontroller portfolio: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-mculp
• TI eStore: www.ti.com/dcdcledkit-pr-es