[Dprglist] Nuvoton microcontrollers

[Murray Altheim]

Back in October I sent a message into the Pimoroni forum [1] regarding
the use of the Nuvoton MS51 microcontroller [2] on their IO Expander
Breakout Garden board [3]. The MS51 is an 8051-compatible microcontroller
[4], using the same 1980s-era 8 bit architecture.

Well, nobody answered so I checked out the Nuvoton website [5] and found a
plethora of development boards [6], using ARM Cortex M0, M4, M23 and 8051-
compatible processors in "Tiny" and "Maker" (Arduino UNO style) form factors.
There's also a suite of development tools [7], which unfortunately are
Windows-only [I realise this isn't a problem for those who use Windows,
unlike me.]

It looks like both their hardware and software is quite well-documented,
with a lot of PDFs on site. The Taiwanese-English is pretty good, and their
product line looks to be very extensive. Not a small company.

Some of the Tiny-style boards are truly tiny, and their Maker-style boards
[8] look like nice Arduino replacements, e.g., 64MHz, operating voltage
1.6-3.6v, memory up to 512kb RAM/ 96kb SRAM. Lots of pins and an UNO-
compatible USB link connector. Even an on-board Wifi module. Like Arduinos,
the processors themselves are typically surface-mounted but are also
available in DIPP packaging should someone want to experiment with one on
a breadboard.

The Cortex processors would be Arduino-like, whereas the 8051 boards
(e.g., [8]) would take one back to the 1980s. Everything looks to be about
US$25.00.

Has anyone had any experience using the Nuvoton hardware? I wonder how
their products compare with the ST Micro boards used by many DPRG members.

Cheers,

Murray

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[1] https://forums.pimoroni.com/t/development-using-the-nuvoton-ms51/15182/2
[2] https://www.nuvoton.com/export/resource-files/TRM_MS51_16KBFlash_Series_EN_Rev1.03.pdf
[3] https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/io-expander
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_MCS-51
[5] https://direct.nuvoton.com/en/
[6] https://www.nuvoton.com/tool-and-software/evaluation-board/
[7] https://www.nuvoton.com/tool-and-software/software-development-tool/driver/
[8] https://direct.nuvoton.com/en/nutiny-n76e616
...........................................................................
Murray Altheim <murray18 at altheim dot com>                       = =  ===
http://www.altheim.com/murray/                                     ===  ===
                                                                    = =  ===
     In the evening
     The rice leaves in the garden
     Rustle in the autumn wind
     That blows through my reed hut.
            -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu