New LED controller kit includes hardware and software

Texas Instruments Inc. announces its new TMS320C2000 Piccolo microcontroller (MCU) DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit. The new 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.

Piccolo MCU DC/DC LED Developer’s Kit key features and benefits include:

• Piccolo F28035 controlCARD provides 60 MHz of 32-bit performance, 14 PWM outputs, a 12-bit, 4.6 megasample-per-second ADC, and 128 KB of flash memory to support advanced lighting features
• Digitally controlled buck/boost dc/dc 12-24 V 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