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NanoCore12

Technological Arts Inc.

Overview

NanoCore12 is a microcontroller platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It was created for hobbyists, students, engineers, artists, designers--  anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

NanoCore12 can sense its environment through various sensors and can affect its environment by controlling various devices:  lights, motors, sound transducers, and various actuators. The microcontroller on NanoCore12 can be programmed with Assembler, BASIC, C, or Forth.  NanoCore12 projects can be autonomous or they can communicate with software running on a computer (e.g. Adobe Flash, VisualBASIC, C#, etc.).

NanoCore12 currently comes in three versions:

 

  • a 24-pin drop-in Stamp-replacement (NC12C32S)
  • a 32-pin Stamp-superset (NC12DXC32S)
  • a 40-pin module with on-board CAN transceiver (NC12MAXC32S or NC12MAX128S)

 

Besides on-board RS232 transceiver, voltage regulator, crystal and PLL support circuitry, all NanoCore12 modules sport a MC9S12C MCU, loaded with up to 128K Flash, up to 4K RAM, and a rich assortment of advanced on-chip hardware peripherals. Not only is it blazingly fast (24MHz bus) and powerful, but it is a breeze to multi-task for such demanding apps as robotics and real-time control.

 

Software Development:
A free Special Edition of the industry standard CodeWarrior Studio for Windows is available from Freescale, and supports up to 32K of C source code, and unlimited assembler.  See Resources for details.
For educational and hobbyist
(i.e. non-commercial)
applications, the free SBASIC compiler by Karl Lunt is a good choice.  While it is a DOS cross-compiler, it is easily used from Windows.  Also from Karl Lunt is the free Tiny4th compiler.   See Resources for details and URLs.

Hardware Features:

Product Name >>
NC12C32
NC12DXC32
NC12MAXC32
NC12MAXC128
Microcontroller MC9S12C32 MC9S12C32 MC9S12C32 MC9S12C128
Operating Voltage 5V or 3.3V
5V or 3.3V 5V or 3.3V 5V or 3.3V
Input Voltage (nom.) 7-12V 7-12V 7-12V 7-12V
Input Voltage (limits) 5-18V 5-18V 5-18V 5-18V
Digital I/O Pins:

18 total:
5 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs

24 total:
5 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs
4 can function as SPI
2 can provide CAN (via external transceiver)

29 total:
6 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs
4 can function as SPI
2 can provide CAN (via on-board transceiver)

29 total:
6 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs
4 can function as SPI
2 can provide CAN
(via on-board transceiver)

Analog Pins (10-bit)
8
8
8
8
DC Current per I/O Pin 25 mA 25 mA
25 mA 25 mA
Available DC Current from Vcc Pin 60 mA 60 mA
60 mA 60 mA
Flash Memory 32K of which 2K is used by bootloader 32K of which 2K is used by bootloader 32K of which 2K is used by bootloader 128K of which 2K is used by bootloader
SRAM 2K 2K
2K
4K
Oscillator Frequency
8 MHz 8 MHz 8 MHz 8 MHz
Bus Speed
24 MHz
24 MHz 24 MHz 24 MHz
®BASIC Stamp is a registered trademark of Parallax, Inc.
Product NC12C32
NC12DXC32
NC12MAXC32
NC12MAXC128
Microcontroller MC9S12C32 MC9S12C32 MC9S12C32 MC9S12C128 Operating Voltage 5V or 3.3V
5V or 3.3V 5V or 3.3V 5V or 3.3V Input Voltage (nom.) 7-12V 7-12V 7-12V 7-12V Input Voltage (limits) 5-18V 5-18V 5-18V 5-18V Digital I/O Pins:

18 total:
5 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs

24 total:
5 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs
4 can function as SPI
2 can provide CAN

29 total:
6 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs
4 can function as SPI
2 can provide CAN

29 total:
6 can provide PWM output
8 can function as IC/OC
8 can function as Analog Inputs
4 can function as SPI
2 can provide CAN

Analog Pins 8
8
8
8
DC Current per I/O Pin 25 mA 25 mA
25 mA 25 mA Available DC Current from Vcc Pin 60 mA 60 mA
60 mA 60 mA Flash Memory 32K of which 2K is used by bootloader 32K of which 2K is used by bootloader 32K of which 2K is used by bootloader 128K of which 2K is used by bootloader SRAM 2K 2K
2K
4K
Oscillator Frequency 8 MHz 8 MHz 8 MHz 8 MHz Bus Speed 24 MHz
24 MHz 24 MHz 24 MHz
 

Top 10 Reasons to Choose NanoCore12

1.   Multiple PWM channels for DC motor control, hobby servo control, and audio output applications
2.   Hardware UART (up to 115Kbaud) for fast serial communications (RS232)
3.   Hardware timer system (measure pulse widths & generate multiple waveforms simultaneously): ideal for interfacing sonar/IR distance-measuring sensors, R/C servo motors
4.   Built-in analog-to-digital converters (8 channels, with 10-bit resolution and 7us sample time for interfacing multiple sensors: temperature, humidity, pressure, light, etc.)
5.   Built-in real-time interrupt (easy to implement multi-tasking Operating System kernel)
6.   Advanced Complex Instruction Set (CISC) 16-bit CPU
7.   Serial Peripheral Interface*(SPI) for easy interface to LCDs, SD cards, MP3 chips, DACs, clock/calendar chips, serial EEPROM, etc.
8.   32K+ program memory (for fast "execute-in-place" program execution)
9.   2K+ user RAM (for variables and data)
10. Programmable in Assembler, BASIC, and C

* SPI is not present on 24-pin versions.