Microchip has released a new PIC32 with 128K of RAM and 512K of flash. This would make a great platform for development.
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Use JTAG header and OpenOCD for development
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USB version
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USB/Ethernet version
doesn’t arudino use atmel?
Yes, it is the AVR family. But it is a 8 bit processor.
The goal would be to leverage as much as the IO so shields can be used as is. Thus the processor is faster, 80Mhz, @ 32 bit and 512K of Flash and 128K of RAM.
Then use processing and the same libraries etc, just use a different gcc…
There is a UBW32 on the PIC… would be nice to bump that to a higher end PIC32… just another idea…
Already in the works. I got early samples of the new PICs and they work just fine on the existing UBW32 board. I will be working with SparkFun to hopefully bring out a UBW32+ (or some other equally clever name) in the near future.
*Brian
P.S. - The UBW32 would make an awesome Arduino type board. (IMHO). The problem is the software. Somebody would have to do the work to port the Arduino libraries over to the PIC32 dev tools, and get the C32 compiler working under the Arduino IDE. Not trivial. Anybody up for it?
*Brian
Yes, I’m up for it. I got a UWB board and working it that. The main issue I’m having is the memory, I want to add a script language for configuration loading and some general light weight programming.
So when is the release date? for either? or both?
Some general questions
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openOCD support PIC32? I have a JTAGGER for ARM already. does any one know the status?
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HW debugging ICD3 work? I have a PCIKit2 but only good from programing…
You guys do know that Atmel produces the AVR32 right? It has many of the same features as the PIC32 but also has much lower power consumption. The chip itself comes with a bootloader (a good starting point for Arduino development) already on it which makes it programmable directly from USB. Not that I’m against PICs but I think this is a much better option than the PIC32.
On the other hand, I’m actually learning how to use the PIC32MX family right now and so far it seems much better supported than the AVR32. For example, there are books out there entirely dedicated to programming the PIC32.
The ICD3 and PICKit3 are the only “hobby grade” programmers and debuggers that I know of that support the PIC32. I’ve read that the PICkit3 doesn’t fully support the PIC32 and has a lot of issues.
Release dates? Well, the UBW32 has been available for quite some time now from SparkFun, so you can get started with your software today. 
The UBW32 with the newer PIC32 should be available Q1 2010.
I’m surprised you’re having trouble with memory - the UBW32 has (what I consider) gobs of memory. Enough for a full RTOS plus tons of code (TCP/IP, ethernet, FAT32, USB stacks, all at the same time, with only about %15 of the Flash used).
Also, I use a PICKit2 to program PIC32s and it works just dandy. No debugging support, but I don’t end up needing debugging very often. I have a PICKit3, and enjoy it, and have found no problems with it yet, but don’t use it as much as the PICKit2.
*Brian
Regarding openOCD and the PIC32 - I’ve used the combination successfully, but I had to hack on GDB + openocd a bunch to get everything I wanted working, at the speed I wanted. I never got my changes into a format that was suitable for submitting back upstream, and I haven’t tried upstream openocd / GDB in a while, so I don’t know if the situation has gotten any better.
–David Carne
There’s a Cortino. 32bit 72Mhz 512K STM32 Cortex-M3.
I’ll get C++ working etc… I’m thinking of going a little different route… use the ejtag interface to do the programming etc.
ejtag will be on the board as a header or just on the header pins?
the reason for getting ejtag to work, a cheaper method for debugging etc… here is the jtag HW USB
USB JTAG NT
$60.00
I guess what I’m asking is a simple connector on the board. I guess if one is not there I can wire it up myself…
I see that the UBW32 is out of stock, so if I order one on free day will it be the new or old UBw32?
I’m not sure what you mean by new vs old. V2.5 is the current version, and I’m not expecting that SparkFun will change that before Jan 7th.
*Brian
the new UBW32 with the new PIC32…
The question I have if the older UBW32 is on back order… it might be a few weeks or longer before I even get a UBw32… So just wondering if it is possible to preorder the new UBW32 with the new PIC32
Ahh. I don’t think you can pre-order the new version. I need to finish the board update to v2.6, which should be done by the second week of January. I then need to publish the files to SparkFun, and they have to then begin making the boards. I would expect the '795 version may be available sometime before the end of Q1.
*Brian
Will this board have an Ethernet connector?
No, it will not. It will be exactly like the UBW32 v2.5 that you can buy today, but with a better crystal and pads for a 32KHz crystal.
In the works at Schmalz Haus is a UBW32 + Ethernet board.
*Brian
Finally have mips gcc 4.4.x (CodeSourcery) tools working on the UBw32. I was thinking of releasing this in codeplex. Had to do some pyhon script to translate some of themicrochip include files.
Next working on C++ then port Arduino