ARM Community: Putting FUN in Function and Form in Evaluation Kits –TI’s EVALBOT - ARM Community

Tired of the evaluation kit doldrums? You’ve experienced them - most of these kits are well square, simple and static. Function before form. The Texas Instruments Stellaris® ARM® Cortex™-M3 group, who are passionate about delivering an easy and useful evaluation kit experience, turned that around with its EVALBOT.



The result is perhaps the most fun evaluation kit yet created. The kit comes with the Texas Instruments (TI) LM3S9B92 processor, Ethernet, microSD, USB Host and Device, PWM motion control, I2S audio and a slew of other features. What makes this kit unique is the function and form. Its given name is the Stellaris Robotic Evaluation Board, but many have come to know it as simply EVALBOT. A fully functioning mobile two wheeled robot about the size of a compact disc; this kit masterfully cures the evaluation kit doldrums. EVALBOT ships unassembled thus presenting a Christmas morning, tinker toy like joy to assemble. Created to demonstrate the Micrium uC/OS-III RTOS on a Stellaris processor, this kit is available separately or bundled with the companion two part book covering the RTOS as well as the kit. What better way to get to know an RTOS than to put it to use? What better way to put an RTOS to use than to put it into motion? EVALBOT elegantly brings motion to the static realm of evaluation kits. In so doing it re-introduces the fun that brought so many of us into the MCU field in the first place.

EVALBOT’s possibilities extend well beyond the simple robotic examples that are featured in the text. Would TI include all of this connectivity so that it could sit idle? Perhaps most intriguing is the inclusion of a pair of headers designed to mate with common TI wireless evaluation kits offering connectivity in the sub-gigahertz and 2.4 gigahertz spectrum. EVALBOT is a beginning of fun things to come. Enjoy and try to not to grin too much when your boss signs the purchase order.

Guest Partner Blogger:

Dexter Travis, Applications Engineering, Texas Instruments (TI), Dexter currently provides applications support for Stellaris MCU customers. Dexter has nearly 10 years of experience in embedded system development. He recently joined TI having previously worked in automation research for Caterpillar Inc. Dexter has a masters degree in electrical engineering from Bradley University.

ARM welcomes its wealth of Partners in the ARM Connected Community (CC) to submit guest blogs to be published on our multiple community blogs. If interested in participating please submit email inquiries to Tell.Us@arm.com.

The ARM Connected Community (CC) is an extensive ecosystem covering all aspects of ARM processor-based design, from chip implementation through to system and device design. The CC provides a platform for collaborative innovation, with multiple types of forums for members to work with one another, and with customers, to solve industry challenges, all with the purpose of enabling designers to focus on differentiating features and an accelerated time-to-market for ARM powered solutions.