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How to get started with samd21 simulator arduino

How to get started with samd21 simulator arduino

How to get started with samd21 simulator arduino

The samd21 simulator is a low-power, high-performance Microchip ARM® Cortex®-M0+-based flash microcontroller. The following are the characteristics:

  • 256KB Flash and 32KB SRAM 
  • 48MHz Operating Frequency 
  • Full-speed USB devices and embedded hosts 
  • Supports up to 120 touch channels 
  • 1.62V〜3.63V Power Supply 
  • Six serial communication modules (SERCOMs) configurable as UART/USART, SPI, or I2C; three 16-bit timers/counters; 32-bit real-time clock and calendar; 20 PWM channels; 14-channel 12-bit ADC; 1 10-bit DAC 

Thus, compared to the older 8-bit/16MHz Arduino microcontroller, it is a very powerful microcontroller.

Why use the samd21 simulator?

High memory capacity and fast operating speeds 

Is there a storage capacity limit for Arduino UNO? Or do you feel other MCUs are running too slowly? SAMD21 can solve such problems. SAMD21’s 256KB Flash means you are not limited to 32KB to accommodate all your compiled sketches. In addition, adding flash storage allows large user-defined data blocks to be stored on the microcontroller. Of course, with 32KB’s SRAM, you don’t have to worry about overflowing the dynamic memory stack. In addition, the maximum CPU speed of the SAMD21 is 48MHz, so you don’t have to worry about the speed anymore.

High-sensitivity voltage measurement 

The samd21 simulator has 14 ADC input pins with 12-bit resolution compared to 10 bits on the ATmega328p. With improved resolution, each bit from 0 to 4095 is equivalent to 0.806mV for more sensitive voltage measurements when the processor’s power supply is 3.3V.

Integrated USB controller 

The samd21 simulator has an integrated USB controller and can be used as a USB device or host. As a USB device, you can emulate a keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc. As a USB communication device class, you can connect and communicate with your computer as a serial port. On the other hand, the samd21 simulator can connect a mouse or keyboard as a USB host or store data on a USB flash drive.

RTC (real-time clock) onboard 

Do you need accurate timekeeping for digital clocks or PID loops? The ATmega328 includes an RTC, which is necessary for timing. The samd21 simulator also has an RTC, which clocks the processor at 48MHz, while providing a separate power supply from the onboard crystal unit.

Configurable serial interfaces 

It is one of the unique features that make SAMD special. It has six configurable serial interfaces and can be switched to UART, I2C master, I2C slave, SPI master, or SPI slave. This feature allows ports to be multiplexed, allowing you to choose which tasks each pin should be assigned to, which makes it very flexible.

Getting Started with SAMD21 Arduino

First, you need a samd21 simulator board. Following are the three best cost-effective samd21 simulators Arduino-compatible boards.

Seeeduino Cortex-M0+

  • The Seeeduino Cortex-M0+ is powered by Atmel SAMD21 MCU, based on a 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M0+ processor. 
  • With the help of this powerful core, SAMD21 is much more powerful than AVR and can perform many functions and more complex calculations that cannot be implemented with AVR chips. 
  • It has 14 digital I/Os (10 PWM outputs) and 6 analogs I/Os with the same header pinout as the Seeeduino Lotus Cortex-M0+. 
  • On the other hand, the onboard Grove connector has two I2C and one UART for three. 
  • If you need more Grove ports, you can use the Base Shield V2 that works with this board. 
  • In addition, the Seeeduino Cortex-M0+ is the first Seeeduino development board to include a USB Type C interface. 
  • USB Type C is a trend in the future, with a reversible plug, higher data transfer rates, and more scalable features.

Seeeduino Lotus Cortex-M0+

  • The Seeeduino Lotus Cortex-M0+ is a SAMD21 microcontroller development board. 
  • Atmel® | SMART™ SAM D21 is a series of low-power microcontrollers using a 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M0+ processor featuring 256KB Flash and 32KB SRAM. 
  • You can think of Seeeduino Lotus Cortex-M0+ as a combination of Seeeduino and Base Shield. 
  • The Seeeduino Lotus Cortex-M0+ includes 14 digital inputs and outputs (10 PWM) and 6 analog inputs and outputs, three serial communication interfaces, a micro-USB connector, a JST2.0 lithium polymer connector, an ICSP header, 12 glove connectors, and reset buttons. 
  • The Seeeduino Lotus Cortex-M0+ is an upgrade to the Seeeduino Lotus V1.1, which has been replaced by a more powerful chip, optimized circuit layout, and more stable power supply. This chip supports USB-level direct output, so you don’t need to use a serial port → USB chip like CP2102N. It will increase the number of hardware serial ports by one.

Wio Lite MG126

  • The Wio Lite MG126 is a cost-effective SAMD21-based development board with onboard MG126 Bluetooth modules. 
  • The SAM D21 is an ARM Cortex-M0+-based microcontroller, and the MG126 is a 2.4GHz single-mode Bluetooth transceiver module. 
  • The board is compatible with the Arduino Zero and has the same compatible form factor as the Adafruit Feather series. 
  • If you disassemble the SAM D21’s 3.3V I/O pin, the SAM D21 chip has a wealth of I/O resources, including 14 digital pins, 6 analog pins, 1 UART port, 1 I2C port, and 1 ICSP port. 
  • There is a JST2.0 Lithium Polymer Battery Port that can be used to power this board using a 3.5V or 4.2V Lithium Polymer Battery. 
  • Now let’s talk about MG126, which is Bluetooth Core. The MG126 is a 2.4GHz BLE RF transceiver with software-configurable registers and a packet processing engine. It can be operated at ultra-low power consumption. 
  • The MG126 has a Bluetooth air data rate of 1Mbps, and the MG126 can communicate with the Arduino core via an SPI interface at a speed of 4Mbps.

Final Words:

There are many things to consider when buying a new high-performance Microchip ARM® Cortex®-M0+-based flash microcontroller. You may want something that is very powerful and highly functional. You want something less expensive, but it should fulfill all your requirements. The samd21 simulator is the best low-power, high-performance Microchip ARM® Cortex®-M0+-based flash microcontroller.

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