This Week's Focus: Microcontroller Watch
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32-bit MCUs Optimized for Motor Control in Robotics and More

Renesas Electronics has unveiled the RX66T Group of microcontrollers (MCUs). The chips are the first members of Renesas' flagship 32-bit RX MCU family based on the new third-generation RXv3 CPU core. The new MCUs leverage advanced CPU core technology to achieve substantially improved performance, as much as 2.5 times better than previous RX family MCUs, according to the company.
Combining the new RXv3 core with the strengths of the current RX62T and RX63T MCUs, the new RX66T MCUs address the real-time performance and enhanced stability required by inverter control. The new MCUs are well suited for use in industrial applications in next-generation smart factory equipment, such as industrial motors, power conditioners and robots, as well as smart home appliances, including air conditioners and washing machines.

When operating at 160 MHz, the RX66T MCUs achieve the performance rating of 928 CoreMark 2, enabling more precise inverter control. The MCUs can control up to four motors simultaneously, making them a solution for conventional motor control and applications requiring multi-axis motor control, such as compact industrial robots and personal robots, which are quickly growing in popularity.


Preventing IoT Edge Device Vulnerabilities

Mentor's Jim Miller explores internal design vulnerabilities and 3rd-party attacks on IoT edge devices in this white paper that answers these questions: 
  • Should hardware designers be concerned about security for IoT edge devices?
  • Is it worth the effort and cost to ensure security at this level?


Tiny MCU-Based Development Platform
Hosts Dual USB Ports

Segger Microcontroller has introduced emPower-USB-Host, a compact low-cost development board. With two USB host ports, many applications using USB peripherals can be realized with little effort. Precompiled applications for barcode and smartcard readers, as well as POS displays, LTE sticks and USB to LAN adapters are available for download. These include complete projects for Embedded Studio with source code of these applications. The applications are using Segger's emUSB-Host software API, which makes accessing the different types of USB devices easy.
emPower-USB-Host uses the emLoad bootloader, pre-loaded into the flash of the MCU, to easily change applications in seconds using a USB flash drive. Development of custom applications is also supported. The board has a debug connector, providing full access to the NXP LPC54605J512 MCU with its Cortex-M4 core. Schematics and PCB layout of the board are available under a Creative Commons license. This way, the hardware can be used as a blueprint for custom devices using two USB host ports.

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Single-Chip Controllers for 20-Inch Automotive Touchscreens
    
A new family of single-chip maXTouch touchscreen controllers from Microchip Technology is designed to address a number of issues particular to automotive screens up to 20 inches in size. Even as touchscreen displays in the car grow larger, drivers expect screens to operate with the same touch experience as mobile phones. However, screens in automobiles need to meet stringent head impact and vibration tests, and consequently have thicker cover lenses that potentially impact the touch interface performance. As screens get larger, they are also more likely to interfere with other frequencies such as AM radio and car access systems. All of these factors become a major challenge in the design of modern automotive capacitive touch systems.

The MXT2912TD-A, with nearly 3,000 touch sensing nodes, and MXT2113TD-A, supporting more than 2,000 nodes, bring consumers the touchscreen user experience they expect in vehicles. These new devices build upon Microchip's existing maXTouch touchscreen technology that is widely adopted by manufacturers worldwide. Microchip's latest solutions offer advanced signal-to-noise capability to address the requirements of thick lenses, even supporting multiple finger touches through thick gloves and in the presence of moisture.