Rapid Prototyping for general microcontroller applications, Ethernet, USB and 32-bit ARM® Cortex™-M3 based designs

Overview¶

The mbed Microcontrollers are a series of ARM microcontroller development boards designed for rapid prototyping.

• Find out more about all mbed Microcontrollers

The mbed NXP LPC1768 Microcontroller in particular is designed for prototyping all sorts of devices, especially those including Ethernet, USB, and the flexibility of lots of peripheral interfaces and FLASH memory. It is packaged as a small DIP form-factor for prototyping with through-hole PCBs, stripboard and breadboard, and includes a built-in USB FLASH programmer.

It is based on the NXP LPC1768, with a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 core running at 96MHz. It includes 512KB FLASH, 32KB RAM and lots of interfaces including built-in Ethernet, USB Host and Device, CAN, SPI, I2C, ADC, DAC, PWM and other I/O interfaces. The pinout above shows the commonly used interfaces and their locations. Note that all the numbered pins (p5-p30) can also be used as DigitalIn and DigitalOut interfaces.

The mbed Microcontrollers provide experienced embedded developers a powerful and productive platform for building proof-of-concepts. For developers new to 32-bit microcontrollers, mbed provides an accessible prototyping solution to get projects built with the backing of libraries, resources and support shared in the mbed community.

Features¶

• NXP LPC1768 MCU
  • High performance ARM® Cortex™-M3 Core
  • 96MHz, 32KB RAM, 512KB FLASH
  • Ethernet, USB Host/Device, 2xSPI, 2xI2C, 3xUART, CAN, 6xPWM, 6xADC, GPIO
• Prototyping form-factor
  • 40-pin 0.1" pitch DIP package, 54x26mm
  • 5V USB or 4.5-9V supply
  • Built-in USB drag 'n' drop FLASH programmer
• mbed.org Developer Website
  • Lightweight Online Compiler
  • High level C/C++ SDK
  • Cookbook of published libraries and projects

The mbed NXP LPC1768 is one of a range of mbed Microcontrollers packaged as a small 40-pin DIP, 0.1-inch pitch form-factor making it convenient for prototyping with solderless breadboard, stripboard, and through-hole PCBs. It includes a built-in USB programming interface that is as simple as using a USB Flash Drive. Plug it in, drop on an ARM program binary, and its up and running! It is our most full featured board and is great for all kinds of general prototyping. If you're not sure which mbed to get, this is your best choice.

Getting Started with mbed¶

1. Connect your mbed to a PC¶

Use the USB lead to connect your mbed to a PC. The status light will come on, indicating it has power. After a few seconds of activity, the PC will recognise the mbed Microcontroller as a standard USB drive.

Windows XP example	Mac OS X example

2. Click the MBED.HTM link to get logged in¶

Go to the new USB Drive, and click MBED.HTM to open it in a web browser.

If you do not have an mbed account, choose "Signup", and create your mbed Account. Otherwise, log in with your normal username and password.

This will give you access to the website, tools, libraries and documentation.

3. Have Fun!¶

Your account is now ready and you can start using mbed!

Where next?¶

A good starting point is to download a pre-compiled program, so that you get used to downloading and running programs before you start compiling your own.

• Downloading a program

See also¶

• mbed Microcontrollers
• mbed Compiler