PIC Microcontroller ‘Toothpick’ and DARC combination: immediate standalone operation and reliability

Pre-tested Firmware solutions available for the Toothpick transceiver enable immediate standalone operation, providing a low-cost and simplified solution. The range of Firmware solutions includes DARC-I™ Data acquisition and remote control managed via Bluetooth, DARC-II™ Data acquisition and remote control with FlexiPanel User Interface; Toothpick Slave where Toothpick is controlled by a host processor via a serial link; and Standalone Toothpick programmable in C for low-cost, customized standalone operation.

The Toothpick 2.0 transceiver is a FCC / CE / IC certified Class 1 Bluetooth v2.0 radio module with an integrated microchip. It has a 100-metre range, integral antenna and is available in either compact through-hole or surface mount packages.

The typical services features of the Toothpick 2.0 transceiver are the creation of user interfaces on computers, PDAs, cellphones with no development needed on remote devices by using the FlexiPanel server. Another advantage is that its wireless field programming lets developers distribute firmware upgrades electronically. System services also include Bluetooth communications, interrupt and memory management, sleep-safe real time clock with daylight savings time / day-of-week calculator.
Customization possibilities include faster sampling rates and power saving modes. More information on potential applications is available on the RF Solutions website at www.rfsolutions.co.uk.