Microchip Technology dsPIC33A Digital Power Starter Kit 4

Microchip Technology dsPIC33A Digital Power Starter Kit 4 demonstrates the capabilities of the SMPS device families. The kit is equipped with a dsPIC33AK512MPS506 Digital Signal Controller, synchronous buck and asynchronous boost power stages, resistive loads, and a 2x16-character LCD. The self-contained platform allows developers to explore closed-loop digital power control without assembling separate converter hardware.

The Microchip dsPIC33A Digital Power Starter Kit 4 includes an onboard PICkit™ programmer/debugger and a USB/UART bridge for communication, programming, and debugging without additional hardware. Current sensing, temperature monitoring, configurable resistive loads, and hardware protection support the evaluation of the converter. The preprogrammed demonstration software is available through MPLAB® Discover.

Features

Onboard dsPIC33AK512MPS506 Digital Signal Controller
Synchronous buck and asynchronous boost converter power stages
Integrated resistive loads for converter demonstrations
Buck output and boost input current sensing
Temperature sensing for thermal protection
Push-button control of onboard resistive loads

2x16-character LCD for displaying operating information
Onboard PICkit programmer/debugger for application loading and debugging
USB/UART hub and bridge for host communication
Preprogrammed closed-loop demonstration application with source code available through MPLAB Discover

Applications

SMPS device evaluation
Digital power control development
Synchronous buck converter evaluation
Asynchronous boost converter evaluation

Closed-loop converter control
Digital power firmware development
Power conversion training and demonstrations

Specifications

DC input
- Input voltage range of 6V to 13.8V
- Typical input voltage of 9V
- Maximum input current of 0.9A
Buck converter
- Output voltage range of 1V to 5V with reprogramming
- Typical output voltage of 3.3V
- Maximum output current of 2A
- Output voltage ripple of 40mV peak-to-peak
- Switching frequency of 500kHz
- Maximum onboard load power of 3.3W
- Maximum output power of 7.6W with an external load
Dedicated buck and boost converter outputs

Boost converter
- Output voltage range of 10V to 20V with reprogramming
- Typical output voltage of 15V
- Output current range of 0.2A to 0.4A
- Output voltage ripple of 10mV peak-to-peak
- Switching frequency of 500kHz
- Maximum onboard load power of 3W
- Maximum output power of 6W with an external load
dsPIC33CK256MP305 load and protection microcontroller
USB Type-C^® connector for auxiliary power, USB/UART communication, programming, and debugging
User and reset push buttons