Hands-On RTOS with Microcontrollers

Evaluation kits

An evaluation kit (eval kit) is at the other end of the spectrum when it comes to standardized footprints versus focus on the hardware itself. Eval kits are generally outfitted with the biggest, most feature-filled model of MCU available and are made with the sole intent of showing off that piece of hardware. This means they will generally not share a common footprint or connectors between different target MCUs (refer to the following diagram) because each MCU has different primary features and is targeted at a different market. Eval boards will have as many peripherals broken out to actual connectors as possible (such as serial, Ethernet, SD cards, a CAN bus, and multiple USBs). They also typically include a slew of peripheral ...