Texas Instruments has announced eZ430-Chronos development kit, which it claims to be first customisable development environment for sports watches. It enhances the popular line of eZ430 development tools to help developers utilise the integration, ultra-low power and wireless features of the TI's CC430 microcontroller (MCU).

 

Chronos is designed to give users all the hardware and software they need to start developing wireless networking applications, regardless of their programming expertise. It has sensors for measurement and motion-based control and can serve as a central hub for nearby wireless sensors to give users remote access to real-time data from devices such as pedometers and heart rate monitors.

Chronos also includes a USB RF access point for wireless set-up and PC connectivity, as well as several production-ready open source projects to foster evaluation, design and community collaboration.

 

The key benefits of eZ430-Chronos include a wearable form factor to support development in remote locations, support for three frequency bands (915, 868 and 433 MHz) to enable worldwide use, and an integrated three-axis accelerometer for motion sensitive control, along with sensors for measuring parameters such as altitude, temperature and battery voltage.

 

Other features include an eZ430 emulator for simplified programming and debugging on a base software framework and RF functions, internal CC430 memory for data storage, a large 96 segment LCD display driven directly by the CC430, and a USB RF access point for PC communication and automation