Texas Instruments’ MSP430 microcontroller has a huge fanbase and thousands of students literally grew up with it thanks to even more free development kits pumped into the educational market by TI.

The MSP430FR2000 and MSP430FR21xx devices form a new branch form a new branch on Texas Instruments' huge MSP430 tree They are ultra-low-power MCUs with memory sizes from 0.5 KB to 4 KB of FRAM unified memory with several package options including a small 3-mm×3-mm VQFN package. The architecture, FRAM, and integrated peripherals, combined with extensive low-power modes, are optimized says TI to achieve extended battery life in portable, battery-powered sensing applications. In good educational fashion the MSP430FR2000 and MSP430FR21xx devices offer a migration path for 8-bit designs to gain additional features and functionality from peripheral integration and the data-logging and low-power benefits of FRAM. Additionally, existing designs using MSP430G2x MCUs can migrate to the MSP430FR2000 and MSP430F21xx family to increase performance and get the benefits of FRAM.

Again in good TI tradition the ‘430-FR2000 and ‘430-FR21x devices are supported by an extensive hardware and software ecosystems with reference designs and code examples. Development kits include the MSP-EXP430FR2311 and MSP430FR4133 LaunchPad™ development kit and the MSP‑TS430PW20 20-pin target development board. And whad‘ya think, these new MCUs are backed up by extensive training and online support through the E2E™ Community Forum.