In recent years, there has been an increasing number of space exploration and deployment activities, and the deepening of space exploration has imposed higher and higher requirements on electronic components. In this context, Microchip Technology Corporation has introduced a radiation-resistant 32-bit microcontroller (MCU), model SAMD21RT.
The SAMD21RT is a high-performance, radiation-resistant 32-bit MCU from Microchip for the aerospace and defense market. Featuring high-performance processing capabilities, powerful analog functionality, broad temperature adaptability, and a low-power design, the SAMD21RT provides a reliable solution for electronic devices operating in harsh environments.
Based on Radiation Tolerant (RT) ARM Cortex-M0+ technology, it is designed to operate in harsh space environments with stringent radiation and reliability standards.The SAMD21RT is available in a 64-pin leaded ceramic and plastic package featuring 128KB of Flash memory and 16KB of Static Random Access Memory (SRAM). Designed for space-constrained applications where size and weight are critical, the SAMD21RT measures only 10mm x 10mm and operates at up to 48MHz to provide high-performance processing.
The SAMD21RT also incorporates analog functionality, including up to 20 channels of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog comparators. It also builds on Microchip's existing SAMD21 MCU family, widely used in the industrial and automotive markets, and utilizes commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technology, which maintains pin compatibility to simplify the design process.
Figure: Microchip Technology - SAMD21RT-32-bit-MCU (Source: Microchip Technology Inc.)
To withstand harsh environments including radiation and temperature extremes, the SAMD21RT can operate over a temperature range of -40°C to 125°C and has a high level of radiation tolerance with a total ionizing dose (TID) capability of up to 50 krad and single event latch-up (SEL) immunity of up to 78 MeV-cm²/mg.
In addition, the SAMD21RT is low-power with features such as idle and standby hibernation modes and sleepwalking peripherals. Other peripherals include a 12-channel direct memory access controller (DMAC), 12-channel event system, control timer/counter (TCC), 32-bit real-time counter (RTC), watchdog timer (WDT), and USB 2.0 interface. Communication options include Serial Communications (SERCOM), I2C, SPI and LIN.
Microchip Technology has extensive experience in the field of space exploration, with its products participating in a number of space missions, including the Artemis program, and contributing to the successful development of the Space Launch System, Orion spacecraft, the Lunar Gateway space station, the Lunar Lander, and the next-generation spacesuit.
The SAMD21RT 32-bit MCU is supported by the SAM D21 Curiosity Nano evaluation tool suite, the MPLAB® X integrated development environment (IDE) and the MPLAB PICkit™ 5 in-circuit debugger/programmer. The SAMD21RT 32-bit MCU is currently available in limited quantities!
