Mbed Microcontroller Gets First Baseboard: Connectivity-Packed LPCXpresso

Remember the Twitter-reading robot fish from back in September?  At its core was an mbed microcontroller, a $60 alternative to the Arduino intended for rapid prototyping, and we're now seeing the first of the optional baseboards for the mbed filter through.  Embedded Artists' have come up with the LPCXpresso, a 'board positively bristling with connectivity and inputs that includes an OLED display, accelerometer and light sensors, joystick and wireless.

That network connectivity includes XBee support and ethernet, and there's an SPI SD card socket and Flash, I2C port expander and a CAN socket.  The whole thing measures 150 x 180 mm and gets its 5v of power from a USB hook-up.  There are also plenty of push-buttons and rotary controls.

The Embedded Artists' LPCXpresso baseboard is available for preorder now, priced at €69 ($104), and is expected to begin shipping in January 2010.  We're looking forward to seeing what developers and tinkerers come up with next; while there's a soft spot in our hearts for the Arduino, we'll always welcome more choice in the hobby microcontroller arena.

embed overview video: