LPC824 TSSOP-20 Breakout Board

Breakout Board for NXP LPC824 TSSOP-20 microcontroller with external oscillator and UART-to-USB bridge connection both for user application and ISP flash programming.

Predicted applications:

• Basic, general purpose prototyping
• Sensor logging and interfacing
• LPC82x series evaluation and MCUXpresso learning
• Motor control

Project specifications

I designed this board for three reasons:

1. Have a simple, low cost and debug-enabled 32 bit ARM microcontroller platform for simple general purpose applications which can be used instead of common 8-bit solutions.
2. Testing my soldering capabilities with cheap generic equipment (1.5 mm diameter iron tip).
3. Have fun with my first MCU custom board.

Then the main specifications for the project where:

1. Use NXP's LPC800 series microcontroller for low cost, basic functionality and ARM Cortex-M0+ core.
2. SMD components dimensions and footprint density must be within my assembly capabilities (minimum standard size 0603).
3. No BGA or QFN packages for ICs.
4. Have a easy access to ISP programming and UART logging via FTDI bridge.

Board features

The chosen microcontroller is the LPC824M201JDH20J which has a 20 pin package. The designed board has the following main features:

• LDO voltage regulator with 3.3V/1A max output and power LED. Input voltage can be sourced from USB connector or external voltage Vin on P1 connector in range 5-18V (on silkscreen it's named 5VIN).
• SWD debug probe connector (J1) to interface the board to MCUXpresso IDE for easy programming and debugging, using LPCLink-2 probe.
• Reset (SW1) and ISP boot (SW2) tactile buttons for easy access.
• FTDI UART/USB bridge with Mini USB connector (J2) for easy soldering.
• Easy access to all MCU and FTDI pins via header connector (P2) and dedicated ADC connector (P3) for low losses and noise.
• External crystal oscillator can be optionally used as system clock source. Solder joints (JS1 and JS2) enable to choice between XTAL or GPIO operations of MCU pins.
• 2-layers PCB with components only on one layer, dimensions: 40x60 mm; mounting holes.

Versions

LPC824_20_BB v1.0.0

PCB manufactured by JLCPCB. Fully tested except for RX and TX LEDs which I didn't solder on my test board. In future versions, I may consider to add a user LED; additional vias may be added below the LDO to enhance heat dissipation in case of higher voltage inputs.

Please contact me if you are interested in schematics or gerber files.