Space exploration is experiencing a resurgence with exciting new missions like the highly anticipated Artemis II mission, the recent successful lunar landing missions such as JAXA SLIM and Chandaaryan-3, and New Space deployments in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Designers require electronic components that meet stringent radiation and reliability standards to operate in the harsh environments found in space.
Microchip Technology recently announced the SAMD21RT, a radiation-tolerant (RT) Arm Cortex-M0+ based 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) in a 64-pin ceramic and plastic package with 128KB Flash and 16KB SRAM.
Designed for space-constrained applications where size and weight are of critical importance, the SAMD21RT is available
in a small footprint of 10mm × 10mm. Running at up to 48MHz, the SAMD21RT delivers high-performance processing for harsh environments. The device integrates analog functions including an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) with up to 20 channels, a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC), and analog comparators.