Hi folks,
I have an idea for a small home automation project and I'd like to use TI's low power MSP430 and CC256x chips. I plan on using the MCU to control a servo, a couple LEDs, couple switches, capacitive touch input, UART for CC256x comms, and a few extra GPIO as headroom for any future upgrades.
The options for combining these 2 modules are dizzying so I'm turning to you for help. I like panasonic's PAN1323 and PAN1326 modules, which is convenient because there exists a development board PAN1323ETU ($70) that can plug into RF enabled TI MSP430 development boards. The literature on the wiki seems to favor the MSP-EXP430F5438 experimenter board ($175), but it has a couple drawbacks for me: it's pricey, and the 100-pin chip is much larger than I need. However, I do like the ZIF socket so I can easily program multiple chips for prototyping. The MSP-EXP430FR5739 ($35) looks promising since it has available RF expansion, and it's considerably cheaper, but it doesn't have a ZIF socket so I can't program multiple chips with it.
Here's where I get confused. There seem to be a few MSP430 Bluetooth LE software stacks out there, and I'm not really sure which works with what. I'd like to stay away from the IAR IDE since it's so expensive, so the stack/device would preferably work with Code Composer Studio, or some other free IDE.
So finally here is my question: what is a low cost to entry solution for the MSP430 with Bluetooth LE support that I can program with a free IDE. It would preferably be able to easily program multiple MCUs so I can quickly build a few prototypes.
Thanks for your help :)
