Scamp is a self-contained Forth computer that you can use as the computing engine for your projects. It’s easy to interface, and easy and quick to program using Forth, the world’s best embedded programming language.
To use a Scamp, you don’t need to install any IDEs, compilers or development tools. FlashForth is preinstalled. Everything runs directly on Scamp, and all you need is a host computer with a USB interface and some terminal software.
Scamp is based on the Microchip PIC24F64GB202 microcontroller (datasheet). It has a useful mix of peripherals (including a USB interface). It has 64K of flash and 8K of RAM, a good amount for running Forth. This may not seem much, but FlashForth requires on the order of 20K flash, and only 2K of RAM. It is a very efficient programming environment. So, the PIC24F64GB202 has plenty of spare memory for your application code and variables.
It’s used in schools and universities for research or teaching. It’s used in home projects by hobbyists. Companies use Scamp in product development to rapidly prototype and debug their own hardware, or as the controller core of their next product.
Writing software to use other hardware is very easy, and fun. You can interactively talk with peripheral hardware, so debugging is very fast and efficient. You can see what is going on
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
