Tag Archives: microchip

Using the ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) of PIC Microcontroller

Many electrical signals around us are Analog in nature. That means a quantity varies directly with some other quantity. The first quantity is mostly voltage while that second quantity can be anything like temperature, pressure, light, force or acceleration. For example in LM35 temperature sensor the output voltage varies according to the temperature, so if we could measure voltage, we can measure temperature. But most of our computer (or Microcontrollers) are digital in nature. They can only differentiate between HIGH or LOW level on input pins. For example if input is more than 2.5v it will be read as 1 and if it is below 2.5 then it will be read as 0 (in case of 5v systems). So we cannot measure voltage directly from MCUs. To solve this problem most modern MCUs have an ADC unit. ADC stands for analog to digital converter. It will convert a voltage to a number so that it can be processed by a digital systems like MCU. This enables us to easily interface all sort of analog devices with MCUs. Some really helpful example of analog devices are Light Sensors. Temperature Sensors. Accelerometers. Touch Screens. Microphone for Audio Recording. And possibly many more. In this tutorials we will learn to use the internal ADC of PIC18 devices (Example is for PIC18F4520 which is […]

PIC Development Board – Expansion of Board

The PIC Development board from eXtreme Electronics has the feature of connecting add-on boards, like user interface board or a motor controller board. You can also make your own expansion board. Actually the board has the ability to connect a prototyping area where you can create your project specific circuit while the "basic" environment for PIC resides on the Development board. Fig.: Replaceable Prototyping Area   In this way many project can be created and kept for future use. Each project resides in its own board when you need that simply pair it with development board and the project is up and running! No messy wiring! Preparing a Veroboard for connection Take a general purpose PCB (veroboard) and solder a 40 PIN right angled burg strip connector in one end. Fig.: Replaceable Prototyping Area Now the it is ready to plug into the Development Board. Fig.: Replaceable Prototyping Area   After you connect your prototyping area to the Dev Board all PORTs of PIC MCU and Power Supply becomes available in the veroboard. Here you can connect all sort of components required by your project. It is very easy to remove the prototyping are and replace it with a fresh new one for another project. Thus a single development board can be used for many different projects. The 40 PIN […]

PIC Development Board – Hello World Project

Hello friends, welcome to this exciting tutorial were we will begin our journey with latest PIC18F micros from Microchip Technologies. This tutorial will give you information on what software/hardware you will require and basic steps on how to get, install, configure and use them. After going through this tutorial you will have a complete setup and knowledge to experiment with these powerful chips !           What you will learn ? MPLab as a powerful IDE. HI-TECH C for PIC18 MCUs as a powerful C Compiler. Creating a new HI-TECH C project in MPLab. Write a C Code to blink LED and compile it to get a HEX code. Configure the MCU for proper oscillator selection. Basic Use for PIC development board from eXtreme Electronics Burn the HEX code to MCU using eXtreme Burner PIC from eXtreme Electronics. Use the programmed MCU to actually blink the LED ! So lets get started !!! First get these stuffs Microchip’s MPLab IDE or Integrated development Environment. This is the central tool from where you can access most of other tools, like the C Compiler. This also lets you create and edit program files and projects. Download this from Microchips Web site and Install it in your computer. Download MPLAB IDE Free. HI-TECH C Pro for PIC18 MCUs – This […]

PIC Development Board – Programming

The PIC Development Board can be easily programmed INCircuit by using our eXtreme Burner – PIC, a PIC Programmer with USB Connectivity. The firmware of a Microcontroller is normally stored in HEX files. This HEX file is generated by an assembler or a Compiler. In this section we will show you how you can transfer a HEX file from your PC to the Microcontroller. NOTE: It is assumed that eXtreme Burner – PIC (hardware) is installed as described in its documentation. It is assumed that eXtreme Burner – PIC (software) is installed as described in its documentation. Connect the PIC development board with the programmer using a six pin female to female cable as shown below. Power on both development board and the burner. Fig. Six pin female to female cable for ICSP.   Fig. 6 PIN ICSP of Development Board.   Fig. 6 PIN ICSP of eXtreme Burner – PIC. Launch eXtreme Burner – PIC from Windows Desktop or Start Menu. Fig.: eXtreme Burner – PIC, Main Screen.   The software is easy to use. First you need to load the HEX file which you want to burn to the MCU. So select Open from File Menu or From the Toolbar. Then select the hex file. Now the HEX file will be loaded and the contents (FLASH,EEPROM,Chip Settings) will […]

Hello World Project With PIC Microcontroller – Part II

Hello Friends, Welcome back. In the last tutorial we started working with MPLab and HI-TECH C Compiler and written our first C program to blink LED. After compiling the program we got the HEX file. Now, in this tutorial we will see how to transfer(burn) the hex file to our Microcontroller chip and then power it up to actually blink the LED. We will use eXtreme Burner – PIC , which is a easy to use GUI programmer for PIC18 MCUs. The burner supports USB connectivity with PC so it is very easy to install and use. Launch eXtreme Burner – PIC from Windows Desktop or Start Menu.   Fig.: eXtreme Burner – PIC, Main Screen.   The software is easy to use. First you need to load the HEX file which was generated by MPLAB+HI-TECH C in previous tutorial. So select Open from File Menu or From the Toolbar. Then select the hex file. Now the HEX file will be loaded and the contents (FLASH,EEPROM,Chip Settings) will be available. Now connect the programmer with your PC by using standard USB Cable the programmer will be automatically detected by software (provided drivers are installed previously) . Apply power to programmer using a 12v DC adaptor. Place a PIC18F4550 chip in the ZIF socket and lock it.   Fig.: eXtreme Burner […]

Hello World Project With PIC Microcontroller – Part I

Hello friends, welcome to this exciting tutorial were we will begin our journey with latest PIC18F micros from Microchip Technologies. This tutorial will give you information on what software/hardware you will require and basic steps on how to get, install, configure and use them. After going through this tutorial you will have a complete setup and knowledge to experiment with these powerful chips !         What you will learn ? MPLab as a powerful IDE. HI-TECH C for PIC18 MCUs as a powerful C Compiler. Creating a new HI-TECH C project in MPLab. Write a C Code to blink LED and compile it to get a HEX code. Configure the MCU for proper oscillator selection. Burn the HEX code to MCU using eXtreme Burner PIC from eXtreme Electronics. Use the programmed MCU to actually blink the LED ! So lets get started !!! First get these stuffs Microchip’s MPLab IDE or Integrated development Environment. This is the central tool from where you can access most of other tools, like the C Compiler. This also lets you create and edit program files and projects. Download this from Microchips Web site and Install it in your computer. Download MPLAB IDE Free. HI-TECH C Pro for PIC18 MCUs – This is will compile the high level human readable programs (in […]

USB PIC Microcontroller Programmer.

Good News for PIC lovers ! Presenting eXtreme Burner PIC, USB Programmer for PIC18FXXXX/PIC18LFXXXX/PIC16FXXXA/PIC16LFXXXA series MCUs. This easy to use programmer with USB connectivity and GUI software can program more than 52 chips of PIC18F/PIC16F family. This programmer support both ZIF socket and ICSP based programming. eXtreme Burner – PIC   Software eXtreme Burner PIC – Main Screen.   eXtreme Burner PIC – Write Device Screen.   eXtreme Burner PIC – PIC Programming Success !   About Microchip PIC18F Series MCUs These are high performance MCUs of popular PIC range of MCUs from Microchip. Main features are high performance CPU core (up to 12 MIPS),hardware multiplier, C language optimized architecture, with Modern peripherals such as USB. See Microchip’s Official PIC18F web page. Getting Started with PIC Microcontrollers. See Also eXtreme Burner 51 – USB Programmer for 89S51/89S52 MCUs. For any queries write to sales@extremeelectronics.co.in or Call 09939369624 (Avinash). More Info | Buy Now

Tutorial 0 – Getting Started with Microchip PIC Microcontrollers.

After my tutorial series on Atmel AVR Microcontrollers and I have planed to start a similar tutorial series on Microchip PIC Microcontrollers. PIC Family of Micros are popular among hobbyists as they are easily available, easy to use and are low cost. In the first couple of tutorial we will make/collect hardware and software tools which will be required to experiment with PIC MCUs. Once you have the basic tools up and running we will proceed to learning how to do basic stuffs with PICs, like setting and using PORTs, Controlling LEDs, Relays, Motors etc. These will help you as building blocks that will help you develop your own project and understand and implement thousands of PIC MCU projects out there in Magazines and Internet. These tutorials assumes that you are a beginner with Microcontroller i.e. having no or little experience with them. What is a Microcontroller? Ans: For information of "What is a microcontroller?" and how it can help you see this link. Selecting A Microcontroller We will start our journey with PIC16F877A and PIC16F628A Microcontrollers. Then we will move to high performance 18F core microcontrollers like PIC18F2550 and PIC18F4550. Tools Required What hardware and software tools you will need is described in this page. The article also gives you the over all process of development with MCUs. The […]