Features of PIC microcontroller

New to PIC ??

Let us see the dynamic features of PIC which has made it a better choice than other microcontrollers

Features of PIC microcontroller

1.code efficiency - The PIC 8 bit microcontroller is based on Harvard architecture, which means there are separate internal buses for memory and data. The throughput rate is therefore increased due to simultaneous access to both data and program memory. It would be easier if you have known about von neumann architecture which has common bus for memory and data.

2.safety - All the instructions fit into a 12 or 14 bit program memory word. There is no likelihood of software jumping onto the DATA section of a program and trying to execute DATA as instructions.
3.Instruction set - There are 33 instructions you have to learn in order to write software for the 16C5x family. The lesser number of instruction eases our job while writing program in assembly language.
4.Speed - The PIC has an internal divide by 4 connected between the oscillator and the internal clock bus(note : we know their is a divide by 2 in a 8085 microprocessor where we connect a 6Mhz clock inorder to operate the microprocessor at a speed of 3Mhz). The PIC is very fast to work with. The speed of PIC16F877A is 20Mhz but it can even operate at a speed of 30Mhz. some PIC in 18Fx family can be operated at 40Mhz.
5.Static Operation - The PIC is a fully static microcontroller, in other words, if you top the clock, all the register contents are maintained. In practise you would not actually do this, you would place the PIC into a Sleep mode-this stops the lock and sets up various flags within th ePIC to allow you to know what state it was in before the Sleep. In sleep, the PIC takes only its standby current which can be less than 1uA. The need for sleep mode can be easily understood by considering the Fire alarm circuit, since the circuit has to be activated only when their is a fire, the rest of the time the PIC can be made to be in its sleep mode and wake up when their is fire thus saving the power required for the operation of PIC.
6.Drive Capability - The PIC has a high output drive capability and can directly drive LEDs and TRIACs etc. Any I/O pin can sink 25mA or 100mA for the whole device.
7.Options - A range of speed, temperature, package, I/O lines, timer functions, serial communication, A/D and memory sizes is available from the PIC family to suit virtually all your requirements.

PIC microcontroller can be programmed using embedded C. some of the compilers which i have used are mikroC, CCS C compiler and Mplab. It is easier to program in embedded C rather than programming in assembly language. The demo version of these compilers can compile upto 2KB of program memory.

about cheniston serial input software

The cheniston serial input software is used to control the movement of cursor in PC by giving serial input through the serial port. Serial Input is a windows based application to enable keyboard and mouse input via alternative input devices. It works by taking input from your device(via a serial port), and translating the received data into keyboard and mouse input for windows operating systems.

Serial Input uses the almost universal capability of alternative input devices to send ASCII characters to the machine they are connected to. This basically means that when Serial Input is running it waits for characters to hit the connected serial port, and then translated those into an appropriate input message.

Many ASCII characters are exactly what the user would wish to represent on the computer, for instance 'abc' would be interpreted by Serial Input and 'abc' would be sent to the keyboard buffer for processing by whichever application the user happens to be running - eg: a word processor. In order to cater for mouse input a default set of 'high-end' ASCII characters were initially chosen to represent 8 compass points(N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) and 'STOP'.

Mouse movement works with the premise that one character is sent to move the mouse in a particular direction and subsequent characters are sent to redirect or stop the mouse. Left and Right mouse buttons, with single and double click values are also supported. The increment in X direction and Y direction can also be changed. The movement delay of the cursor can also be changed by clicking the advanced button in mouse tab.

The ASCII character mapping is given below

click here to download serial input software

about microbrn

microbrn is a software from ozitronics which is used for burning the hex code in PIC microcontrollers. It is also named as micropro, i used this software for dumping my hex code into PIC. It provides options of setting the fuses while burning the code into PIC, please be careful while setting the fuses, because even if your program works good but improper setting of the fuses will stop it from working properly.

If you are using mikroC then you have the burden of setting fuses sometimes by yourself while dumping the code into PIC, but in case of CCS C compiler their will be no problem because you will be defining the fuses while coding. I have provided the common fuse settings for PIC16F877A below,


A correct COM port value must be given in FILE-->PORT to program the PIC. The COM port value can be found from the DEVICE MANAGER after connecting the USB PIC programmer to your systems USB port. To go to the device manager follow the steps below

• right click on the my computer icon which appears in the desktop.
• select properties from the menu that appears.
• select the hardware tab from the system properties window.
• click the device manager button which appears in the window.
• after connecting the USB PIC programmer, check the PORT VALUE by clicking the '+' sign in the ports(COM & LPT) in the device manager window. When proper PORT VALUE is not given, an error message 'There appears to be a problem in accessing the COM port' will be displayed in a window.
  

you can also verify whether the code has been dumped into PIC or not by selecting the VERIFY button.

click here to download microbrn*

*click on the file named DIYpack25EP.zip

about PIC simulator IDE

Its a best simulator software for PIC microcontroller developed by oshonsoft to test your program, just browse and select the hex file which you have obtained after compiling the code, it also provides environment for testing your interfaces like LCD, stepper motor, LED board, and it also provides microcontroller view where you can provide inputs to the INPUT PORT pins and to check the output from the OUTPUT PORT pins.

PIC simulator IDE is powerful application that supplies PIC developers with user-friendly graphical development for windows with integrated simulator(emulator), basic compiler, assembler, disassembler and debugger. PIC simulator IDE currently supports the following microcontrollers from the microchip PICmicro 12F and 16F product lines.

Main features of this simulator includes

• main simulation interface showing internal microcontroller architecture.
• FLASH program memory editor, EEPROM data memory editor, hardware stack viewer.
• microcontroller pinout interface for simulation of digital I/O and analog inputs.
• variable simulation rate, simulation statistics.
• breakpoint manager for code debugging with breakpoints support LCD module simulation interface for character LCD modules.
• graphical LCD module simulation interface for 128x64 graphical LCD modules.
• stepper motor phase simulation interface for stepper motor driving visualization.
• 7-segment LED displays simulation interface

The demo software can be used 30 times so dont close the window after opening it until you shutdown your system, however you can obtain the cracked version of PIC simulator IDE from rapidshare. I will provide you the link for downloading the demo version.

click here to download the demo version of PIC simulator IDE

about ccs c compiler

The CCS C compiler was developed exclusively for the PIC MCU - making it the most optimized compiler for Microchip parts. The compiler has a generous library of built-in functions, preprocessor commands, and ready-to-run example programs to quickly jump-start any project. Drivers for real-time clocks, LCD's, A/D converters and many more are innate features to the CCS C compiler.

The compiler contains standard C operators and built-in libraries that are specific to the PIC registers. Access to hardware features from C.

Features includes:

• 1, 8, 16 and 32 bit integer types and 32 bit floating point.
• standard one bit type(short int) permits the compiler to generate very efficeint bit oriented code.
• #BIT and #byte will allow C variables to be placed at absolute address to map registers to C variables.
• bit arrays.
• fixed point decimal.
• constants(including strings and arrays) are saved in program memory.
• flexible handling of constant data.
• variable length constant strings
• address mode capability to create user defined address spaces in memory device.

The CCS C compiler for PIC10, PIC12, PIC14, PIC16 and PIC18 microcontrollers has over 180 built-in functions to access PIC MCU hardware is easy and produces efficient and highly optimized code. Functions such as timers, A/D, EEPROM, SSP, PSP, USB, I2C and more

• Built-in libraries that work with all chips for RS-232 serial I/O, I2C, discrete I/O and precision delays.

• serial I/O functions allow standard functions such as GETC() and PRINTF() to be used to forRS-232 like I/O.
• formatted printf allows easy formatting and display in HEX or decimal.
• multiple I2C and RS232 ports may be easily defined.
• #use rs232() offers options to specify a maximum wait time for getc.
• Functions such as INPUT() and OUTPUT_HIGH() properly maintain the tri-state registers.
• Simple functions like READ_ADC() to read a value from A/D converter.

click here to download the demo version of CCS C compiler*

*you must fill an information form for downloading the demo version

about mikroC

mikroC is one of the powerful and easy to use software for programming PIC microcontrollers in embedded C. mikroC is a powerful, feature rich development tool for PICmicros. It is designed to provide the customer what the easiest possible solution for developing applications for embedded systems, without compromising performance or control. Applications can be developed quickly and easily using mikroC for PIC microcontrollers. It provides a simple windows based point-and-click environment for developing applications.

PIC and C fit together well: PIC is the most popular 8-bit chip in the world, used in a wide variety of applications, and C, prized for its efficiency, is the natural choice for developing embedded systems. mikroC provides a successful match featuring highly advanced IDE, ANSI complaint compiler, broad set of hardware libraries, comprehensive documentation, and plenty of ready-to-run examples. demo version is available for download i have provided the link below, you can even search for cracked version in internet.

click here to download demo version of mikroC

VEHICLE NAVIGATION USING PIC MICROCONTROLLER

The problem of handling materials in an industry must be done in an efficient way. Present system for handling materials in industry uses conveyor belts to displace the object from one place to another. The conveyor belt system occupies large amount of space even when there is no load to be transported and can accept load from a particular source and deliver it to a particular destination point. In this project we present a simple ‘Vehicle Navigation Using PIC Microcontroller’ were we replace the conveyor belt system with a line follower robot which can handle the materials in an industry. Thus the large amount of space occupied by the conveyor belt system can be avoided.

The navigation system can load the materials from different sources and can deliver it to respective destination points, which is restricted in the case of conveyor belt system. The line follower robot is a self operating robot which follows a line that is drawn on the floor. The path between the source and destination points can be changed easily by just modifying the line. Thus the system is simple and cost effective than conveyor belt system when there is a change in path. The navigation system can even sense any obstacles in its path and can take an alternate path to reach the destination.