The term UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) is the technical term for the good old serial port found on most MCUs. The term USART similarly refers to a serial port capable of handling both synchronous and asynchronous operation. Over the past few years, Microchip has been integrating an updated serial port into many of their […]
Category Archives: PIC
App Note: Grid-connected solar microinverter using a dsPIC® DSC
In this advanced app note Microchip details the theory behind converting solar energy into usable electric power. Starting with a discussion of the electrical characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) cells, they move onto the tech behind inverters and the mathematics involved with their proper design and use. Finally a microinverter reference design is presented, using a […]
Midnight deadline on MPLAB® X Beta Sweepstakes
Midnight Mountain Standard Time TONIGHT (March 31, 2011) is the deadline to enter the MPLAB® X Beta Sweepstakes! Microchip appreciates your feedback on MPLAB X and wants to reward you! Enter to win a variety prizes when you complete this sweepstakes form and you could win MPLAB X t-shirts, coffee mugs, playing cards and more! […]
Microchip introduces PIC16LF190X 8-bit PIC® MCUs with integrated LCD control
Microchip has announced an expansion of its 8-bit segmented LCD microcontroller (MCU) family with five new devices—the PIC16LF1902/3/4/6/7 (PIC16LF190X) MCUs. The PIC16LF190X family supports many general-purpose applications and enables the implementation of LCD into low-power and cost-sensitive designs, such as security tokens, smart cards, medical devices, home appliances, key fobs or any application involving a […]
App note: smart card communication using PIC MCUs
Microchip has released a new application note explaining smart card communication using PIC MCUs. This is a good read for beginners, taking you from the basics of what a smart card is, to how data I/O occurs and how to build a PC-to-smart card interface using the PIC18F14K50.
Autonomous servo switcher
Simon has created an servo switcher for use on autonomous vehicles. designed to allow manual control if the autonomous controller fails. Using a pic12f683 and 4066 analog switch. source code and board files are available on his website. Via Hack a Day
Microchip expands 8-bit PIC® microcontroller lineup with new 20-pin chips
Microchip Technology Inc., today announced an expansion of its existing 28-/40-pin PIC16F72X microcontroller (MCU) family with two new 20-pin devices—the PIC16F(LF)720 and PIC16F(LF)721. The new MCUs feature low power consumption, making them suitable for various low-power and battery-powered applications. These MCUs offer up to 7 KB of self-write Flash program memory, a temperature-indicator module, an […]
Chip note: MCP7941X I2C RTCC with EEPROM, SRAM, Unique ID and Battery Switchover
Microchip’s MCP79411 general purpose I2C™Compatible real-time clock/calendar (RTCC) is highly integrated with nonvolatile memory and advanced features including a battery switchover circuit for backup power, a timestamp to log power failures and digital trimming for accuracy. It can use a low-cost 32.768 kHz crystal or other clock source and the chip operates over a supply […]
Mini AV tester in Altoid’s tin
Chris from PyroElectro was looking for a way to miniaturize his previous VGA test box to make it more suitable for portable use. He came up with this design for a Mini AV Test Box for portable testing of VGA displays and speakers. His project fits a full fledged AV tester into a mint-tin can […]
Pitch Shifter
Marcus created a pitch shifter using a pic24 and a few other components, he has posted schematic and has a video of it in action. via The Forum
Video intro to 8-bit PIC microcontrollers
Element14 has posted this online product training video as an introduction to Microchip PIC 8-bit microcontrollers. A good way for newbies to take their first steps using this inexpensive line of chips.
PyMite: Python-on-a-chip
Python-on-a-Chip (p14p) is a project to develop a reduced Python virtual machine (codenamed PyMite) that runs a significant subset of the Python language on microcontrollers without an OS. The other parts of p14p are the device drivers, high-level libraries and other tools. They’ve released ports for the Microchip PIC/24dcPIC, Teensy 2.0, Arduino Mega and others. […]
pickit2 in MPLABX and 64bit Linux fix
arhi noticed that the latest MPLABX has pickit2 support, but it doesn’t work under 64bit Linux. He managed to fix it by tweaking his Java install, how-to instructions here. Via the forum.
MPLABX beta 5
There’s a new beta 5 release of MPLABX, the multi-platform development tools for PIC microcontrollers. Check out some MPLAB tips on our wiki page. Via the forum
GSM SIM emulator using PIC Microcontroller
Here’s a project from EHobbyProjects which demonstrates their hack for emulating a GSM SIM card using a microcontroller, EEPROM and SIM card adapter. Their instructions include reading the IMSI and KI data from the original SIM, and then using their Configurator program and hex programming files in conjunction with a PIC16F877 and 24C64 EEPROM to […]
Anger detector using PIC16F877
Technobits presents notes on a developing student project designed to detect the anger level of an individual based on their pulse. The idea behind the project is to detect pulse levels and then display user feedback messages on an LCD readout. Elevated pulse = anger, slower pulse=calm. (References in the notes regarding blood pressure are […]
Diy Superprobe
Ben Ryves built his own version of the superprobe. having no need for some of the standard features he has modified the source for additional functionality. there is an excellent video of Ben demonstrating his superprobe after the break.
Mars clock using PIC16F877A
What do you do if you have a spare LCD module with backlight, a weird 16 button keyboard, and a PIC16F877A microcontrering dust? If you’re avtanski, a monster Martian Clock immediately springs to mind. This thoroughly documented project shows you how to take these few common components and build a unique clock that features 16 […]
Muscial web platform: TinySID on a 16bit PIC
Markus Gritsch ported TinySID, a retro music file player, to the Web Platform. After successfully getting the TinySID library running on a PIC32 some time ago, I recently wondered, if the 16 bit MCUs from Microchip would also be fast enough to run the code. It turned out, that they are, at least the 40 […]
Pic web development board
Inspired by the business card web server designed by our own Ian, Arthurb created a development system based around the pic 24f and enc28j60. With multiple daughter cards, for touch sense, serial lcd, temperature sensor, keyboard and monitor. this seems to be a versatile system for development. Via Hack a Day Get an assembled Web […]