Category Archives: PIC

DIY indoor thermometer and moisture meter

Raj designed an open hardware DIY indoor thermometer and moisture meter. It’s based on the PIC16F688 coupled with the DH11 temperature and humidity sensor. The 7-segment display has auto brightness correction depending on the lighting conditions. This project is about building a microcontroller-based digital room thermometer plus hygrometer that displays temperature and relative humidity on […]

Programming PIC microcontrollers using ds30 bootloader

WebWarrior shows us how to program a PIC Microcontroller without a programmer: Here we specifically target the freely available ds30 bootloader for PIC microcontroller and show you how to program your device without the need of an external programmer. The video below demonstrates programming (burning) of HEX file into a PIC microcontroller using the ds30 Loader Utility. […]

SquareWear open source controller board

Ray reports he’s just finished working on a new open source wearable electronics controller board called SquareWear. It’s small (1.6″x1.6″) and has built-in USB port (used for programming the microcontroller, USB serial communication, and charging battery). It also has 4 on-board MOSFETs for switching high-current load (up to 500mA). The board is based on Microchip’s […]

uJ – a Java VM for microcontrollers

Dmitry Grinberg wanted to design a way to program MCUs that would be easy for beginners who don’t necessarily understand details of C such as pointers and memory management, yet don’t want to rely on common alternatives such as Arduino or PICAXE. He developed uJ: a Java VM for microcontrollers. “It implements the entirety of […]

PIC-based game development platforms

FUN BitPack is designed for developing games on Orbit16 PIC24 and PIC32 development boards. It has a Nokia 3310 display, a Joystick, two buttons, and a buzzer: FUN BitPack is suitable for making hand-held videogames such as our “ORbitSnake”, a Snake game version for ORbit16 (see Below). To enter the bootloader with FUN BitPack attached, […]

Microchip expands USB portfolio with fifteen new 8-bit PIC MCUs

Microchip has announced the release of a new line of USB 8-bit PICs. The new devices range from 14 to 100 pins with up to 128 KB of Flash. According to the announcement, sampling should begin in early October. All feature internal clock sources with the 0.25% clock accuracy necessary for USB communication eliminating the […]

chipKIT design challenge

Microchip and Digilent are having a chipKIT design contest. The contest revolves around the chipKIT PIC32-based Arduino compatible platform. The contest has 3 different categories. One is for applications using available shields and libraries. Another is for custom library development, and the final is for custom hardware projects. Prizes include up to $4000 in cash […]

PIC12F source shared for the one-wire HD44780 LCD controller

As a follow up to the “One wire control of HD44780 LCDs” post, McLaren shared the Assembly source code for his project. Pick up the source in the forum. Assembly language source file and hex file (for 12F683) attached… Allow approximately 60 msecs after power-up for LCD initialization before sending commands and/or data to the […]

Library for OLED displays using SSD1306 chipset

Library for OLED displays based on the SSD1306 chipset. It was developed for the PIC32 and PIC24 microcontrollers used on the ORbit16 development boards, but it should be easy to port any PIC24/32 project. I’ve uploaded a new library and a new demo for using the OLED display on ORbit16™. The kind of display used […]

16 instrument drum machine using PIC24

Matt designed and built a PIC24 based drum machine. It has samples of 16 different instruments, that can be be stored at 16 different channels, into 16 time positions. The video above demonstrates his project in action. It’s a mini drum machine modelled on classic machines like the Roland TR808. My version is digital, playing […]

Microchip promotion – PIC24F microstick for $9.99

bearmos draws our attention to a quick deal! “If you’re interested in the PIC24F series (that DP uses quite readily) – MC is running a promotion where you can get a PIC24F microstick for $9.99 (excluding taxes and shipping) if you place an order today or tomorrow (6/29/12). It looks like a decent little board […]

PIC16F882 development board for workshops

Here’s an Arduino styled PIC16F882 development board built for a university microcontroller noob workshop. A MCP2200 USB-to-Serial IC handles the USB communication, while the board features all the support circuitry required by the PIC, such as the 5v power supply, quartz oscillator, and the ICSP programming header. The board was initially developed for a workshop […]

8×16 ping-pong ball LED matrix display

Exapod built a 8×16 ping-pong ball LED matrix display. The ping-pong balls are used as diffusers for green LEDs. Two MAX7219 8bit serial LED drivers control the lights. A PIC18F2553 drives the MAX chips with text received over a Bluetooth module. I finally finished my 8×16 ping pong ball matrix display, soldering all the boards, […]

New scripting tool makes PICkit3 compatible with PICkit2

Microchip released a scripting tool for the PicKIT 3 that essentially turns it into a PicKIT2. Why do that? There’s a huge software ecosystem for PicKIT2, it’s a popular programmer and debugger that’s been around for year. In version 3 Microchip completely changed the PicKIT and made it incompatible with the existing software.  The downside […]

Microchip’s new cheapie PIC24F KL microcontrollers

Microchip added some new cheapie chips to the PIC24F family of 16bit microcontrollers, the ‘KL’ series. They come in 14, 20, and 28 pin packages, and some cost less than a buck in quantity: The PIC24F ‘KL’ family was developed for cost-sensitive applications that require 16-bit performance, extremely low power sleep and active modes, and […]

HOW-TO: Bus Pirate PIC 24 analog to digital converter tutorial

The Bus Pirate is a handy debugging tool, but it’s also a 16 bit PIC 24FJ64GA002 development board. You don’t need a programmer to play, just upload the firmware over USB using the Bus Pirate’s nearly-impossible-to-brick bootloader. It’s easy to go back to the original Bus Pirate firmware at any time. This demo is step […]

Open source low-speed bit bang USB interface for 8bit PICs

Low-speed USB using bit banging for small PIC16F chips, similar what the V-USB project does for AVRs: The 16FUSB is a software implementation of the USB low-speed for PIC16F628/628A microcontroller. All communication stuff is done by the firmware, completely discarding the need to use an additional chip. From the 16FUSB core is possible to add […]