where do i learn bout PIC ?

[kupikupi]

hi guys... i'm a electrical and comp sys engineering student doing a design project.. this is my 1st dealing with microcontrollers ... but now i got no idea about it at all... i'm using PIC18F452.. i read the data sheet from microchip.com but i cant get anything idea... can anyone help me?? i need to learn bout it ...

 

[Electrix]

There are countless number of tutorials on the net..though I recommend have a good look ay Nigel's Tutorials.
Also if are a first timer tp the PIC start learning with 16F Midrange PICs.

 

[kupikupi]

thanx a lot for the reply.... but i've been given the 18F series to do the project... so i cant learn the 16F series 1st due to time constraint.. thanx alot anyway

 

[kupikupi]

another question ..bout nigel's tute... he's talking bout the 16F series .. does it apply to 18F series???

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

another question ..bout nigel's tute... he's talking bout the 16F series .. does it apply to 18F series???

Only partially, the 18F series are a far more complex device, but include most of the 16F commands - although some of them are handled a little differently.

Almost all the PIC code you find on the net is for the 16 series PIC's, the new 18 series is fairly poorly represented so far.

Probably a good idea would be to try and get my 16F tutorials working on your 18F chip, then once you do, improve them by using 18F specific commands.

 

[Exo]

And once you know your way around PIC18 assember you can download the C18 compiler from microchip (free student edition)...

 

[kupikupi]

Only partially, the 18F series are a far more complex device, but include most of the 16F commands - although some of them are handled a little differently.

Almost all the PIC code you find on the net is for the 16 series PIC's, the new 18 series is fairly poorly represented so far.

Probably a good idea would be to try and get my 16F tutorials working on your 18F chip, then once you do, improve them by using 18F specific commands.

thanx alot for the reply Nigel... so by going thru ur tutes on the 16F series .. i should have no problems with the 18F series? im really really new to this..
wat's the difference between 16F and 18 F that i need to be aware of ??

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

thanx alot for the reply Nigel... so by going thru ur tutes on the 16F series .. i should have no problems with the 18F series? im really really new to this..
wat's the difference between 16F and 18 F that i need to be aware of ??

The main thing is the number of instructions available! - the 16F series only have 35 instructions, the 18F have 77 instructions.

There's an instruction list in the datasheets, or you can find one on the PICList at .

The configuration fuse settings are also VERY different, with the 16F having them spread over multiple bytes - one thing you do need to be aware of is tables, the 18F series handles them very differently. Again, consult the datasheets for both series to compare them.

Ax Exo suggested, you might like to consider the C compiler?, assuming you are fluent in C? (I'm not!), the 18F instruction set is far more optimised for C programming. However, I would suggest you get some assembler knowledge first!, otherwise you tend to struggle in high level languages.

 

[Joel Rainville]

i need to learn bout it ...

http://www.piclist.com

Everything you need to know is there, or has a link to it there.

Go make some coffee and start reading

 

[kupikupi]

Nigel ... my project is using potentiometric sensor to move a wheelchair.. could u give me a rough idea on how will it work ?? is it same like IR communication ??

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Nigel ... my project is using potentiometric sensor to move a wheelchair.. could u give me a rough idea on how will it work ?? is it same like IR communication ??

I've no idea what one is?.

From the name I presume it's a sensor which works like a potentiometer?, in which case it could simply feed into an ADC in the PIC.

 

[kupikupi]

guys im really confused seeing so many things in piclist.com ... where do u think i should start ?? Nigel's tutes or piclist.com
i just browse thru piclist.com .. i dont reallt get how to start from and from where.. thanx for being so patient with me.... thanks alot guys..

 

[Electrix]

guys im really confused seeing so many things in piclist.com ... where do u think i should start ?? Nigel's tutes or piclist.com
i just browse thru piclist.com .. i dont reallt get how to start from and from where.. thanx for being so patient with me.... thanks alot guys..

Hey kupikupi, you seem to be in a great hurry !! :shock: Relax..I think Nigel's tutorials are especially tailored to help people like you (& me) to understand the wonderfull world of PICs. I'm sure if you take one tutorial at a time, you'd feel comfortable. Then probably you could move on to other sites. I think parallely you should work with understanding the compiler. Hope this helps..

 

[kupikupi]

looks like it seems so obvious i'm in a hurry ... thanx alot for the advice Electrix... im getting started on Nigels tutes... wat do u mean by
"parallely you should work with understanding the compiler" and how do i do that?? u mean compiling with mplab?? i feel im asking stupid questions....

 

[Joel Rainville]

i dont reallt get how to start from and from where..

Try the Beginner's checklist :



Then move on to Nigel's tutorials.

One of the very first steps is to actually choose and build a PIC programmer.

As others have said, take it easy. You are not going to figure out all of this by the end of the day

 

[kupikupi]

i dont get wat a programmer is ... is MPlab a programmer??

 

[Joel Rainville]

i dont get wat a programmer is ... is MPlab a programmer??

MPLAB is an IDE, short for Integrated Development Environment. This is not a programmer.

A programmer is a piece of hardware that connects to your PC to transfer assembled/compiled code to your target PIC.

Again, from the PIClist :

 

[kupikupi]

i got it Joel .. thanx alot.... U've been a really great help to me...
well... i added an RS232 port(with a MAX232 level converter) to interface the PIC to my PC.. that's my programmer rite??
correct me if i'm wrong... thanx

 

[eblc1388]

Yes, RS232 works, but that comes after the PIC been programmed with the necessary code to make sense of the communication.

But at first the PIC is totally blank, don't understand anything about RS232.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

i got it Joel .. thanx alot.... U've been a really great help to me...
well... i added an RS232 port(with a MAX232 level converter) to interface the PIC to my PC.. that's my programmer rite??
correct me if i'm wrong... thanx

No, that's an RS232 interface, for some programmers check my website!.