PIC circuit project

[neh]

I'm pretty new to electronic and microchip design so I thought I'd post here to get some help with a project of mine.

What I'll have is a PIC (probably 16 pin) set up on a board that takes a switch input and sets off a solenoid. Its supplied by 9.6 volt battery, and the solenoid is powered through a 6800 uf 16v capacitor. Below are the basic components I think that I'll need to get it to run properly:

-MOSFET from PIC that will connect the solenoid to the capacitor (actually I'm not really clear on the circuit design of that, could anyone explain it?)
-switch to the PIC to let it know when to turn on
-timer to regulate how long the solenoid is activated and also how long between delays (not sure if PICs have built in timers)
-5v regulator from the battery to the pic

I've got some more features that I want to add, but I think this would get me started. Am I right in assuming thats all I'd need to get a solenoid to activate from a PIC for a set amount of time?

 

[tdb]

How long do you want to activate the solenoid for? You could do this with a single 555 timer if it's under a few minutes. If it's higher, you can use a 555 timer plus some counter logic ICs. To achieve a delay, use another 555 timer.

If you decide that you want to use a PIC, the majority of them have timers. I would recommend the 16F84 because they're easily obtainable.

For ideas on driving a coil with a cap, check out this website:

**broken link removed**