PIC development board suggestions

[Lucky-Luka]

Hi all
I am thinking about designing a PIC development board similar to this one:
https://www.rhydolabz.com/developme...-development-board-mini-rhydolabz-p-1928.html
I have to say that I am still in the specifications phase of the project but I thought about a development board to let college students experiment what is taught in an embedded course without the need of connecting everything to a breadboard every time.
I was thinking about powering it using a 12V 3A power supply for it like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Chanzon-Swit...rds=power+supply+12v+3a&qid=1608659328&sr=8-3
I would like to design a motor driver board to complete this kind of demo board. I was thinking about dc brushed motor and servo motor that usually work at 5-6V and stepper motor at 12V.
A DC motor driver for 2 brushed DC (3-6V) motors stalling will need less than 2A more or less (I was thinking TB6612FNG as driver)
A servo motor like MG995 (5-7V) will need 1.5A stalling more or less
A NEMA17 stepper motor (12V) will need less than 2A (I was thinking A3967 as driver)
I don't think that everything needs to work at the same time or I will need 5 amps or more... This is a topic I still have to discuss with my professor though. I am just starting to gather ideas.
What do you think the power part of the board should look like?
Maybe a buck converte 12v-6v and a low dropout linear regulator to power the PIC and other peripherals at 5V?
The power part of the aforementioned board I think is not the best solution...
https://www.rhydolabz.com/documents/SCH-0226 Schematic1.pdf
Any suggestions will be greatly apreciated.

 

[Pommie]

I taught a friends child how to program using a pic development board and found the mini boards available at Futurlec very useful. The DS1307 (RTC) board for learning I²C, the stepper and motor boards for learning about feedback etc. Maybe design your own board with these mini boards in mind.

Mike.

 

[JimB]

Have a look back at this old post, the OP seemed to create a nice development board.

Creating a dev board : need your opinion

Hello everyone, I need you help. I'm actually building a development board around a PIC16F887A. It'S main purpose is, for a teacher, to teach to new students programming basics and more advanced stuff like Portways (i/o), I2C, SPI, DataBus, PWM, ADC etc. They're actually using 8051 based MCU...

www.electro-tech-online.com

JimB

 

[Visitor]

A lot of sensors will only operate on 3.3v max.

Adding an I2C 3.3v interface using a pair of bidirectional level shifters is probably a good idea.

A second pair of level shifters might be nice for other digital sensor types.

I've used this circuit many times. It's simple and compact. For an I2C interface I use 4.7k pull-ups. For general purpose use, I use 10k pull-ups. 2N7000 or 2N7002 mosfets work great in this circuit.

 

[granddad]

I have "developed " many ( too many) PIC boards , with various projects in mind, personally i would think BIG and fast (16MIPS) , PIC24 or dsPIC33 with at least 66 pins (53 IO) ,Go for biggest program and data memory (1024 / 32 kb) provide some dedicated peripheral connectors, I2C, Uart, SPI , PWM, ADC, even USB , Most PICs now have PPS to allow fexable external pin connections , include at least one LED to flash at startup, Vdd at 3.3v but some IO are 5v tolerant Power for the Dev board for my projects is best left external .
( Sorry pic a bit fuzzy)

 

[Lucky-Luka]

I have "developed " many ( too many) PIC boards , with various projects in mind, personally i would think BIG and fast (16MIPS) , PIC24 or dsPIC33 with at least 66 pins (53 IO) ,Go for biggest program and data memory (1024 / 32 kb) provide some dedicated peripheral connectors, I2C, Uart, SPI , PWM, ADC, even USB , Most PICs now have PPS to allow fexable external pin connections , include at least one LED to flash at startup, Vdd at 3.3v but some IO are 5v tolerant Power for the Dev board for my projects is best left external .
( Sorry pic a bit fuzzy)

My project has master students as target. 8 bit PIC is ok. Max 40pins. through hole components if possible. I even think 5V is ok for the logic. It's their first "serious" approach to uC. Everything more powerful would be an overkill IMHO.

 

[JimB]

My project has master students as target. 8 bit PIC is ok. Max 40pins. through hole components if possible. I even think 5V is ok for the logic. It's their first "serious" approach to uC. Everything more powerful would be an overkill IMHO.

A good philosophy, the pilot of a Boeing 747 probably started his flying career by learning in a Cessna.

JimB

 

[granddad]

I agree.. walk before you run , i started like most i guess with 8 bit PIC16F84 and asm. back in 2000's , but as soon as i moved to C , i realised 8 bit is a bit restrictive, especially with Interrupts and math code .