USB communication with PIC

Vizier87 · Oct 20, 2009

Hi guys.. I'm having trouble googling around about this stuff, so here goes.
What is the simplest way to transmit/receive data to a PIC18F4455 which can be directly USB connected to a PC/laptop? I have VB 2008, where some guys said that can be used for this purpose, but i'm getting nowhere...

kchriste · Oct 20, 2009

The easiest way is to use MicroChip's **broken link removed** which is available as a link from the **broken link removed** page.

Vizier87 · Oct 20, 2009

Thanks a zillion man. I'm still downloading it with our crappy wireless signal... but I'm good.
So the link is Microchip Application Libraries v2009-08-31.zip right?
Is it a standalone software or is it to be incorporated into a compiler like MikroC?

kchriste · Oct 21, 2009

Yes. the zip file contains a bunch of code. The USB framework is part of that.
The code is in C which is compatible with MicroChip's C18 compiler which can also be downloaded for free. The free student edition will work fine and even when it "expires", it still compiles but just with some optimizations turned off. I think the code also supports HiTech C. It did when I was playing with it a year or so ago.

Russ Hensel · Oct 22, 2009

Also see the USB Bitwacker which implements usb and has a usb bootloader

Arkham00 · Oct 23, 2009

Follow the previous suggestion from Russ Hensel: UBW.

It's a complete USB PIC project with a "firmware" (Firmware ver 1.4.3) that implements simple text commands to drive PIC I/O pins. The commands are sent using a sort of "usb serial emulator" so a simple VB 2008 program can drive the PIC board.

Vizier87 · Oct 24, 2009

Yeah.. I got VB 2008, but how do I get to the part which configures the USB outputs of my laptop? The software is like... too general for me.

Vizier87 · Oct 24, 2009

Arkham00 said:
Follow the previous suggestion from Russ Hensel: UBW.

It's a complete USB PIC project with a "firmware" (Firmware ver 1.4.3) that implements simple text commands to drive PIC I/O pins. The commands are sent using a sort of "usb serial emulator" so a simple VB 2008 program can drive the PIC board.

The UBW can be recognized by the specific software provided, right? But how about PIC184455 which is wired directly so that the USB connection is configured? Can it detect that as well?

Kchriste: I've just completed downloading the software. I'll need to maneuver it before using it properly. Thanks.

3v0 · Oct 24, 2009

The UBW software connects to the PC as a virtual COM port. No specific software needed.

3v0

Vizier87 · Oct 25, 2009

so that means the PIC18F4455 which is directly USB-connected is recognized after installing that software? I mean the MCHPFSUSB_Setup.

Nigel Goodwin · Oct 25, 2009

Vizier87 said:
so that means the PIC18F4455 which is directly USB-connected is recognized after installing that software? I mean the MCHPFSUSB_Setup.

As long as the PIC is programmed accordingly - but I'm not sure what you mean by 'directly USB-connected'?

Arkham00 · Oct 25, 2009

Look at this tutorial:
UBW tutorial

UBW is just a generic PIC18F2550, 4550, 4455 board with a bootloader and an optional program (named "firmware" in the tutorial) that enables the UBW to be connected to a PC as a virtual COM. From a PC program that is able to connect to a serial port (from Hyperterminal to VB6 to Delphi to VB.NET to ...), you can control every PIC pin. The tutorial helps you in finding the correct driver in the microchip usb software.

Russ Hensel · Oct 25, 2009

If you want to talk to the ubw from the pc ( not programming but afterword ) two easy ways are to use liberty basic ( examples from the ubw guy ) or processing which is often used with the arduino, lots of examples out there.

Vizier87 · Oct 25, 2009

Nigel Goodwin said:
As long as the PIC is programmed accordingly - but I'm not sure what you mean by 'directly USB-connected'?

What I meant is that the connections are made according to the schematic:
https://www.electro-tech-online.com/attachments/usb-jpg.34753/

.... and connected to the USB port of my netbook, only that I'm using 18F4455 rather than 18F2455. Thanks for the UBW link, I'm exploring them now.

Nigel Goodwin · Oct 26, 2009

Vizier87 said:
What I meant is that the connections are made according to the schematic:

You mean just like the UBW, or any oither 18F PIC cicruit.

Vizier87 · Oct 27, 2009

Er.. to put simply, mine is a simple main board which goes according to your tutorial, and the USB connections are made according to the schematic I attached with the previous post.
Well... the UBW link given shows the schematic which is not too different from the standard main board in your tutorials, right?

Nigel Goodwin · Oct 27, 2009

Vizier87 said:
Er.. to put simply, mine is a simple main board which goes according to your tutorial, and the USB connections are made according to the schematic I attached with the previous post.
Well... the UBW link given shows the schematic which is not too different from the standard main board in your tutorials, right?

It's just the same, I've even modified one of my 16F876 main boards to add a USB socket and the switches for the UBW.

Vizier87 · Nov 23, 2009

Nigel Goodwin said:
You mean just like the UBW, or any oither 18F PIC cicruit.

pardon me if I didn't understand your question, but I believe the link to the circuit is with accordance with the UBW. That means according to the figure below:

https://www.electro-tech-online.com/attachments/pic18f4455-jpg.35624/

So that means
1: RC4
2: RC3
3. Vcc
4. Gnd

Is that right? Or is it the other way round?
Many thanks for your patience.

Arkham00 · Nov 24, 2009

Just googling, you can find tons of schematic about 18F4550 and usb

**broken link removed**

3v0 · Nov 24, 2009

This is not hard if you just follow the UBW tutorial/documentation.

The USB connection is well documented.

Just do it.

3v0

USB communication with PIC

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