tempus said:
Hey all;
I've been noticing a few posts here and there that refer to PICs and other
uProcessors, and was thinking about experimenting a bit with them.
They're fun, though there's a bit of a learning curve.
How do you program the uP?
You write a program, compile it to machine code,
then send the code to the uP via the programmer.
Apply power to the uP and your code runs.
Are the components expensive?
The chips can be $2 or less for a good learner model.
The programming hardware can be $20-30 to build your
own. A commercial all-in-one hardware/software IDE
can be $80-300.
What do you need to get started?
You need:
- a hardware programmer device (commercial or homebrew)
it connects to your computer via USB/serial/parport,
and you plug your micro into it.
- a code compiler (commercial, shareware or freeware)
- a micro (of course)
There are probably hundreds of code editors/compilers
and IDE's available online. C, Assembly Language and
Basic are the most popular 'human-readable' languages
for uP's.
There are schematics for programmer modules online if
you want to build it yourself, but you could encounter
compatibility problems mixing Joe's Ultimate Compiler
with Steve's Universal Programmer. YMMV.
Me, I chickened out and went commercial; I got the
PicKit II from MicroChip. It had the hardware, micro,
software AND lots of tutorials and sample programs
(Assembly). Easy to install, hooks up to a USB port on
my Windows box. I'm sure others will recommend other
packages for other micros.