PIC Microcontroller Tutorials with MPLAB XC8 Compiler. Basic tutorials for absolute beginners to Advanced peripherals with USART, I2C, SPI, USB, Ethernet
This is a Getting Started with MPLAB X IDE and XC8 compiler tutorial. MPLAB® X IDE is the new Microchip IDE and it runs on a PC with Windows®, Mac OS® or Linux® to develop applications for PIC microcontrollers and replaces all MPLAB® C and HI-TECH compilers. XC8 is the new C compiler for PIC10, PIC12, PIC14, PIC16 and PIC18 microcontrollers. Learn how to start a new project with MPLAB X IDE, configure your PIC fuses and oscillator, write a [...]
An LED is a semiconductor light source, when forward biased, it emits light. LEDs are used mainly to indicate the status of electronic circuits, for example to indicate that power is on or off but nowadays they are used in many applications including lighting and beam detection. In this article we will learn how to connect and switch on and off various LEDs to a microcontroller using XC8 Compiler. This is the simplest project a beginner in embedded programming [...]
Switches are digital inputs and are widely used in electroninc projects as most systems need to respond to user commands or sensors. Reading a switch is very useful because a switch is widely used and can also represent a wide range of digital devices in real world like limit sensors, level switches, proximity switches, keypads (a combination of switches) etc. Connecting a switch to a microcontroller is straight forward, all we need is a pull-up or pull-down resistor.
LCDs are alphanumeric (or graphical) displays, which are frequently used in microcontroller based applications which require some information to be displayed to the user. There are many devices in the market which come in different shapes and sizes. Some LCDs have 40 or more character lengths with the capability to display several lines. Some other LCD displays can be programmed to display graphic images. Some modules offer color displays, while some others incorporate back lighting so that they can be [...]
Analog to Digital converters allow analog continuous voltages to be converted into a discreet digital numbers inside the PIC as the PIC can only process digital numbers. This can enable a PIC to be connected to analog sensors such as temperature sensors, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, optical sensors, and power sensors. Any sensor which can generate a voltage between 0V and a maximum 5V can be used. In this article we're gonna learn how to read analog values from PIC [...]
RS232 serial communication is one of the oldest communication where data is sent or received one bit at a time. This protocol can easily be used to communicate between a PC and various devices supporting this type of protocol like PIC microcontrollers, GPS, GSM modem etc. While other interfaces like Ethernet, FireWire, and USB all send data as a serial stream, the term "serial port" usually identifies hardware more or less compliant to the RS-232 standard, intended to interface [...]
The I²C or Inter-Integrated Circuit is a serial communication and allows multiple devices to communicate with a micocontroller(s) over only two wires. The devices don't have to be identical as long as they support I²C protocol. In our illustration, the first device with address 1 is a digital temperature sensor, the second one is a real time clock and the third one is a serial LCD display and the bus could carry on even more devices. Communication takes place from the [...]
The SPI or Serial Peripheral Interface is a synchronous serial communication and allows multiple devices to communicate with a micocontroller(s). There are many devices that support the SPI protocol and can easily communicate with a microcontroller via SPI: A/D converters, D/A converters, SD Cards, DS1306 Real Time Clocks, MAX7219 serial display drivers, 25LC256 Serial EEPROM, etc. The devices don't have to be identical as long as they support SPI protocol. In this article we are going to configure the SPI Peripheral [...]
The 7-segment display is the earliest type of an electronic display that uses 7 LEDs bars arranged in a way that can be used show the numbers 0 - 9. (actually 8 segments if you count the decimal point, but the generic name adopted is 7-segment display.) These devices are commonly used in digital clocks, electronic meters, counters, signalling, and other equipment for displaying numeric only data. It is not different from an LED in terms of interfacing, by turning [...]
