The blog of a dedicated radio amateur and electronics enthusiast

"Having fun on the air and in the workshop - communicating and creating"

20 January 2020

Upgrading my design tools for PIC projects

2020 has just begun, and here is my new year's  resolution, which I have already completed !
For my embedded control projects it was time to standardise on PIC microcontrollers, ( e.g., the PIC16F188** family ), belonging to a newer generation than some of those I had previously been using. PIC development in recent years has now led to devices typically having larger memory, supporting higher clock speeds, with more peripherals including core independent peripherals, and new features, such as peripheral pin select, device information area, configurable logic cell, integrated temperature sensors to name a few.

The new development platform for my embedded control projects
As result I have had to upgrade my hardware tools as well for compatibility; the most significant change being the MicroChip "Snap" programmer/debugger, to replace my obsolete ICD2, and a different prototyping board, which I could call MyDev3, ( see post dated 2 November 2010 ). The MCU featured in the image is a 40 pin 8-bit device, MicroChip PIC part PIC16F18875/P. ( Click on image to zoom ).
All is working fine. The PIC was a new unused blank device and successfully programed with my TEMPSENS-OLED firmware. ( See post dated 6 October 2019 ).
MCU = MicroController Unit, PIC = Programmable Integrated Circuit from MicroChip Inc.