Microchip PIC development

[mikeblas]

I want to do a project that involves a USB interface and some A/D. I think the Microchip PICs will suit my needs -- I'm specifically considering the PIC18F4550. I really like the PIC-USB-STK dev board, too.

What tools do I need? I can't seem to figure out of the dev kit includes programming ability, or any tools. The tools look pretty expensive, after surfing Microchip's website.

 

[Adrenaline]

IIRC the development IDE for Microchip is free.
However, you will need something to burn to the PIC.

 

[agent420]

Depending on your needs and desires, you may also consider a more conventional ucontroller using a std serial protocol and an inexpensive usb-serial adapter. I have not used Mircochip's usb capable chips, but it seems many of these type of controllers really emulate a serial port type of communication anyway.

Depending on software, COM port serial communication may actually be easier to implement on the pc side than usb. For example, the free Visual Studio 2008 Express edition includes a serial port control.

Granted, the finished product may lack some 'cool factor' if it's not usb, but they should be comparable in terms of what can be done.

I've always been a big AVR guy because you could build a 'no parts' lpt programmer, never had much experience with PIC's.

 

[mikeblas]

I found the docs for the PIC-USB-STK on the manufacturer's website. Looks like the board doesn't do programming, and doesn't have any debugger support; it just surfaces the JTAG pins to a header. So I'll need the dev tools, a programmer, and a debugger.

IIRC the development IDE for Microchip is free.
However, you will need something to burn to the PIC.

The C18 IDE is $500. There's a "student edition" for free. It works as-paid for 60 days, then disables optimizations. Where did you find the free one?

I've always been a big AVR guy because you could build a 'no parts' lpt programmer, never had much experience with PIC's.

No problem writing serial code for me; I've been doing it for years. In fact, one reason I'd rather use a USB interface is because I haven't done that yet and want to learn it.

I don't see an Atmel part that has the capabilities that I'd like, but I haven't looked at any AVR controllers yet; maybe I can do that today.

Another rather curious factor to my decision is chosing tools and parts that I can use in a few different projects. The PIC18F family is a bit much for this project, but has lots of features I want for my next project; and if I don't need to buy new tools or learn another platform, then that's a plus.

 

[agent420]

No problem writing serial code for me; I've been doing it for years. In fact, one reason I'd rather use a USB interface is because I haven't done that yet and want to learn it.

I hear that - I recently started ARM7 for that exact reason. They are not much more expensive than many Avr and Pic chips, plus it's nice to have more speed and memory. Several flavors of ARM have onboard usb capability ;-) Be forewarned that ARM is a higher step of complexity in comparison to Avr's and Pic's, but nothing insurmountable if you've had prior ucontroller experience. The Insider's Guide to ARM 7 is an excellent free pdf book if you're interested.

Fwiw, I'm using an EasyARM dev board from MikroElektronika... A pretty good value for the cash. You can use either the free RealView demo ide or an open source alternative like GnuArm... There are many code examples and arm libraries floating around the net.