Hubert Henry Ward - Intermediate C Programming for the PIC Microcontroller: Simplifying Embedded Programming

Any source code or other supplementary material referenced by the author in this book is available to readers on GitHub via the books product page, located at www.apress.com/978-1-4842-6067-8 . For more detailed information, please visit www.apress.com/source-code .

This book looks at some useful aspects of the PIC microcontroller. It explains how to write programs in C so that you can use the PIC micro to control a variety of electronics and DC motors. After reading this book, you will be well on your way to becoming an embedded programmer using the C programming language.

After reading through this book, you should be able to program the PIC to use all of the above. You should have a good understanding of some of the advance programming techniques for PIC micros. You should be able to download your programs to your PIC in a practical situation where you have the ability to design and build some useful projects.

There are none really, but understanding the C programming language will be useful. However, I will explain how each program works as we go through them.

Also, if you understand the binary and hexadecimal number systems, it will be an advantage but there is a section in the Appendix that will help you with that.

All of these programs are freely available from the Microchip web site.

Another useful piece of software is a suitable ECAD (electronic computer-aided design) software program that supports 8-bit micros. The ECAD software I use is PROTEUS. However, it is not free, so as well as showing you how to simulate the programs in PROTEUS, I will show you how to use a suitable prototype board to run the programs in a practical situation.

If you want to go down the practical route, you will need to purchase a programming tool and a prototype board.

The tools I use are either the ICD3 can (Microchip has now moved onto the ICD4 can) or the PICkit3 programmer to download the programs from MPLABX to the PIC.

The prototype board I use is the picdem2 plus DEMO BOARD and a prototype board from Matrix Multimedia (although Matrix no longer produces the more versatile board that I use).

This book was written based around using MPLABX V5.25. However, the principles of how to create projects and write programs are transferable to earlier and later versions of MPLABX. There may be some slight differences in the details, but they shouldnt cause too many problems.

The PIC that this book is based around is the PIC18F4525. This is a very versatile 8-bit micro that comes in a 40-pin dual-inline package. As long as the PIC you want to use has the same firmware modules, then the programs in the book can easily be used on other PIC micros with some minor modifications. However, you should always refer to the data sheet for the particular PIC you use because some of the SFRs (special function registers) may differ. For example, the PIC18F4525 uses the ADCON0, ADCON1, and ADCON2 SRFs to control the ADC module but the 16F88 uses the ANSEL, ADCON0, and ADCON1 registers.

Throughout the book, I include program listings and I go through an analysis of any new instructions that the listings introduce. With respect to the first listing, I will assume that all of the instructions are new to you, the reader.