28. July 2008 by pilot.

The last two days of the Masters ‘08 have been such a rush that I could not possibly find the time to write any more postings during the day, and I was too exhausted, once back home, to write the night. For two days I was on duty in the “ask the experts” area behind the PIC32 table playing with a few demos derived from the last few chapters of the book(s). I met with so many PIC users/enthusiasts that I cannot possibly write about all of them and their projects/ideas. Perhaps the funniest things that happened though is when one of them, (a veteran of several Masters) after checking out a few colorful PIC32 graphic demos, lying on the table in front of me, had a sudden epiphany, looked up and with eyes of stupor and a wide smile exclaimed: “But… it is not a dsPIC!”

It had never dawned on me that someone could have had this (wrong) impression. It is true, the official marketing campaign of the PIC32 talks a lot about pin-out and software compatibility with Microchip 16-bit architecture (although when you look closely it is the PIC24F and in particular the GA0 series that all the documentation keeps referring to). Not to mention that the part number being “surrounded” by the dsPIC30 and the (ill named) dsPIC33 can further confuse the matter.

Once I reassured him that the PIC32 was a very simple, general purpose, 32-bit microcontroller that just happened to run C code very fast, I saw him sigh with relief. He grabbed a copy of the brochure and disappeared rapidly in the crowd heading toward the development tools counter.

Did you happen to think the same? Let me know, because we certainly never meant it to be!

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23. July 2008 by pilot.

Third day of the Masters’08 and I discovered another little treasure.

If you have been dreaming about using a tool like MATLAB to model your applications and to generate automatically your control algorithms,  but you did not have the kind of money required to purchase the tool, here is an interesting Open Source alternative called Scilab:

But wait there is more, much more. The guys from Evidence s.r.l. have actually combined the Scilab tool with a vast library of modules for the dsPIC and PIC24 so that you can generate an entire advanced control application simply by dragging and dropping graphic icons on your PC screen, it’s called SciCOS. To complete the picture they have created a line of modular components (that somewhat reminded me of the PC104 standard) called FLEX. Useless to say that all FLEX boards/components have a corresponding model in Scilab and integrate perfectly in your control solution.

I have seen some pretty impressive real time demos,  check them out!

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22. July 2008 by pilot.

The MPLAB C32 compiler got today its first new release v1.03!

And it is not just any minor update of the tool as the small version number change would have you believe… there are two important changes:

1- The math libraries have been significantly optimized, in particular the floating point math

2- The Student Edition of the compiler (free download)  is now using a scheme similar to the MPLAB C30 compiler. The first 60 days there are NO limitations of any sort. After this period, only the maximum optimizations level is limited to level 1 (still very effective).

Gone is the limitation in size that had so many of us frustrated when trying to compile the more advanced libraries (like the USB Host Stack for example)!

Check the MPLAB C32 compiler web page for more info.

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22. July 2008 by pilot.

Today was my second day at the Masters 2008. After attending a number of excellent PIC32 classes (taught by the same architects and engineers that designed the chip and its libraries and tools) I sneaked out and went looking for a hands on class introducing the freeRTOS port for the PIC24 and PIC32.

freeRTOS is one of the few Real Time Operating Systems that have been ported to a large selection of microcontrollers commonly used in embedded control applications. Previous PIC architectures had been supported in the past but of course the PIC24 and PIC32 are now part of the list.

The integration with the MPLAB C30 and C32 compilers is quite natural and even the MPLAB IDE recognizes the tool and allows you to inspect the list of active  tasks and perform some basic debugging.

If you are like me, looking for a way to run multiple software libraries (Graphics, USB, TCP/IP etc ), you are most probably looking for a small and inexpensive RTOS that can help you manage the complexity.

Check out the freeRTOS web site, it might just be what the doctor ordered!

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21. July 2008 by pilot.

If you have never been at a Microchip Masters you don’t know what you are missing!

This is an event where only engineers are allowed and you get to hear of the latest products and tools directly from the people that designed them. No marketing fluff, no fancy shows, just the real thing!

I am going to be there all week long, you will find me sneaking in and out of classes trying to learn as much as I can. This year I plan on filling up on: PIC32 (of course), USB, Graphics and RTOS…

Posted in Events, PIC32 | No Comments »

7. July 2008 by pilot.

I have received a lot of request recently from readers, future PIC24 pilots, concerning the possibility to port the code from the book to the the newest families of PIC24 microcontrollers. The differences are not that big, but I have to be honest, I spent a lot of time recently “playing” with the PIC32 and I just did not have the time to go through the painstaking process of modifying all the code examples and testing them on the new GA1 and GB1 families. I have always encouraged you (my readers) to share the code (in the book and CDROM) and to modify it freely in your applications, but I also encourage you to share any enhancement that could be useful to the community.

Wayne Duquaine, an experienced programmer I had corresponded with a few times in the last few months, has followed this suggestions and recently, after working with an AV16 kit for a few weeks, he has surprised me with a long email where he has listed the code and all the results of his extensive experimentations with the new GA1 and GB1 PIMs and the MPLAB C30 compiler v.3.02.

I decided to post his code and his “scorecard” on the PIC24 web site  in the main download page with a link to his email address (he has agreed to share) with the understanding that he will be willing to provide support answering your emails on a time permitting basis. Wayne is a busy professional that travels often abroad for extensive periods of time. So I am sure you will be patient and you will appreciate any (personal) time he will be willing to dedicate to you.

Thanks Wayne!

Now, has anybody been playing/modifying the code for the PIC24H families recently?

How about  the little guys: GA004 and GA002?

Posted in mplab c30 v3.02 | No Comments »