Sab0 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I like programming in Pascal as hobby, and I'm interested in trying something new so micro chips caught my attention. Can You please explain me what they are capable of? Is micro chips programming an expensive hobby or a cheap one? Thank You Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sensei Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 PICs are programmed in their own assembler. f.e. http://www.microchip.com/forums/m466343.aspx It's nothing familiar to anything that you know like high level language such as Pascal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I've done quite a lot with arduinos. They're very adaptable is you've got a bit of imagination and is pretty cheap (compared to my other hobby of photography). I tend to buy my kit from China. Arduinos use c mainly but people have written lots of varied compilers, nor sure about pascal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sensei Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Can You please explain me what they are capable of? Control electronics that you will make. f.e. electric engines, LEDs, light. Robotics. Automation. Is micro chips programming an expensive hobby or a cheap one? I don't think so. As long as you won't be blowing them everyday. $50-$100 for a start. Take a look also on Arduino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2CFKx5ASUY search for Arduino @ YouTube videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Things I've done include garage parking systems, geocaching games, quiz games, and door bells. In all I've spebt something like £150. Including electronics, tools, boxes etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sab0 Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 (edited) Once I put the firmware in them, what should I do? Maybe I'm too ignorant... Is there a good book? Will I spend more money with Arduino or PIC (compilers are free ) Edited September 11, 2015 by Sab0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danijel Gorupec Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Don't forget that you must know something about electronics (a nice thing to know, anyway). It is a cheap hobby, but don't expect that you will make your walking robot in your first attempt. More likely your first application will be just blinking a LED. You can program PIC in C (I don't know, but probably not in pascal). And even assembler is easier than people think. I respectfully disagree with Sensei's wording "nothing familiar" because I think all programming is somewhat familiar. I make stepper motor drivers etc using small 8-bit microcontrollers (AVR family is my choice). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sab0 Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 I don't want to sound boring, but, can You please tell me what should I buy? I have written down this list: • Chips (how many ones?) • A programmer (which One? -> http://www.microchipdirect.com ) • A compiler (there is a free edition) • what else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klaynos Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 It's probably best to start with some kind of arduino starter kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danijel Gorupec Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 As Klaynos said, a starter kit is the easiest way to start (for every uC line there is a starter kit, not only for arduino. But of course, with arduino you can enjoy benefits of large community) especially if you are not an expert in electronics. That is about all you need to start. Some time ago when I was to choose the uC line for my hobby projects, I consulted the internet to find more popular families (PIC, AVR...) and then consulted my local store to see what they regularly offer (but you might however prefer buying over internet or some other way to obtain your chips). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sab0 Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 The chips are very cheap, but once I buy them, do I need boards too? Do I need to write drivers to make the chip work with other electronic things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sensei Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) PIC means Peripheral Interface Controller. You need to have electronics that you will control by your chip. The simplest case is control of LED. Say you write code for turning on light for 1 second, then turning off light for 1 second. Upload it to chip. And LED is starting blinking. If you want 2 seconds delay, you need to upload new program. Or complicate electronics and code to allow user to change it by potentiometer. Chip won't do anything by itself. It needs stuff it will control. Edited September 12, 2015 by Sensei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sab0 Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) Thank you, I'll buy a book first Edited September 12, 2015 by Sab0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mordred Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 A line of pic chips is Mikrobasic. Uses basic programming lanauage as the compiler. The software comes with the programming kit. The chips themself are cheap. http://www.mikroe.com/mikrobasic/pic/ basic is similar enough to Pascal that conversion is easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now