How to interface MAXIM’s DS1868 digital potentiometer with a PIC microcontroller

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Potentiometers find applications in many electrical devices. For example, a light dimmer uses a potentiometer to control the brightness of lamps. In amplifiers, they are used to control the output volume of the music, or change the bass level. In an adjustable power supply we see potentiometers to vary the output voltage and current. In a frequency generator, they are used to control the duty cycle and frequency of the output signal. These potentiometers are electro-mechanical transducers that convert the rotary or linear displacement into a change in resistance. This change in resistance can be used to control anything from

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Experimenter’s board for enhanced mid-range PIC microcontrollers (PIC16F1827 and PIC16F1847)

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The PIC16F628A has always been my first choice for microcontroller-based projects. It is simple, inexpensive, and easily available. Due to its compact size (18 pins) it occupies lesser space on the circuit board, and meanwhile, it is powerful enough to serve most of a hobbyist’s needs. It is a very well accepted successor of the classic PIC16x84, and therefore, the tons of resources available for PIC16x84 on the internet and books can also be used for PIC16F628A. Last month, Microchip Technology Inc. announced the latest addition to its Enhanced Mid-Range core 8-bit PIC® microcontroller (MCU) family by introducing PIC16F(LF)1847. When

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Mini development board for 32-bit PICMicro

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MikroElektronika recently released a mini development board (MINI-32) containing PIC32MX534F064H microcontroller. It operates on 3.3V power supply. The on-board voltage regulator allows the board to be powered directly from USB cable. The board is equiped with SMD crystal oscillator, and 32.768KHz crystal which can be used for internal RTCC module. It has reset button and three signal LEDs. Board comes preprogrammed with fast USB HID bootloader, so no external programmers are needed for development. It could be a very good development board for experimenters who love to do experiments on breadboard. Read More

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Microchip and Stratford Digital releases 16-bit microcontroller development platform for Educators

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Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, and Stratford Digital, today announced a full, turnkey, 16-bit microcontroller development platform that enables educators to quickly and easily integrate Microchip into their curriculum.  The PIC24-based platform includes two boards—the MX PIC24 Module (part # TSTR001) and MX Educational Target Board (part # TSTR002)—and a free software download of an Educator’s Lab Manual, including 10 unique labs on topics ranging from “Intro to Microcontrollers,” to timers, Pulse-Width Modulation and Analog-to-Digital Converters, to power management.  Microchip will be demonstrating the platform at its booth, # 647, at the American

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Expanding the number of I/O lines using Microchip MCP23008

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A microcontroller comes with a limited number of general purpose input and output (GPIO) ports. However, some applications may require more ports than are available on the microcontroller. In such a case, GPIO expanders can be used to increase the I/O capability of the microcontroller. MCP23008 is one such device (manufactured by Microchip Technology) which provides an easy I/O expansion using 2-wire serial interface. This tutorial illustrates how to add an extra 8-bit I/O port to PIC12683 microcontroller (which has only 6 I/O pins) using MCP23008. A seven segment LED display and a tact switch will be connected to the

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