29. December 2010 by admin.

Sample projects for the Microchip PIC micro series of microcontrollers, including the PIC12x, PIC16x, PIC18x, PIC24x, and dsPICx microcontrollers.

Code is targeted at the Hi-Tech C compiler, from www.htsoft.com, the C18 or C30 compiler from www.microchip.com, or CCS C.

Check it out at http://www.microchipc.com/sourcecode/ 

Posted in Code Examples | Print | 2 Comments »

26. December 2010 by admin.

This Microchip application note discusses outdoor Line-of-Sight (LOS) and indoor antenna range for MRF24WB0MA and MRF24WB0MB modules with various modular certified antennas under specific infrastructure usage models. It also provides detailed information on the measured results and methodologies.

Download it at http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/01363A.pdf 

Posted in Application Notes, Wireless | Print | 1 Comment »

22. December 2010 by admin.

From: http://makezine.com/makeitlast/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Make+Newsletter+December+2010&utm_content=Make+Newsletter+December+2010+CID_4bf43fa9357c29ce8d277a0f4863d8d9&utm_source=Email+Campaign&utm_term=Make+It+Last+landing+page

Welcome to Make It Last, a project build series and contest, sponsored by Microchip and Energizer. Over the course of this contest, we’re going to cover a series of three project builds, demonstrating some of the finer points of low-power microcontroller design. We’re hoping these will be fun, informative projects and a good introduction to using “bare” microcontrollers and learning more about the relationship between microcontrollers and power management. Starting with basic components, we will build up each design and you can follow along in a series of Make It Last build newsletters. We will be awarding some really cool prizes at the end of each build, based on the quality of your submission, what you learned in the process, your documentation, etc.

Second Build: The Robotic Plant

[November 18 - December 22, 2010]

For the second project, we’ll build a robotic plant seedling that will use its microcontroller brain to monitor its environment, and bloom when the time is right. The whole project will be housed in an ordinary plant pot, and thanks to an energy-efficient design, should be able to lie dormant for months, even years, on a single set of AA batteries. That means you could set it by your window and be delighted when it finally wakes up, or give it as a gift to a patient robot enthusiast for safekeeping.

As with the first build, this one is also a contest that you can enter for a chance to win some awesome prizes. We’ll provide instructions on how to build our example plant, that you can follow along at home, however, you are free to design something completely on your own. The official rules are below. Your build must be powered by a battery, have some plant-like quality, and be capable of responding to input from its environment. The rest is up to you!

Enter Here!

Posted in Battery Power, Energizer, Make Magazine, Low Power, Contest, Microchip | Print | 1 Comment »

19. December 2010 by admin.

From http://mrmackey.no-ip.org/elektronik/ds30loader/

The ds30 Loader is a fully open source bootloader for PIC16F, PIC18, PIC24, and dsPIC families of MCUs from Microchip. It comes with support for over 300 devices out of the box!

Features

• PIC16 firmware
• PIC18 firmware
• PIC24 firmware
• dsPIC30 firmware
• dsPIC33 firmware
• Windows support
• Linux support
• Mac support
• UART (RS232/RS485) communication
• CAN communication

Get it now at http://mrmackey.no-ip.org/elektronik/ds30loader/downloads.php 

Posted in Bootloader, Open Source, 8-bit, 16-bit | Print | 1 Comment »

19. December 2010 by admin.

Last chance to win a dsPICDEM^TM MCSM Stepper Motor Development Board Kit part #DV330021 includes motor and power supply $270 value! http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=2629&param=en549353

Posted in Design News, 16-bit, dsPIC, Motor Control, Sweepstakes | Print | 2 Comments »

16. December 2010 by admin.

Digi-Key Symposium: Lighting and System Design
Available On-Demand Until March 26, 2011

From: http://www.eetimes.com/lighting 

One of the hottest technologies today is lighting. That’s because the advances made over the last of years are “light years” ahead of the incumbent technology. That’s the good news. The down side to having technology move at such a rapid pace is that it’s difficult to stay on top of the latest products, the technologies, the applications. For that reason, we’ve assembled a cast of experts to teach you, challenge you, and provide you with a little fun, and maybe some nice prizes, too.

Posted in Lighting, Digi Key | Print | 1 Comment »

12. December 2010 by admin.

Get it at http://bit.ly/ffbuey 

In November of 2008, ARM announced the availability of the Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS). They claim that this will reduce the cost of designing software when creating projects for new devices or migrating existing software between Cortex-M based microcontrollers from different silicon vendors. This sounds very good, but is it valid? This paper investigates these claims to determine just how valid they are. This paper also looks at the components of a typical microcontroller and then see just what can or cannot be gained by adding an abstraction layer on top of the typical peripheral firmware libraries.

Posted in Arm, MIPS, 32-bit | Print | 1 Comment »

7. December 2010 by admin.

From http://www.digilentinc.com/Products/Detail.cfm?NavPath=2,396,754&Prod=CEREBOT32MX4

The Digilent Cerebot™ 32MX4 Board is a powerful microcontroller development board suitable for embedded control and robotics projects for both students and hobbyists. 

The Cerebot 32MX4 features one of the new Microchip® PIC32™ microcontrollers. The PIC32 provides a 32-bit MIPS processor core operating at 80Mhz, 512K bytes of program FLASH and 32K bytes of RAM memory and numerous peripheral devices, including a USB controller, timer/counters, serial interface controllers, A/D converter and more. The board has numerous I/O connectors and power supply options, including USB power. It also has a built in programming and debug circuit compatible with the Microchip MPLAB development software. 

The Cerebot 32MX4 has a nine connectors for Digilent Pmod™ peripheral modules. Digilent Pmods include H-bridges, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, a speaker, switches, buttons, LEDs, as well as converters for easy connection to RS232, screw terminals, BNC jacks, servo motors, and more. 

Posted in Digilent, Development Tool | Print | 1 Comment »