Introduction to Microcontrollers Lab Manual - Microchip

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO MICROCONTROLLERS
LAB MANUAL
Lab Manual Introduction
The purpose of these labs is to introduce the basic concepts of designing microcontroller
based systems. Each lab will introduce a new concept and provide a starting
template that will guide the student toward creating a successful project.
Each lab includes a pre-lab section that the student should study prior to entering the
lab. It includes a basic description of the topics under consideration, as well as links to
many other resources that can be used for further study.
DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
This document describes how to use one of the starter kits as a development tool to
emulate and debug firmware on a target board.
The MPLAB ® Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a free, integrated toolset for
the development of embedded applications employing Microchip's PIC ® MCUs and
dsPIC ® DSCs. MPLAB IDE runs as a 32-bit application on MS Windows ® (XP, Vista, or
Windows 7), and is an easy-to-use tool that includes a host of free software components
for fast application development and super-charged debugging. MPLAB IDE also serves
as a single, unified graphical user interface for additional Microchip and third party
software and hardware development tools. Moving between tools is easy, and upgrading
from the free software simulator to hardware debug and programming tools is done
quickly because MPLAB IDE has the same user interface for all tools.
These labs will use Microchip MPLAB IDE v8.63. It is available from the lab instructor or
as a free download from www.microchip.com. Future versions may work, but the exact
instructions may no longer be accurate.
Each lab will include a project template. This template will include all the settings required
for a suitable solution on the target hardware. There are many different ways to solve
each problem. Comments in the code like:
;
; CODE GOES HERE
;
will guide the student to locations where code will typically need to be added for a
successful outcome. Motivated students may choose to ignore those comments and
come up with a different solution to the same problem.
2011 Microchip Technology Inc. DS51963A-page 5