So I see how much the Arduino has taken off and so many "shields" availible for them. What are the chances you could make an arduino with a PIC in it. Sure you would still use mplab but I'm wondering if you could get the pinout right. What would you guys think of this? Would you buy one?

 

Microchip should make a series with cheap more userfriendly IO boards and plugin units. All programmed with a PICkit. I think that would be a good idea. Not quite Audrino but something close to it.

 

You could use something like a 32-bit whacker from sparkfun and then make a custom pcb to link it to the arduino footprint so you could use the shields. That would be quite a bit of work though. You could also just use an arduino with the shields to do a lot of the preprocessing and then send the result to a pic32 using i2c. For example, if you connect an IMU or ADRS shield to the arduino, you could do all the kalmann filtering etc within the arduino and just send the result to the pic32. Same idea for sensor shields,etc.

 

Why not come up with something based on a pic that those shields can be adapted for?? Mixing Arduino and PIC's seems like a lot of hassle..... thats almost as funny as apple and microsoft merging together!!!

 

So I see how much the Arduino has taken off and so many "shields" availible for them. What are the chances you could make an arduino with a PIC in it. Sure you would still use mplab but I'm wondering if you could get the pinout right. What would you guys think of this? Would you buy one?

There has already been an "Arduino" pic for some time now(been around before the Arduino came along), it is called the OOPIC (www.oopic.com) it can be prgrammed in Java, Basic, and C. It is all object oriented programming which makes it easy for people to buy most of the available sensors and module available at sparkfun or any other hobby electronics suppliers and just plug and play...... The main UC module is cheap, and the development IDE is free.....

The best thing about this OOPIC is it also lets you do some low level stuff directly with the registers of the PIC (this of course is for more advanced users, but it is there if you need more than what their objects provide.) and it is Open Source....

OOPic is an acronym for Object-Oriented PIC

The first operating system for Microchip PICs to use an Object-Oriented approach to hardware control.
The concept behind OOPic is straight forward. Use preprogrammed multitasking Objects from a library of highly optimized Objects to do all the work of interacting with the hardware. Then write small scripts in Basic, C, or Java syntax styles to control the Objects. During operation, the Objects run continuously and simultaneously in the background while the scripts run in the foreground telling the objects what to do. Every aspect of the Objects can be controlled by the scripts as the Object do their work with the hardware. The OOPic Object library contains Object that know how to interact with the most popular sensors and drive systems around which make the OOPic ideally suited for robotics of any kind.
A list of Object can be found at: http://www.oopic.com/objlist.htm
Another unique feature of OOPic is the Virtual Circuits capability. Virtual Circuits pass data around in the background so that your script doesn't have to. Virtual circuits can handle the processing required for speed control, time-out events, limit switches, emergency breaking, and a whole myriad of other functions. In several cases, entire applications can be built as pure Virtual Circuits.
A simple example of Virtual Circuits can be found at: http://www.oopic.com/virtcirc.htm

Does not require a special programmer either, just a parallel or serial port...... They provide schematics for the programming cable...

My .02

 

There has already been an "Arduino" pic for some time now(been around before the Arduino came along), it is called the OOPIC (www.oopic.com) it can be prgrammed in Java, Basic, and C. It is all object oriented programming which makes it easy for people to buy most of the available sensors and module available at sparkfun or any other hobby electronics suppliers and just plug and play...... The main UC module is cheap, and the development IDE is free.....

The best thing about this OOPIC is it also lets you do some low level stuff directly with the registers of the PIC (this of course is for more advanced users, but it is there if you need more than what their objects provide.) and it is Open Source....




Does not require a special programmer either, just a parallel or serial port...... They provide schematics for the programming cable...

My .02

I believe that Savage Innovations has stopped producing the ooPic. In any case, the BotShop no longer has them for sale.

 

I believe that Savage Innovations has stopped producing the ooPic. In any case, the BotShop no longer has them for sale.

Yeah, the marketing for the module was not that great so I guess it just never took off, I used the OOPIC in a few demonstrations for hobby robotics at some local schools, the students seemed to like it very well, and so did the teachers.....

 

The best thing about this OOPIC is it also lets you do some low level stuff directly with the registers of the PIC (this of course is for more advanced users, but it is there if you need more than what their objects provide.) and it is Open Source.....

The OOPIC requires a special pre-programmed 16F877 from the supplier Savage Innovation. Neither the source or the object code is available to end user. The pre-programmed PIC chip is not cheap too.

Only the user program Compiler running on the PC is open source, which to the average people is pretty pointless. What use is an open source compiler with a closed source firmware?

 

I came across this recently, the "unduino" uses PIC dsPIC33 series and accepts arduino shields. Costs $35 and looks ok if you like that sort of thing.
http://www.unduino.com/

 

I came across this recently, the "unduino" uses PIC dsPIC33 series and accepts arduino shields. Costs $35 and looks ok if you like that sort of thing.
http://www.unduino.com/

Now thats what I was looking for.
Thanks
RB

 

There's about to be a new PIC based Arduino compatible board,
It's called Amicus18 and will be compatible with all Arduino shields.
Website http://myamicus.co.uk/

Free Compiler available
regards John