WHY PIC MICROCONTROLLERS

[swapgo]

Hi

I am a mechanical engineer with less knowledge in microcontrollers
I was able to learn PIC microcontroller .
So you can imagine How simple it will be to learn or to use them.
But yet powerful

Regards
Gopi

 

[virus]

Now Microchip change C18 compiler demo policies.
It no longer a demo, instead it is "Student Edition". You can use it even after 60 days period expire.

 

[AbdelHamid]

Well It's a great question
because :
1. Electrical Specification

8051 : 1.6 ma source
PIC : 25 ma source !!


2. Instructions

8051 : 200+
PIC : 35 instructions ( 75 for 18FXX which have CAN ,.......)

3. Peripherals
8051 : UART ,3 * 16bit timers
PIC :
A2D , D2A , PWM , CCP , UART , TIMERS with prescalers,
I2C , PSP , SPI ,.........
+ speicial microcontroller features WDT , BOR , POR , .......

are u still asking why pic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My suggestion to you start working PIC Or AVR immediatly !
contact me if u want resources and software

Ahmed_abdel_hamid@hotmail.com

regards,
ahmed

 

[vdaniel]

While other manufacturers use lower frequency crystal and then multiplies frequency inside the microcontroller chip to reduce the electromagnethic emission, PIC takes higher frequency and divides it by 4.
I see only one advantage of PIC - it was the first.
I have made some designs with PIC in 1990-ies, but aftewards swithched to others, mainly AVR, and cannot even imagine, what can force me to switch again to PIC.

Varuzhan

 

[admir]

While other manufacturers use lower frequency crystal and then multiplies frequency inside the microcontroller chip to reduce the electromagnethic emission, PIC takes higher frequency and divides it by 4.

Not now, look at the new PIC18F series for example, it has internal x4 PLL inside.

And new dsPIC series have x4, x8 and x16 PLL. For those devices if you have for example 6MHz crystal you can internally multiply it x16, reaching 96MHz.

 

[kilroy]

There is huge knowledge base and easy to do everything...(look )

 

[Code Warrior]

Hello,
Every one is talking PIC becoz it is HOT.

Regards.

 

[klpang1]

Hi all,

why must people interpret lower instructions as better and easier? to me, more instructions means more tools to do a particular work, well, at least one has the choice of not using the 200 - 35 = 165 instructions and do everything in the familiar 35 instructions.

i have use both pic and 8051, well, pic is great for beginner but as i move on, i find 8051 is even better...of course, it still has it's disadvantages...

by the way, it doesn't harm for one to learn extra things.... at least your resume doesn't look so empty....

 

[BuBEE]

I thinks it easy to learning and i can find in market easy.

 

[hjamleh]

PIC is the best thing happened on the earth, it is easy to use and available everywhere, I think the most thing that made PIC powerfull is the Microchip policy by expanding their market on the world... you can go to their website www.microchip.com and see how it is usefull with many application notes and seminars https://techtrain.microchip.com/webseminars/WebSemCListArch.aspx , samples offered, and the diversity of Kits...etc

It is nice to use PIC, and it is my favourite.

 

[Computerman29]

I am a beginner myself, but from my experience, PIC's are easier to learn, have a huge amout of good documentation, samples are readily available for nearly all PIC's, More peripherals (and more different combinations of peripherals), lower price, etc. They all do basicly the same thing. It's like Ford or Chevy, Intel or AMD, boxers or briefs. All have some advantages over the other. It depends very much on the application. I would start with PIC's, then once you have mastered them, try Atmel, or Motorolla, or whatever. Stick with one at a time. If you try to learn more than one at once, you will get bogged down and not learn anything. Once you have mastered a few types, you will be able to pick the right one for the current project. Good luck!!

 

[jhbbunch]

Sorry, but whoever said that 35 isntructions makes the pic easier to program made me laugh. You are at your most expressive when you are 3 years old with a vocabulary of 35 words? I don't think so. The 8051 has a full complement of conditional branches all of which have to be simulated in PIC16XXX code in 3 or 4 instructions. Interrupts? Can they be handled any more primitively than the way the PIChandles them (Especially compared to the 8051)? The memory model of the PIC with those infernal banks is infuriating. That being said, I love the PIC16XXX series. It was created when memory was at a premium and they are using 7 bit instructons, not 8 bit. Whoever created the intruciton set were geniuses. But I consider the PIC16 series an expert chip. Learn the 8051 or AVR or HCxxx chips first, then the PIC16XXX.

 

[Computerman29]

To jhbbunch,
The idea being that you only need to memorize 35 instructions instead of 200 to do virtually anything the Intel can do. For someone just starting in microcontrollers, a 200 word instruction set may seem a bit daunting. I do agree about the interupts - they are a pain in the rump. About the memory model: unless you are using assembly, they are handled automaticly by the compiler. Maybe I think they are easier because I started with PIC's. Like I said in my previous post, I am no expert, and I'm not trying to start a war. I just speak from my own experience. Yours is apparently different. Peace.

 

[Alliegro]

Hi All,
Interesting discussion. What we all should know is the requirments of control and the application. So you do not decide the micro, you decide your application. Then look for the micro which does your job. It does not make any difference on which micro to use. Mostly there are only two or three (Asm, c,Basic) languages to learn for any micro. The Ides's and gui's are just bells and whistles which make your job easier. Application is what decides the micro's. If you need one output pin for your control, you dont need a 40 pin or 28 pin micro with peripherals which you would never use. so understand the requirments of your design, then look for a micro which can do the job. A true professional would never mind to switch from one type of micro to another.
There are many factors external to the design which also influence, like package, size, power requirment, PCB area, cost etc..etc...At professional levels these do make a lot of impact on the final outcome and usage.
Also there is no less learning (instruction sets), the more complicated your design gets, the more you will keep learning and using. Speed is not, as pointed out by others, the main constraint in 8 bit designs, it is the efficiency of execution of your code that matters.
So keep your options open to the design requirments and chose the micro which best suits the need in all aspects.
Alliegro

 

[wutthinan10]

why you use anather

 

[roykyn]

i dont know how it started ...or may be due to jdm pgmer..i think anyone can build a programmer easily...basically tat is the one every one is looking for.....