PC based Programmable Function Generator

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i'm doing my final year project about "PC based programmable function generator" using PIC16F84A microcontroller. i need to generate 3 kinds of waveforms: square, sinusoidal & triangle. i also need to design and layout a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the functions of the PC based function generator such as frequency, duty cycle and no. of pulses using Visual BASIC 6.0. To design a Pc based function generator, user will set the kind of waveform and key in the value of frequency, duty cycle and no. of pulses through GUI. The peak to peak amplitude is already set to -5v to 5v. Then, press a GENERATE button and the softwave will send command to the function generator board. The microcontroller in function generator board will generate the waveform. The limited and accurate waveform should be display through oscilloscope, for example, if users key in 100kHZ, 10 pulses and choose square waveform, they should obtain exactly 10 pulses of 100 kHZ square waveform. now i'm facing problems , i don't know want to use parallel port or RS232 port and also how to interface the port using Visual BASIC 6.0 and also no idea with my project yet if anybody have any idea or suggestion, please tell me, HELP!!!

 

[C-Man]

Might not be exactly what you need but a good point to start:


best regards

 

[metao]

you should use RS232.
because connect to RS232 is use only 3 line.
use MSCOMMS from microsoft .
it's very easy to use.
Suggest use VB6.

 

[repzak]

Hey

I have a simular idea, i just hav eto much arround my ears to get going with it...

my idea was something like this :

https://www.analog.com/UploadedFiles/Data_Sheets/37150134474160AD9833_a.pdf

either connected to an uC or directly to the Serial / parrellel port, but i think i would like mine ti be isolated from the pc's caps in the PS...

then :
https://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/buf634.pdf

as the output driver, proberly some stuff between to give voltage gain and maybe dc control... an uC with dacs could be nice for that i thought about aduc842 only 2 dacs so i am still considering..

the very hot spot of the dds are you can make a sweep over the entire frequenci range without changeing any caps...

the bad part.. proberly no dutycycle adjustment...

one thing more i thougt about is to add a frequency counter on the uC interenal counter and maybe add a capacitor / inductor meassure on same pcb (the uC is there allready)

Best Regards

Kasper

 

[jcarlos]

Hi,

Here you can find a very interesting article about to design an Arbitrary Waveform Generator based on an microcontroller and using a GUI in a PC or a PDA. I hope this can help you on decide your own design.

**broken link removed**

Cheers