pic 12f675 mini protoboard

Since I have a lot of ideas about different usages of microcontrollers it always happens I have to build basic microcontroller setup (microcontroller with oscilator).
Finaly I decided to make a small (or should I say mini) protoboard for PIC 12f675 (which I wanted to use for a small project). You can see the result on the picture.

Step 1 The solder side of the PCB

is here.

Comments

[ajinkyadixit]

actually what is this ??? pic programmer device or pic interfacing device???

[feldhaus]

As far as I can see, the main benefit of this board is the integration of the chip with a programming header which, depending on your programmer, could be beneficial. Certainly this would potentially make a nice PICkit-compatible PIC12F675 "package".

For the vast majority of prototyping applications featuring these devices the PIC12F675's factory-calibrated internal oscillator (INTOSC, see section 9.2.5 of datasheet DS41190C) is adequate and frees up an additional 2 I/Os. If you do use an external crystal you should aim to keep its load capacitors very close to the crystal package pins, to limit inductance, and the crystal itself close to the XTAL pins of the device.

Decoupling and PSU reservoir capacitors are a wise addition (certainly at the production stage of development) but hardly critical for breadboarding given the parasitic capacitance and the (likely) quality of bench power supply.

Your PCB layout is neat and tidy, although the spacing from the track to pin 5 of the PIC is unnecessarily close.

[b0j3]

I was getting tired of constantly doing that (putting 3 components directly in the breadboard) - so I made one big component :)

[marxmarv]

So try the 12F609/615/617 chips. Trimmed onboard oscillator, no crystal required. :)

[lj123456]

i just wanted to no what components wher used in this project

[Grazfather]

Probably a 10uf cap, a .1uf cap, an 8MHz crystal, some jumpers, and a programming header

[the_lark]

Will that also work with a 12f629? I'm new to PIC chips, so I apologise if the question sounds a bit stupid...thanks in advance & well done by the way

[b0j3]

Since I stopped doing electronics for a while - I have no idea. Hopefully somebody will be able to answer that.

[Jodex]

Stopped doing electronics??!!? Why you did so? =( =0

[b0j3]

Huh. So many projects and so little time.
But I'm slowly getting back to it (at least in my dreams :) ).
Have few ideas bouncing around:

nixie clock with DCF77
radioactivity detector
and some more (will add when they're done :) ).

[Jodex]

Great! : D Definately make an instructable about that radioactivity detector!!

[the_lark]

Oh and what kind of ceramic caps should I use? Like, 104, 331,103?Thanks!

[b0j3]

I guess it doesn't matter. Check the documentation for the PIC (caps for oscilator).

[the_lark]

ok thanks!

[HIDvance]

WOW, some guys are good with PICS!!!...anyhow, HI everyone. I'm new to that PIC stuff and need a hand with instructions. I'm using a 12F675. For instance, I want to read the exact voltage going through pin 7 or 8. That voltage will change with the different lamps I use it with and I need to set an automatic timer with which the moment of shutting the lamp will differ from one lamp to another. Is it possible to read that exact voltage or not? IF it is possible, what would be the instructions for it? Then, do they have to be converted with the ADC? If not possible, how can the PIC know about the value of the voltage goint through the pins? Thanks for your help, Rick

[ian]

Really nice little DEV-board. I like these 8 pin PICs. Microchip is the only one to make them because of a patent (method for fewer pins than bits, or something). One of the 12F6xx (16F683) has an internal osc of 8 mhz. It is also typical to place a 0.1uf capacitor between the Vcc and Vss (+/-) for decoupling.

[westfw]

Patent challenges aside, microchip is NOT the only vendor to offer 8-pin microcontrollers. Atmel has a bunch (attiny11, tiny12, tiny13, tiny15, and even motorola (oops. "Freescale") has jumped into the act with some of their 68xxx908QTx chips. At 10 pins to 14 pins, you can add 8051 variants from philips (oops. "NXP") and Silicon labs and the TI MSP430s.

[ian]

Thanks for the correction. I've been working with the MSP430s - I didn't know there was an 8 pin version. I'm going to check it out. Thanks!

[klee27x]

Their patent is for the 6-pin PIC's. That's the 10F series. They come in a SOT-23 package a few millimeters across.

[sysadmn]

Check out the AVR (atmel) stuff also - internal oscillator, in system programming, nice instruction set.

[klee27x]

Yes, AVRs have caught up to PICs regarding built-in peripherals, ICSP, self-programming capability, and super low current sleep mode. PICs had most of that stuff before AVRs did. Microchip was one of the first to start including peripherals like ADC and UART and whatnot on their devices, back when that was just a novelty. On the other side of the coin, PICs have caught up to AVR with an expanded instruction set designed to be C-friendly with the 18F series. The main difference now is that PIC still has the lower end 10/12/16F series chips which Atmel doesn't provide much competition against. Atmel seems to drop production and support of their older models much quicker than Microchip.

[ian]

Yikes. I read comments about as well as I read datasheets...

[robertaugust]

I will pay bucks for someone to reprogram my 12f675 please contact [e-mail]

[Tom2000]

Nice little board, b0j3. But if you like the 12F675, you're gonna *love* the 12F683! :)

[cheesy]

What's the point of putting the microcontroller on a board, then just using in a breadboard? Why not just put the microcontroller (and like 3 other components) directly in the breadboard?

[funlw65]

Maybe more room for other components on a breadboard. when you have a little one?

[figgalicous]

For those with below-par soldering & programming experience, I agree that these 8-pin DIP package microcontrollers are very inviting. There is another brand called the PIC-AXE, but I heard they're based out of the UK, that's probably how they can avoid patent violation.

[Beanwaur]

the pic-axe chips are just microchip pic chips with a preprogrammed bootloader/interpreter

[ian]

yup. They are more costly and harder to use when you want to count cycles (time based stuff). There are basic compilers that compile directly to PIC ASM code, if you want to use basic I recomend one of these. I used mikrobasic to get familiar with PIC architecture. The demo compiler will output .hex files of up to 2000 words. Later, when you feel brave, you can check out the microchip C18 compiler. There is a free student version, with no limits.