I like programming in Pascal as hobby, and I'm interested in trying something new so micro chips caught my attention.

Can You please explain me what they are capable of? Is micro chips programming an expensive hobby or a cheap one?

Thank You

PICs are programmed in their own assembler.

 

f.e.

http://www.microchip.com/forums/m466343.aspx

 

It's nothing familiar to anything that you know like high level language such as Pascal.

I've done quite a lot with arduinos. They're very adaptable is you've got a bit of imagination and is pretty cheap (compared to my other hobby of photography). I tend to buy my kit from China.

 

Arduinos use c mainly but people have written lots of varied compilers, nor sure about pascal.

Can You please explain me what they are capable of?

Control electronics that you will make.

f.e. electric engines, LEDs, light.

Robotics. Automation.

 

Is micro chips programming an expensive hobby or a cheap one?

I don't think so.

As long as you won't be blowing them everyday.

$50-$100 for a start.

 

Take a look also on Arduino:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2CFKx5ASUY

search for Arduino @ YouTube videos.

 

Things I've done include garage parking systems, geocaching games, quiz games, and door bells.

In all I've spebt something like £150. Including electronics, tools, boxes etc...

Once I put the firmware in them, what should I do? Maybe I'm too ignorant...

Is there a good book?

Will I spend more money with Arduino or PIC (compilers are free )

Edited September 11, 201510 yr by Sab0

Don't forget that you must know something about electronics (a nice thing to know, anyway).

 

It is a cheap hobby, but don't expect that you will make your walking robot in your first attempt. More likely your first application will be just blinking a LED.

 

You can program PIC in C (I don't know, but probably not in pascal). And even assembler is easier than people think.

 

I respectfully disagree with Sensei's wording "nothing familiar" because I think all programming is somewhat familiar.

 

I make stepper motor drivers etc using small 8-bit microcontrollers (AVR family is my choice).

I don't want to sound boring, but, can You please tell me what should I buy? I have written down this list:

• Chips (how many ones?)

• A programmer (which One? -> http://www.microchipdirect.com )

• A compiler (there is a free edition)

• what else?

It's probably best to start with some kind of arduino starter kit.

As Klaynos said, a starter kit is the easiest way to start (for every uC line there is a starter kit, not only for arduino. But of course, with arduino you can enjoy benefits of large community) especially if you are not an expert in electronics. That is about all you need to start.

 

Some time ago when I was to choose the uC line for my hobby projects, I consulted the internet to find more popular families (PIC, AVR...) and then consulted my local store to see what they regularly offer (but you might however prefer buying over internet or some other way to obtain your chips).

The chips are very cheap, but once I buy them, do I need boards too?

Do I need to write drivers to make the chip work with other electronic things?

PIC means Peripheral Interface Controller.

You need to have electronics that you will control by your chip.

The simplest case is control of LED.

Say you write code for turning on light for 1 second, then turning off light for 1 second. Upload it to chip. And LED is starting blinking.

If you want 2 seconds delay, you need to upload new program.

Or complicate electronics and code to allow user to change it by potentiometer.

Chip won't do anything by itself. It needs stuff it will control.

Edited September 12, 201510 yr by Sensei

Thank you, I'll buy a book first

Edited September 12, 201510 yr by Sab0

A line of pic chips is Mikrobasic. Uses basic programming lanauage as the compiler. The software comes with the programming kit. The chips themself are cheap.

 

http://www.mikroe.com/mikrobasic/pic/

 

basic is similar enough to Pascal that conversion is easy.