Is anyone in the group doing PIC development on Linux? I've got a project that really demands a sort of turbocharged 555, for which a PIC 10xxx or 12xxx would be perfect. I'm pretty sure it's small enough that it's sensible to write it entirely in assembly, or possibly in just a few lines of C. This is for a short-run product, so I not only need to know how to do development, but information on device programmers that do a "production ready" job would be nice, too. TIA. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
PIC development on Linux
Started by ●May 5, 2014
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
Tim Wescott wrote:> Is anyone in the group doing PIC development on Linux? > > I've got a project that really demands a sort of turbocharged 555, for > which a PIC 10xxx or 12xxx would be perfect. I'm pretty sure it's small > enough that it's sensible to write it entirely in assembly, or possibly > in just a few lines of C. > > This is for a short-run product, so I not only need to know how to do > development, but information on device programmers that do a "production > ready" job would be nice, too. >I did one thing with the MPLAB IDE and PICkit3, running from Ubuntu 10.04. No complications as I recall, I just installed it and it did what it does. Mel.
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
On Mon, 05 May 2014 13:23:28 -0400, Mel Wilson wrote:> Tim Wescott wrote: > >> Is anyone in the group doing PIC development on Linux? >> >> I've got a project that really demands a sort of turbocharged 555, for >> which a PIC 10xxx or 12xxx would be perfect. I'm pretty sure it's >> small enough that it's sensible to write it entirely in assembly, or >> possibly in just a few lines of C. >> >> This is for a short-run product, so I not only need to know how to do >> development, but information on device programmers that do a >> "production ready" job would be nice, too. >> >> > I did one thing with the MPLAB IDE and PICkit3, running from Ubuntu > 10.04. > No complications as I recall, I just installed it and it did what it > does. > > Mel.HOLY CRAP! Microchip supports Linux! Woo hoo! (Yes, I shoulda looked -- assume, Ass out of U and Me, etc.) To quote Rosanne Rosannadana -- never mind! And thank you for stating the obvious to me. Sometimes that's what we need. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
Tim Wescott wrote:> > HOLY CRAP! Microchip supports Linux! Woo hoo! > > (Yes, I shoulda looked -- assume, Ass out of U and Me, etc.) > > To quote Rosanne Rosannadana -- never mind! > > And thank you for stating the obvious to me. Sometimes that's what we > need.A long time coming, but it's here now. And remember XKCD: whenever you assert something you make an ass of the Emergency Response Team. Mel.
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.really> writes:> I've got a project that really demands a sort of turbocharged 555, for > which a PIC 10xxx or 12xxx would be perfect.I think the low end AVR8's are more popular in some circles. There are some FOSS Linux tools around for them. I like the tiny packages and have never understood why they don't put more powerful cpus in packages like that. I'm not sure about the programming hardware. Data: http://www.atmel.com/devices/ATTINY4.aspx If you don't mind a bigger part, the TI MSP430 Launchpad board can program the Value Line DIP16/DIP20 processors and it's crazy cheap. They sold them for $4.30 for a long time though they're around $10 now.
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
On Mon, 05 May 2014 11:13:15 -0700, Paul Rubin wrote:> Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.really> writes: >> I've got a project that really demands a sort of turbocharged 555, for >> which a PIC 10xxx or 12xxx would be perfect. > > I think the low end AVR8's are more popular in some circles. There are > some FOSS Linux tools around for them. I like the tiny packages and > have never understood why they don't put more powerful cpus in packages > like that. I'm not sure about the programming hardware. > > Data: http://www.atmel.com/devices/ATTINY4.aspx > > If you don't mind a bigger part, the TI MSP430 Launchpad board can > program the Value Line DIP16/DIP20 processors and it's crazy cheap. They > sold them for $4.30 for a long time though they're around $10 now.I looked in the DigiKey catalog for microprocessors and sorted by price. The PIC parts are at the absolute bottom of the list, and $0.40/each, qty 10. The next-cheapest is an STM8 for half again as much. And they're available in SOT-23-6 packages, which is about as small as I'll ever need. From a hardware designer's perspective, the PIC is a lot sweeter than the Atmel, too -- not that I need it here, but the PIC can drive something like five times as much current per pin as the Atmel. Does anyone know if Atmel is better at delivery than they were a few years ago? I know they had a pretty bad rep, but then they changed management around 08 or so. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.really> writes:> I looked in the DigiKey catalog for microprocessors and sorted by price. > The PIC parts are at the absolute bottom of the list, and $0.40/each, qty > 10. The next-cheapest is an STM8 for half again as much.I figured in a short run product, saving a few hours of engineering would matter more than a few cents difference in parts costs, but ok.> From a hardware designer's perspective, the PIC is a lot sweeter than the > Atmel, too -- not that I need it here, but the PIC can drive something > like five times as much current per pin as the Atmel.Interesting and worth knowing about, thanks.> Does anyone know if Atmel is better at delivery than they were a few > years ago? I know they had a pretty bad rep, but then they changed > management around 08 or so.Looks like distributors like Digikey and Mouser have plenty in stock.
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
On Mon, 05 May 2014 12:10:07 -0700, Paul Rubin wrote:> Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.really> writes: >> I looked in the DigiKey catalog for microprocessors and sorted by >> price. The PIC parts are at the absolute bottom of the list, and >> $0.40/each, qty 10. The next-cheapest is an STM8 for half again as >> much. > > I figured in a short run product, saving a few hours of engineering > would matter more than a few cents difference in parts costs, but ok.It's a short-run HOBBY project, so I can be an unreasonable tight wad if I want to. But yes, that's a good point. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
Hi, I used SDCC and PK2CMD for PIC18F on LINUX and it worked well enough for small sized projects. For code instance, you can refer to: https://github.com/texane/slosyn/tree/master/device Then, I used the MPLABX toolchain. I think this is the way to go for MICROCHIP devices.>On Mon, 05 May 2014 12:10:07 -0700, Paul Rubin wrote: > >> Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.really> writes: >>> I looked in the DigiKey catalog for microprocessors and sorted by >>> price. The PIC parts are at the absolute bottom of the list, and >>> $0.40/each, qty 10. The next-cheapest is an STM8 for half again as >>> much. >> >> I figured in a short run product, saving a few hours of engineering >> would matter more than a few cents difference in parts costs, but ok. > >It's a short-run HOBBY project, so I can be an unreasonable tight wad if >I want to. But yes, that's a good point. > >-- > >Tim Wescott >Wescott Design Services >http://www.wescottdesign.com > >--------------------------------------- Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com
Reply by ●May 5, 20142014-05-05
On 05/05/14 18:46, Tim Wescott wrote:> Is anyone in the group doing PIC development on Linux? > > I've got a project that really demands a sort of turbocharged 555, for > which a PIC 10xxx or 12xxx would be perfect. I'm pretty sure it's small > enough that it's sensible to write it entirely in assembly, or possibly > in just a few lines of C. > > This is for a short-run product, so I not only need to know how to do > development, but information on device programmers that do a "production > ready" job would be nice, too. > > TIA. >I never really thought of PIC's as being "perfect" for any job - it's a great many years since I happily said goodbye to them. There are lots of small micros for incredibly low prices - you can even get a Cortex M0+ device for under half a dollar, or AVR ATTINY devices at even less. So unless you are using tens of thousands of these devices, PIC's don't make any sort of economic sense. If you are looking for something more fun, try "greenpak" devices from <http://www.silego.com/>. They should fit the bill for a "turbocharged 555", and are very cheap. I haven't tried them myself - I'm still looking for an excuse to play with them.
