Thread: Introductory Microcontroller Help

I am trying to learn how to use C to control PIC16C57 Microcontroller chip that is built into the BASIC Stamp 2. I have a decent, although beginner's yet, understanding of how to write code in C, but I have had no training as of yet with interfacing with hardware from C. In the end, I would like to control a simple 12V DC motor. Forward, backward, and with 3 speed settings. I have already designed the circuit necessary to drive the motor, now I just need help writing the code to control 3 pins. I was planning on using PWM for the speed control, but have been unable to find any information how to do it for someone who is just learning about this subject. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Have you tried searching here. The microchip website has everything you need to program the chip.

Yes, I've actually come across that site while researching this chip, but unfortunately, the information is far too technical for me to understand. I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of a "Microcontroller's for Dummies" type of site.
This project I am working on has also raised another question: Is it possible to have a loop running in the background in C? For instance: If I want a loop running that is counting numbers, but I don't want to see it, but I want the loop to end when I push "s" and then print what number the loop got up to.
Something along these lines:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
    int i, count, stop;
    for (i = 0, count = 0; i >= 0; i++) count ++; //endless loop, I know
    scanf ("%d", &stop);  //Use this input to stop the loop
    printf ("Stopped at %d.\n", count);
    return 0;
}

I remember my first experiences with PIC. With no formal education on the subject, it took me a long time of research and troubleshoot to get it to finally work. And that was with a degree of competence in the programming part of it. (I used RISC assembly code at the time instead of 'C').

I don't know of any "for dummies" approach, so I can't help you there. This is a very complicated topic when one has little experience and no formal training. But maybe if I shared some advice from my own experiences, which is admittedly not about "getting it to work" but about understanding it to a degree where you know what's going on.

- I second Salem's advice of getting comfortable coding first, as this will greatly determine the ease/difficulty of actually implementing the functions you want the PIC to perform.

- Once you're familiar with the coding, the second beast to tackle is figuring out what needs to be done to configure the micro (initialization is not as simple as it might seem). This will require a fairly deep study of the data sheet for the device.

- Which leads me to my third bit of advice: Study the data sheet so you know what the registers are, how they work, and so on. You do have a copy of the data sheet ... right?

I would also recommend, if you haven't already, doing searches for "PIC16C57 tutorial." I don't know of any sites that have *all* the information you require (though others here may), but for me it was more like searching for pieces of a puzzle. After a while, I was able to put those pieces together and make an LED blink! Once you get there, you'll only get better with it.

Yes you can have things going on in the background. Either using multiple executables and letting the operating system manage them or by using non-blocking I/O. For example, you could use a function which checks whether there was any keyboard input without actually waiting for it. kbhit() or something like that... but this stuff is platform dependent. Then you embed such calls in your loops and continue with the counting unless some value gets returned that indicates there's something new to do.

Originally Posted by Sanglant

I am trying to learn how to use C to control PIC16C57 Microcontroller chip that is built into the BASIC Stamp 2. I have a decent, although beginner's yet, understanding of how to write code in C, but I have had no training as of yet with interfacing with hardware from C. In the end, I would like to control a simple 12V DC motor. Forward, backward, and with 3 speed settings. I have already designed the circuit necessary to drive the motor, now I just need help writing the code to control 3 pins. I was planning on using PWM for the speed control, but have been unable to find any information how to do it for someone who is just learning about this subject. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Get yourself some tutorials and/or a textbook on C... learn the language first. Then when you approach the microcontroller problem you only need to learn the specializations... not the whole thing at once.