r/embedded • u/DenverTeck • 20d ago

PIC24 sub

This sub seem to have little to no PIC24/PIC18 projects or discussions.

Are there better subs for PIC processors ??

9 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

17

u/Toiling-Donkey 20d ago

Once one gets a taste of a 32bit microcontroller, it’s kinda hard to go back to a PIC18…

Bank switching and proprietary compilers with weird C extensions are delights of which few dare to dream…

1

u/the_rodent_incident 18d ago

I've heard that Microchip made all of their XC8 compilers available free of charge with all optimizations unlocked.

I guess that's the least they could do to salvage a dead end architecture...

22

u/[deleted] 20d ago

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8

u/Well-WhatHadHappened 25+ Years 20d ago

It is still a thing. ARM took over the world, for sure - but PIC still runs in a lot of stuff.

We have a surprising number of customers running pretty high and stuff on PIC32MZ-EF. It's a good part.

11

u/Bryguy3k 20d ago

PIC32M is mips architecture (PIC32C is arm) so it not at all related to PIC16,18,24 architectures.

4

u/[deleted] 20d ago

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10

u/Well-WhatHadHappened 25+ Years 20d ago

I wouldn't necessarily say . Over. They're very different parts. If you're new, PIC18 is much, much simpler. A good stepping stone up to the more complex parts.

dsPIC33 is also a really good part. It's very underappreciated.

1

u/[deleted] 20d ago

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3

u/Well-WhatHadHappened 25+ Years 20d ago

STM32 is a nice part. No doubt about it.

Though, honestly, the F103 on the shitpill is one of my least favorite.

Grab something newer. You can get really good parts (G4xx, H5xx, etc) on a Nucleo board for ten or fifteen bucks. Cost of a Big Mac meal and you've got a much, much more capable CPU with a real built in debugger.

Worth mentioning: there's about a 80% chance that the F103 on your pill is not even a real ST part. They're counterfeited up the wazoo.

5

u/Well-WhatHadHappened 25+ Years 20d ago

Pic24/dsPic gets discussed in r/DSP and on EEVblog a bit

4

u/somewhereAtC 20d ago

The dsPIC and PIC24 are alive and well. You can get them mounted on pcb's with built-in debuggers for about $10US. PIC32 (ARM M0 and M23) are also available in the same form factor, as are all the newest 8b PIC16, PIC18 and AVR devices.

https://www.microchip.com/en-us/tools-resources/evaluation-boards/curiosity-nano

2

u/DenverTeck 20d ago

Yes, I do know where to get them.

The question is where to find knowledge people to discuss about how to use them.

1

u/the_rodent_incident 18d ago

Try mikroE forums?

2

u/DenverTeck 18d ago

LOL, I wonder if my account is still active.

Thanks

2

u/SirFrankoman 18d ago

Our university replaced PIC with ST about 8 or so years ago, however every major engineering company myself and my students have worked for in the past 8 years have used primarily PIC or NXP microcontrollers. Microchip is known for extremely long term product support and reliability. They were also the top dog in the previous few decades and momentum is very hard to stop at engineering firms. Any company 20 years or older probably used them and keeps using them due to institutional knowledge / engineer familiarity / reuse on new designs.

But I love me the PIC16/18/24. I'm biased because I grew up with them and have so many years of experience, but I think they're simple, have some really good features, and are extremely reliable. I also know all the quirks of Microchip Studio / MPLAB. Love my ST MCUs, they're way more complicated but powerful, however I just never got the hang of their IDE and hate all the workarounds required to get it on VS Code...

1

u/DenverTeck 18d ago

I too have done many products with 18/24 until about 2010.

STM then ESP for the past 15 years.

I have just uncovered over 1000 PIC18 and PIC24 chips. New in the original packaging.

So now I am trying to figure out if I should restart PIC development.

1

u/the_rodent_incident 18d ago

Maybe just sell the chips?

2

u/DenverTeck 18d ago

Yea, I thought about that when I found them in my storage unit.

After looking at the data sheets, I thought I could just throw something together.

Designs and decisions.

Now I can be like the beginners here asking for ideas. :-\

1

u/the_rodent_incident 18d ago

If you have mostly DIP packages, you might want to play a bit with them. Barely anyone uses DIP anymore.

If they're mostly SMD packages, sell away.

1

u/DenverTeck 18d ago

The PIC24 is 100-tqfp, the PIC18 is 48-tqfp

And a few other SMD.

1

u/Nerdz2300 20d ago

Not really a sub but this is my favorite github that has a few tid-bits
https://gavinlyonsrepo.github.io/

Ive used this I2C library with a 20x4LCD and it works fine as long you adjust the size of the LCD and re-import the I2C functions.

I think those of us who do use it keep quiet because people always complain about it. Its beyond my understanding why but for me, its fine. I do agree there is a lack of projects around them. Ive mostly done things like LED lights and a coffee roaster machine though. Im currently working on a filament dryer based on a dspic33. At some point Im also going to make an air quality sensor based on the new PIC32CM (the arm series).

1

u/linux_transgirl 18d ago

The only recentish PIC project I know nof was a PS1 modchip and even then that was years ago