Programming PIC Microcontrollers using Assembly Language: Electronics for A-level learners and hobbyists

Programming PIC Microcontrollers using Assembly Language: Electronics for A-level learners and hobbyists

Programming microcontrollers is a hugely important area of electronics, with microcontrollers being present in all areas of our day-to-day lives; microwaves, traffic lights, cars, central heating, to name just a few. There are lots of types of microcontrollers (and indeed microcomputers which are more complex) that you may already be familiar with, such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and many ways of programming them, e.g. C, Python, BASIC, or flowcharts. Working with microcontrollers in all forms is part of a field of electronics known as "embedded system design", or simply "embedded systems". This book aims to serve as a guide to programming Microchip's PIC microcontrollers using Assembly programming , primarily focusing on methods that utilise free software and relatively affordable components and devices . Known as a low-level programming language, Assembly Programming is the closest you can get to the computer's native language of zeroes and ones, with a very simple and limited instruction set. Complete with tutorials, example programs, and providing free templates to create custom programs, this book concludes a year of work by the author, specifically designed to support A-level Electronics learners with their Non-Examination Assessment (coursework), while also being meaningful and purposeful for hobbyists alike. PIC Microcontrollers covered includes the PIC16F88 , PIC16F887, PIC10F202, and PIC12F510, with example programs such as toggling an LED output, reading analogue input voltages, and systems involving specific timing and user-control such as recreating traffic light crossings. All examples come complete with circuit schematics, and photographs of this system constructed on a breadboard. All templates and example programs are made available in their original file formats via GitHub : Templates: https://github.com/antonioastro/assembly_programming_TEMPLATES Examples: https://github.com/antonioastro/assembly_programming_EXAMPLES Alongside this book, it is recommended that you also purchase a PICkit3 programming device , as this is the main programming method used to write the program to the microcontroller chip.