PICKIT2 PROGRAMMER

description:

The PICkit™ 2 Development Programmer/Debugger (PG164120) is a low-cost development tool with an easy to use interface for programming and debugging Microchip’s Flash families of microcontrollers. The full featured Windows® programming interface supports baseline (PIC10F, PIC12F5xx, PIC16F5xx), midrange (PIC12F6xx, PIC16F), PIC18F, PIC24, dsPIC30, dsPIC33, and PIC32 families of 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit microcontrollers, and many Microchip Serial EEPROM products. With Microchip’s powerful MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) the PICkit™ 2 enables in-circuit debugging on most PIC® microcontrollers. In-Circuit-Debugging runs, halts and single steps the program while the PIC microcontroller is embedded in the application. When halted at a breakpoint, the file registers can be examined and modified.

1. The most notable difference between the two is that the PICkit 2 has a separate programmer/debugger unit which plugs into the board carrying the chip to be programmed, whereas the PICkit 1 was a single unit. This makes it possible to use the programmer with a custom circuit board via an In Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) header. This feature is not intended^[3] for so-called "production" programming, however.

The PICkit 2 uses an internal PIC18F2550 with FullSpeed USB. The latest PICkit 2 firmware allows the user to program and debug most of the 8 and 16 bit PICmicro and dsPIC members of the Microchip product line.

The PICkit 2 is open to the public, including its hardware schematic, firmware source code (in C language) and application programs (in C# language). End users and third parties can easily modify both the hardware and software for enhanced features. e.g. GNU/Linuxversion of PICkit 2 application software, DOS style CMD support, etc.

The PICkit 2 has a programmer-to-go (PTG) feature, which can download the hex file and programming instructions into on-board memory (128 KB I²C EEPROM or 256 KB I2C EEPROM), so that no PC is required at the end application.

The Microchip version of PICkit 2 has a standard 128 KB memory. 256 KB memory can be achieved by modifying the hardware or from third party.

Additionally, a 500 kHz three-channel logic analyser and a UART tool are built into the PICkit 2. These features are missing from the PICkit 3.

Since release of V2.61, PICkit 2 PC software now supports a maximum 4 megabytes of memory for the programmer-to-go feature. This modification makes the PICkit 2 support eight times as much memory as the PICkit 3. This enhancement has been contributed by Au Group Electronics and the PICkit 2 firmware is also reported to be submitted to Microchip PICkit 2 team in the middle of March 2009. This enhancement may be integrated into future firmware releases, too. There are many PIC programmer available, commercial and DIY devices. As Microchip introduces the new microprocessors the programming software got to be updated accordingly playing catch-up with the PIC manufacturer. That is the root of the problem with third-party PIC programmers. Microchip’s PICkit 2 is the low cost ICSP programmer for Flash PICs with USB interface introduced by Microchip. Only subset of PIC microcontrollers is supported, but the list is including all the recent devices from PIC16, PIC18 and PIC24 families and certainly covers all the PICs you are most likely want to use. It is fully integrated with Microchip’s MPLAB IDE and allow not only program but debug applications as well. As alternative you can use the standalone programmer applet, see picture below. PICkit is a family of programmers for PIC microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology. They are used to program and debug microcontrollers, as well as program EEPROM. Some models also feature logic analyzer and serial communications (UART) tool. The PICkit 2 — introduced in May 2005 — replaced the PICkit 1. The most notable difference between the two is that the PICkit 2 has a separate programmer/debugger unit which plugs into the board carrying the chip to be programmed, whereas the PICkit 1 was a single unit. This makes it possible to use the programmer with a custom circuit board via an In Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) header. This feature is not intended for so-called "production" programming, however. The PICkit 2 uses an internal PIC18F2550 with Full Speed USB. The latest PICkit 2 firmware allows the user to program and debug most of the 8 and 16 bit PIC micro and dsPIC members of the Microchip product line. The PICkit 2 is open to the public, including its hardware schematic, firmware source code (in C language) and application programs (in C# language). End users and third parties can easily modify both the hardware and software for enhanced features. The PICkit 2 has a programmer-to-go (PTG) feature, which can download the hex file and programming instructions into on-board memory (128K byte I2C EEPROM or 256K byte I2C EEPROM), so that no PC is required at the end application. The Microchip version of PICkit 2 has a standard 128K byte memory. 256K byte memory can be achieved by modifying the hardware or from third party. Additionally, a 500 kHz three-channel logic analyzer and a UART tool are built into the PICkit 2. These features are missing from the PICkit 3. The PICkit 2 Programmer-To-Go functionality allows a PIC MCU memory image to be downloaded into the PICkit 2 unit for later programming into a specific PIC MCU. No software or PC is required to program devices once the PICkit 2 unit is set up for Programming-To-Go. A USB power source for the PICkit 2 is all that is needed. The PICkit™ 2 Programmer/Debugger is a low-cost development tool with an easy to use interface for programming and debugging Microchip’s Flash families of microcontrollers. The full featured Windows programming interface supports baseline, mid-range, PIC18, 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit microcontrollers, and many Microchip Serial EEPROM products. With Microchip’s powerful MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE) the PICkit 2 enables in circuit debugging on most PIC microcontrollers. In-Circuit-Debugging runs halts and single steps the program while the PIC microcontroller is embedded in the application. When halted at a breakpoint, the file registers can be examined and modified. 

Features :

·         PICkit 2 Development Programmer/Debugger

·         44-pin demo board with PIC16F887 Midrange PIC microcontroller

·         The PIC16F887 may be debugged directly without any additional hardware.

·         A series of 12 Lessons on assembly programming that cover I/O, A/D converters, timers, interrupts, and data tables (All source code files are provided)

·         A Debugging Tutorial on using the PICkit 2 as a debugger with the MPLAB IDE (Ch. 4 of the PICkit 2 User’s Guide)

·         Getting Started in C tutorial on developing and debugging in C with a FREE CCS PCM™ Midrange C Compiler Demo* for PIC16F887(contained on the PICkit 2 CD) *2kWord Program Limit.

·         Getting Started in C tutorial on developing and debugging in C with a FREE HI-TECH PICC™ LITE C Compiler with MPLAB IDE

·         FREE! Microchip’s MPLAB IDE software for a complete code development environment

·         Easy to use Windows® programming interface for programming Microchip’s Flash family of microcontrollers

·         UART Tool software for direct serial communications with a microcontroller RX/TX pins through the PICkit 2.

·         Logic Tool software for simple logic signal stimulus and monitoring, with a 3-channel logic analyzer.

·         PICkit 2 Programmer-To-Go support for programming devices without a PC.

·         PICkit 2 User’s Guide (included on CD ROM)

·         The above items are also available for download from the bottom of the webpage.

·         User’s Guide (with lessons) for the included Demo Board

·         Selected Application Notes and Datasheets

·         Code Examples in assembly and C

·         A FREE version of the CCS PCB™ C Compiler for Baseline PIC MCUs (contained on the MPLAB CD). The PIC MCU devices included with the kits above are Midrange or PIC18 devices and thus not supported by this Baseline compiler.

·         USB interface cable

·         This device will work like the normal PICkit.

·         This will work for any PIC (5 and 3.3V devices).

·         No MOSFET’s a complex, only one voltage boost circuit.

·         You can program the target without PC.

Applications:

• Programmer
• debugger

ICSP Pinout:

The pin-out for Microchip standard 6-pin connector for In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) is listed in table below: