You can buy a microchip icd3, 4 or even 2 but they are quite expensive. Simply get the pickit2 which will work with windows and download mplab 8.92 which is the latest version which supports mpasm and assembly language programming. You can get the pickit2 from here or if you are on Amazon in the up from here
You’ll want to program your chips in assembly language. This is the primary way to get as close to the metal hardware inside the silicon as possible. Think of 1s and 0s that a typical microcontroller uses to cycle instructions. The next abstraction layer is assembly language. An abstraction layer above that is let’s say C. So therefore to do timing critical routines, you’re better off learning assembly language.
We recommend starting off and even completely staying with the PIC16F628 by microchip to do all your projects and products with. This is because it is an awesome chip that has all the best features at a low cost. Please do use the 04 P version. This one runs at 4 mhz, which means it goes through 4 million instruction cycles per second. That’s an insanely fast clock frequency and will do almost all type of embedded systems projects you can think of.
When I was at Brunel University studying product design BSc, the number one go to chip all the lecturers suggested to use in our products was indeed the PIC16F628. I’ll tell you now, this was the best chip to use for most embedded systems and mechatronics products. They have 8 io pins and with a nice instruction set of 26 instructions, you can be sure you can interface nearly any peripheral with this chip and be able to do some astonishing work.
I personally created a sombambulism detection and notification device. Sleepwalking causes a lot of injuries each year and I wanted to help these people and reduce the occurrences of these injuries. So I got the trusty pic16f628 and went to work. I can tell you now that this chip is a pleasure to work with and has kept me developing new products ever since which are highly marketable.
The hitachi 44780 is one such peripheral lcd that the whole world uses for every single purpose imaginable. Think vending machines. The old school coin ones and even contactless machines all use this screen. And with its serial interface, you can send ascii codes to the screen easily with the assembly language and its usart module.
Back then we even did a project where you make a breadboard with the pic16f628 and interface it with a computer using hyper terminal on windows. Yes, this allowed you to type keys on the computer keyboard and have them display on a seven segment display on a breadboard connected to the pic. This was possible using the nul modem serial cable and many tutorial online would allow you to do such a thing, one of which I’m sure I’ll get round to showing a tutorial on how to do this yourself.
Other such peripherals you can use are printers. Think receipt printers that supermarkets and grocery stores use, even retailers. Yes those thermal printers all run off of ascii codes, all of which can be ported to via a pic and it’s handy ascii code interface, the usart. It’s all plug and play with this chip and I really is a lovely playground, one of which I enjoy exploring and thinking up new products to create.
You can use this chip anywhere. Most online sites say use the pic16f87. This is very old fashion and dated and even costly bad advice. Take it from an authoritative professional in the field of product design, myself. The PIC16F628 is what you should be using. It can do anything and can be used in vehicle manufacture, engineered industrial service products, the list goes on. You really can have a career in coding if this is what you’d be interested in, like myself. Firmware for chips is just as lucrative as software I.e Microsoft. I don’t see it as any different. Microchip, Microsoft, they both have the word micro in them and they specialise in synthesising hardware with software I.e letters and numbers on a screen. What could be more fun than that!
I’m a die hard fan of the pic16f628. Don’t get me wrong, the world has a lot of other trendy tech out now, like AI and A1 chips from Apple that run gigabytes of data on your phone. But for standalone products, ie digital thermometers like in my other blog post, there is no need for this hugely bloated tech stack to that would cost the earth. Simple functions need simple stand alone products, and that’s where you and I come in as designers. Assembly language maybe niche, but it isn’t dead and can’t be competed against with arduino for instance. Arduino and phones can cost £100s. A dedicated pic16f628 costs just £1 if you buy in bulk or look in the right places. So it’s very efficient and stands the test of time.
Here on my blog I’ll be posting lots of pic16f628 projects and will be helping the universe with its designed systems, so that mankind can benefit. It may seem like a worldly and even godly pursuit, but my passion for product design knows no bounds.