In this chapter, we shall be looking at the design of simple PIC18 microcontroller-based projects using the MPLAB C18 language. Here, the idea is to familiarize ourselves with the basic interfacing techniques and also to learn how to use the various microcontroller peripheral registers. We shall be looking at the design of projects using LEDs, push-button switches, keyboards, LED arrays, sound devices, etc., and we shall be developing programs in C language using the MPLAB C18 language. The hardware will be designed on a low-cost breadboard, but development kits such as the PICDEM PIC18 Explorer Development board, BIGPIC5, or others can be used for the projects. We shall be starting with very simple projects and then moving to more complex ones. It is recommended that the reader follow the projects in the order given in the book. The following will be given for each project:
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Circuit diagram
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Description of the hardware
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Algorithm description
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Program listing
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Description of the program
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Suggestions for further development