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Product
Overview:
The
USB Bit Whacker is a spectacular little development board featuring the
PIC18F2553. Based on the work of Brian Schmalz, the UBW is a small board
with a command interpreter for basic input and output control. When attached
to a Windows/Max OS X/Linux computer, the UBW will show up as an RS232
Com port! You control the individual I/O pins on the PIC through simple
serial commands. Board comes fully tested, preprogrammed, and assembled
as shown.
The
18F2553 also comes pre-programmed with a USB bootloader. This means you
can create HEX files using any compiler or assembler (C18,
CC8e,
SDCC)
and then load that HEX file onto the PIC without an external programmer
- directly over USB! Power is obtained over USB.
Please
download the Microchip USB Bootloader below. Please see the UBW
home page for more information.
You
may start with downloading and installing the latest release of Microchip
USB Framework Installation file. The Release Notes provide details on the
location of the Comunications Device Class (CDC) RS-232 Emulation driver
INF file location. When installed the S1 LED will begin to blink.
Features:
Reset
Button
General
Input Button (also used to enter program mode during a reset)
mini-USB
Connection
16 General
I/O
TX/RX
(can be used as a USB to UART converter board)
24MHz
Resonator
Two Status
LEDs
Preprogrammed
with Bootloader and UBW_D firmware
Dimensions:
1.0x1.6"
Documents
UBW
Schematic
UBW Bootloader
(Hex)
UBW
Project Home Page
Microchip
USB Framework v1.3 (includes bootloader)
Quickstart
guide by Richard Burton
Customer
Feedback
From
Ed Maher:
For
your reference, there are several reasons why I am attracted to the UBW
product....
1.
the module is ready built, and ideal as a shortcut to projects that need
simple USB I/O
2.
The product is probably the cheapest and simplest USB I/O I have seen
3.
The product is cheap enough to permanently incorporate into many projects
4.
The product is 'open source' such that the firmware may be modified based
on existing firmware, and replaced via a bootloader, thus one may customize
or extend on a reliable base platform with minimal effort.
I had
been looking for cheap USB or serial I/O modules for a while, been disappointed
with the range, which was mainly expensive and lab-grade gear. I also wanted
the possibility of extending, on the basis that there is always a conflict
between PC's high-level control and Microcontroller low level control,
such as being able to clock I2C data streams efficiently. This UBW device
seems to be very capable out of the box, and looks to provide a solution
for me.
Support:
If
you need additional support on the above product, and you can't find the
information you need in the documentation, then please contact support
at the address below:
Support
Forum: http://forum.sparkfun.com/
This
product is from: Sparkfun Electronics
Web
Page: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php
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