Overview

MikroElektronika's BIGdsPIC6 is a new development board for Microchip's dsPIC digital signal controllers. The three-in-one development board incorporates a high-speed programmer and mikroICD in-circuit debugger and provides a selection of useful I/O devices from pushbutton switches and LEDs through to RS-232, CAN and USB communications and provision for LCDs and touchscreen. The BIGdsPIC6 supports 64 and 80-pin dsPICs in the dsPIC30F family devices via plug-on MCU cards and is supplied with an 80-pin dsPIC30F6014 card.

High-Speed USB-2.0 Programmer

The BIGdsPIC6 features an on-board state-of-the-art very fast USB 2.0 dsPICprog programmer (also compatible with USB1.1) and is supplied with easy to install drivers and Windows-based programmer software. Programming support is provided for virtually all dsPICs in the dsPIC30F families with software updates freely available for continued support of future dsPICs. If you're using one of MikroElektronika's mikroBASIC, mikroC or mikroBASIC PRO for dsPIC/PIC24 compilers then you can compile your project and program a dsPIC with a single click.

mikroICD In-Circuit Debugger

The smart choice for dsPIC digital signal controller debugging, mikroICD is MikroElektronika's highly effective tool for real-time debugging on a hardware level and comes integrated on the BIGdsPIC6. mikroICD enables you to execute a mikroBASIC, mikroC or mikroPascal PRO for dsPIC/PIC24 program on a target dsPIC with a visual feed-back of the values of your program's variables and the contents of the dsPIC's Special Function Registers (SFRs), program, data and EEPROM memory on your PC screen. Functions include stepping into and over code, running code to cursor and the setting of breakpoints.

Useful I/O Devices

To make testing programs easy and allow you to quickly configure hardware without the need to manually wire up time-consuming and possibly tempermental prototypes the BIGdsPIC6 incorporates a large number of useful I/O devices including:

• 77 LEDs to show the status of the dsPIC's I/O lines.
• 77 push-button switches to simulate digital inputs on the dsPIC's I/O lines (configurable as active-high or active-low).
• Piezo speaker capable of emitting sounds at frequencies from 20Hz to 20KHz.
• Two potentiometers to simulate analog input on dsPIC's A/D inputs.
• Two RS-232 interfaces with female DB9 connector.
• CAN interface based on MCP2551 CAN controller.
• On-board USB UART module based on FT232RL making it easy to connect any dsPIC to USB.
• 24AA01 1Kbit serial EEPROM with I2C interface.
• MMC/SD card slot.
• DS1307 real-time clock with battery backup.
• On-board analogue voltage reference selectable between Vcc (5V) and 4.096V.
• Connector for optional 16x2 character LCD.
• Connector for optional 128x64 graphic LCD.
• Controller and connector for optional touchscreen overlay.

Other Features

Other useful features of the BIGdsPIC6 include:

• Accepts plug-on MCU cards to support various 64 and 80-pin dsPIC30F devices (80-pin dsPIC30F6014 MCU card supplied).
• Reset circuit with reset pushbutton.
• On-board rectifier and voltage regulator and power supply from PC's USB port or optional mains adapter.
• ICD connector providing compatibility with Microchip programmers/debuggers.
• dsPIC's I/O pins brought out onto IDC headers for further expansion and connection of add-on I/O boards.
• Configurable pull-up and pull-down resistors provided on all I/O lines.
• Contrast adjustment for optional character and graphic LCDs.
• Clearly labelled DIP switches and jumpers for easy configuration.
• All pins clearly labelled on underside of board.

It Doesn't End There

The BIGdsPIC6 is supported by an extensive and ever-increasing range of optional I/O add-on boards that connect easily to it's expansion connectors to further extend its functionality and offer support to whatever project you may be working on. The range of boards currently include:

• Ethernet (Ethernet controller with SPI interface).
• RS-485 (RS-485 transceiver for connection to dsPIC's USART).
• LIN (LIN transceiver for connection to dsPIC's USART).
• EasyBee (ZigBee module for connection to dsPIC's USART).
• EasyBee3 (ZigBee/MiWi/MiWi P2P module with SPI interface).
• EasyBT (Bluetooth module for connection to dsPIC's USART).
• IrDA (IrDA compliant module for connection to dsPIC's USART).
• IrDA2 (wireless RS-232 over infrared board for connection to dsPIC's USART).
• RFid reader.
• Bipolar stepper motor driver.
• Digital potentiometer.
• mikroDrive (Darlington array for high-power control).
• ADC (12-bit A/D converter with SPI interface).
• DAC (12-bit D/A converter with SPI interface).
• R2R DAC (low-cost D/A add-on board based on an R/2R network).
• Compact Flash card reader.
• mikroSD card reader.
• Serial RAM.
• SmartGPS.
• SmartGSM/GPRS.
• SmartMP3.

Plus:

• Adapters for various character and graphic LCDs.
• Interfacing adapters.
• Prototyping boards and adapters.

Please note that character and graphic LCDs, touchscreen overlay and RS-232 serial cable are not included with the BIGdsPIC6 and should be ordered separately if required - see accessories for details and to order.