PIC Microcontroller Workshop at CIAST, Shah Alam

PIC Microcontroller Workshop at CIAST, Shah Alam

We just did another PIC Microcontroller Hands-on Workshop at CIAST, Shah Alam from 1st to 3rd July 2009. CIAST (Center For Instructor & Advanced Skill Training) or in Bahasa Malaysia is "Pusat Latihan Pengajar & Kemahiran Lanjutan" located in Shah Alam.  Showing is the Cytron pen drive on one of the participant laptops:

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Tiny little thing, but it is hard for us to imagine what is the capacity of Pendrive, also the importance of it. We provide all the information needed in this tiny little pen drive. Catalog, source codes, MPLAB IDE installer, HI-TECH C PRO installer, handout, datasheet, videos, and more are packed in it.

Workshop Details

Title: PIC Microcontroller Hands-on Workshop (Module 1)

Date: 1st - 3rd July 09

Venue: CIAST, Shah Alam

Participants: 10 persons.

Let's take a look at the training material provided before we discuss the syllabus.

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The picture shows the material we included for participants. A TB40A board, a ring file with the handout, Cytron catalog, Robot Head to Toe Magazine, Pen drive with labs source code, presentation slide, etc, do not forget the UIC00A too. The UIC00A act as a USB programmer to download the program into TB40A. Developing and test run the code is very simple.

Besides talking about PIC theoretical concepts, architecture, and programming language, we also have practical exercises during the hands-on section. Of course, we also provide some fun sections with the SONY PS2-controlled mobile robot. Not to forget the sweet to keep you awake!

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When we started the hands-on exercise, everyone is paying attention to the task that needed to complete. Well, I must say, C programming is not easy, but yet there is no problem to catch up. In the beginning, most of the participants have compilation errors; however, after some debugging, all seem to be getting smooth. Most of the error is ";" (semi-colon) and "}" curly brace.

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Talking about PWM theoretically and how can it control a motor's speed required a bit of imagination. I always like to show it using an oscilloscope. Here you go, some trainers are checking their program of generating PWM from PIC to control motor speed. Do you see the pulse on the screen of the oscilloscope?

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Participants are having discussions among themselves to solve the stepper motor assignments, a very motivated team.

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Finally, I forgot about the group photo as the time is limited. Anyway, we did finish all the necessary lab exercises. Since all the training material is included, I hope they will continue the motivation to explore the training board and PIC. See you next time.