The Best Intro to PICs That I Have Found
I teach microcontrollers at a well-known university, using the PIC 16F84. My course is in the sophomore year, so I need a book that assumes very little previous knowledge and experience. This book does a nice job of explaining the basic functioning of the PIC's hardware. The programming language used is a version of BASIC, which my students have already studied. The use of the PICBasic compiler and EPIC programmer are explained extremely well. The book contains 12 projects to build, starting from simple flashing LEDs, and moving on into motor control, LCDs, A/D conversions and serial communications. All projects are explained step-by-step and are illustrated with clear schematics and photos. Material costs are minimal. For all these reasons, John Iovine's book is the ONLY book I recommend for beginners. If you have a beginner's knowledge of electronics and have done some BASIC-language programming, this book will give you a solid foundation in the PIC microcontroller.
Microcontrolers from ground zero.
The PIC microcontroller Project Book is one of those books that stem from the rising populairity of robotics. This book is intended for the true beginner in any field that comes with building a PICcontrolled device. Basic issue's, like how to install software on a PC, how does a breadboard look like, what are electrical symbols and where to obtain the nessesary hardware are explained in great detail. With the subtitle "A true biginners Guide To the Populair Pic microcontroler" in mind the author gives us a electrical schematic, a drawing and a photograph of the breadboard of the first project, winking LED's. After this intro, the author lays out the PIC architecture, like the TRIS and port registers, the binairy calculation, reading i/o lines and the pokes and peeks of Basic - the language used to program the PIC. Once mastered this section, one of the twelve step-by-step-projects can be build. These involve for example the making of a speechsynthesizer, controlling DC stepper and Servomotors, LCD displays, reading sensors and there's even a trackerdevice that applies fuzzy logic to track light.
Overall this book has a clear audience and a clear idea. The information is well structured and well edited. The layout is good, although there isn't much need for this book as a referenceguide. The author succeeded in making a very solid entrylevel book for the absolute beginner. |
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