This board has been developed and tested over several years at the University of Sunderland. It has been built and used by trainee design and technology teachers as part of their studies in electronics and is intended to be used as a general purpose development board, accepting a wide range of PIC devices.
Please note, the PIC Development Board is supplioed in kit form - the PIC chip is not included.
The board allows a 3 stage design development process:
Stage 1 – this sees a control programme inserted into the PIC and this can be tested by connecting / disconnecting jumper links at the inputs whilst observing the LED’s at the outputs. Modifications to the software are made as necessary.
Stage 2 - Once the programme is reacting correctly to the forced logic 0 / 1 levels from the input jumpers and the LED’s are indicating correct outputs, the real sensors are then connected to the corresponding terminal blocks one at a time and on each occasion, the programme is again observed. Any variation from the intended sequence can be immediately attributed to the sensor side of the system and progress is halted until this issue is resolved.
Stage 3 – Having established reliable operation with the real input sensors, the physical output devices are then connected one at a time to the output terminal blocks. Again, any variation from the intended sequence can be immediately attributed to the output devices connected to the system and progress is again halted until this issue is resolved.
This system allows the maximum marks to be realised by any candidate from low to high ability. If the project goes no further than jumper and LED simulation, the software has at least been proved. If the project is partly operational with the development board but due to lack of time it is not completed, credit can be given for the working elements.
If the project is fully operational with the development board, but due to a lack of time a dedicated PCB cannot be made, credit can be given for all operational elements.
If a dedicated PCB is constructed and the system fails to function correctly, systematic fault finding analysis can be undertaken through a comparison of ‘in circuit’ measurements between the development board and the corresponding dedicated PCB. Such comparisons with a known working device usually lead to a significant reduction in the time needed for resolution of the problem. Ideally, this development sequence will lead to a good number of fully working projects with dedicated boards.
