Programming the Finite State Machine

Andrew Pratt provides a detailed introduction to programming PIC microcontrollers, as well as a thorough overview of the Finite State Machine (FSM) approach to programming. Most of the book uses assembly programming, but do not be deterred. The FSM gives a structure to a program, making it easy to plan, write, and modify. The last two chapters introduce programming in C, so you can make a direct comparison between the two techniques. The book references the relevant parts of the Microchip datasheet as familiarity with it is the best way to discover detailed information.

This book is aimed at Microsoft Windows and Linux users. To keep your costs to a minimum and to simplify the toolchain, specific applications are provided as a free download to enable you to use an FTDI serial lead as the programmer. The assembler used is the open-source "gpasm". All programming can be done in a text editor. There are detailed instructions on how to perform the necessary installations on Windows, Linux Debian, and derivatives such as Ubuntu and Fedora. For programming in C, Microchip's XC8 compiler is used from the command line. In addition to the programming applications, two serial read and serial write applications can be used for communicating with the PICs from a computer.

A voltmeter project including practical instructions on building a circuit board from scratch is included. All theory is covered beforehand, including how to do integer arithmetic in assembly.

Two PICs are covered: the PIC12F1822 and the PIC16F1823. Both can run at 32 MHz with an internal oscillator. You do not need to buy a factory-made development board and programmer. With relatively inexpensive parts including a serial lead, microcontroller, a few resistors, and LEDs, you can get started exploring embedded programming.