inchworm question from a newbie

[dumfart]

sorry if this sounds pretty dumb but...the assembly manual says that...

----The 16F877A “ICD2_BOOTLOADER_A.HEX” can be
downloaded from https://www.blueroomelectronics.com. If you bought just the PCB or damage the
16F877A you can order another preprogrammed one from one of the sources on the back cover of this
document or you could assemble a 16F877A programmer from one of the many designs you can find
searching the web. Searching the internet for “JDM PIC Programmer” should provide many results.
Note: If your Inchworm has a 16F877-20 the bootloader required is called “BL010101.HEX” and can
be found in your Microchip/MPLAB IDE/ICD2 directory when you install MPLAB.---

....does this mean that the inchworm can program ITSELF right from the start? from MPLAB? (i'm going to do my own pcb and buy the parts and build it myself so the 877 will be empty). Or do I still need another pic programmer irregardless of whether i use the 877 or 877A?

 

[mramos1]

You will need to make a programmer to program the 877A or order it pre-programmed.

Simple programmers can be found all over the web.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

It's a chicken and egg problem. On the other hand Inchworms can replicate themselves.

 

[Pommie]

You might want to have a look at this thread. In it I posted a diagram of how to program the 877 using LVP.

Mike.

 

[Mike - K8LH]

Are you located here in the states, by chance? If so, perhaps I could post you a programmed chip. Let me know?

Mike

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Holy smokes all the Mikes are here. Did you fellows get a chance to see the Unicorn stuff?

 

[Pommie]

Bill,
I had a look at the Unicorn but I'm a little confused as to what it is exactly. I can't see how it can be 15 times faster if it still uses RS232 to the original Inchworm. I was waiting to do some RTFM before asking.

Mike.

 

[mramos1]

Bill,

I looked at it as well. Could make a USB to RS232 for laptops, serial datalogger, push button electronic lock for my office door, and a lot more. hehe.

Does it work with the original inchworm? My grandfather is using mine. Maybe a Christmas upgrade for him


Mike

 

[Mike - K8LH]

Holy smokes all the Mikes are here. Did you fellows get a chance to see the Unicorn stuff?

It looks pretty nice Bill...

 

[blueroomelectronics]

I've posted the "final" Unicorn schematic on my site. Comments before it's made into a PCB would be very welcome.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Bill,
I had a look at the Unicorn but I'm a little confused as to what it is exactly. I can't see how it can be 15 times faster if it still uses RS232 to the original Inchworm. I was waiting to do some RTFM before asking.

Mike.

The original Inchworm uses Serial @ 19,200 or 57K.
The Unicorn can be mated to the Inchworm+ (connector under the 16F877) in Parallel Slave Mode (the RD & RE PSP port). The Inchworm+ can be run in serial mode simply by disconnecting the Unicorn from the bottom, the Unicorn can be swapped in to experimenter mode anytime. Just hook it to the ICD2 port and add an LCD.

This makes it exactly the same speed as a current ICD2, same firmware etc and it even works with the 16F877A modifed bootloader.

It is really really fast, I had no idea till I built the thing. And not satisfied with just an Inchworm add on, I thought I'd use the extra I/O as an experimenter for the 18F4550 chip. Of course one can buy two Unicorns .