Review of EasyPIC Fusion v7

Table of contents

RoadTest: EasyPIC Fusion v7

Author: xgelectro

Creation date: 12 Sep 2013

Evaluation Type: Evaluation Boards

Did you receive all parts the manufacturer stated would be included in the package?: True

What other parts do you consider comparable to this product?: Development boards : Microchip Explorer 16 PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit Compiler : MPLAB X + XC32 + Microchip Libraries for Applications

What were the biggest problems encountered?: The mikroC libraries which aren't enough complete. (TCP client is missing by default, we can found a working TCP library on LibStock.com, at http://www.libstock.com/projects/view/107/network-ethernet-library, however there is a big lack of examples and documentation for making a TCP client application, an dsome usefull functions such as printf, which is very easy to use in XC32, weren't present, and we had to use the sprintf)

Detailed Review:

A small overview

The EasyPIC Fusion v7 is very well presented both on the mikroE website and on the packaging.

The board is extensible to 3 Microchip PIC's family, which are the dsPIC33, PIC24 and PIC32 for the microcontroller side and for the peripheral side, you have classic headers providing you access to the most on the controller pins and 2 mikroBUS sockets compatible with a great range of "click boards" that you can find here : http://www.mikroe.com/click/.

With the board, you'll receive an EasyTFT module already installed, which can be replaced by a GLCD at the same place.

Unpacking

This is a really nice and protective packaging, the space is well used and nearly everything is included inside.

There is two trays in the main box :

• one containing the board which is protected inside an ESD bag, and the documentation which include schematics and user's guide, a mikroICD guide, a mikroProg guide, a small but very important advice about a TFT display change on their EasyTFT board (and the new one has a different controller), and a product DVD. The product DVD contains documentation, software and examples but I always prefer downloading the on the website as the DVD contents could have been updated. However, I regret not having found the MCU plugin card manual which include some schematics useful for the SMSC Ethernet PHY. You can easily download it here : http://www.mikroe.com/easypic-fusion/mcu-cards/. There is also some mikroE stickers. All the documentation is printed on a high quality material and contains lots of images.

• the second one, which contained only one USB A to B cable, why only one ? Because, you'll use it to connect to the on board mikroProg, and you'll need other if you would like to use the USB UART at the same time. There was also the mikroC compiler DVD box with the license dongle inside and a small guide about the dongle. This tray has two spaces to store a 128x64 GLCD and a 2x16 LCD.

The board itself

The board has nice printings, is thick enough to have a high toughness as the MCU card insertion needs a bit of strenght (you can add a optionnal rubber foot on the drawn circle behind the board), and everything is well organised. You also have all the PORT headers of the bottom of the board which are duplicated at the right side.

There is a great bunch of on board peripherals which can be disconnected with the switches :

• 2 UARTs accessible via USB thanks to an FTDI chip, otherwise, you can access the on the headers
• A powered USB host and an USB device connectors
• An external ICD connection using an RJ12 connector (I'm using a PICkit3 which has only a 6 pins header so I had to make a small cable to use it)
• A terminal block for CAN  communications
• A buzzer
• A joystick
• The EasyTFT board with a resistive touchscreen over the 2,83" 320x240 display (262k colors)
• An analog input, you can select between 5 pins of the MCU. The potentiometer isn't a high qualtity one and not very precise
• An interresting vs1053 audio codec with one output 3.5mm jack and another one for the input
• A 8Mbits SPI Flash
• A 8kbits I²C EEPROM
• An USB connection to the mikroProg programmer/debugger
• Two headers for temp sensor. One for the DS1820 digital one and the other for the LM35 analog one. (the LM34 is the same as the LM35 but is calibrated to Fahrenheit unit)
• The power supply has 2+1 inputs, a 9-15VDC with screw terminal and DC adapter, this one has a 1500mA regulator and an USB via the mikroProg USB connector which is limited to 500mA. You have to select it with a jumper.

All those peripherals can be extended with the two mikroBUS extension connectors.

There is a led and a button for each PORTx pin, you can choose to turn on or off the leds and the button press level (3.3v, none or GND) by PORT, and you can select a pull up/pull down for each pin or simply none of them.

There is also 3 GND test points useful for an oscilloscope for example. One just below the power supply zone, and two on the right side of the board.

Quick start guide and provided examples

1. Just unpack the board, get a quick look at the box contents
2. Install mikroC, which can install mikroProg which will install the needed drivers
3. Retrieve the latest examples for the EasyPIC Fusion v7 here : http://www.mikroe.com/easypic-fusion/
4. Set the power jumper to the USB position
5. Connect an USB cable between your computer and the mikroProg connector
6. Turn the main switch on
7. And the preinstalled demo will start, you can play a bit with it (don't turn on the PORTB/H and PORTB/L leds as the touchscreen may not work correctly, it uses the RB2, RB3, RB14 and RB15 pins)
8. Before programming anything else, if you wants to keep the original preinstalled demo, I would recommend to use the mikroProg software to make a backup of the content of the PIC. I haven't found this complete demo anywhere else.

9. Take a look to the various examples, there will be a "9A display" directory inside the examples folder, you'll have to use those examples if your TFT display has the 9A revision code printed on. In fact, the initialization routine is a different one as the TFT controller has changed ( TFT_Init(320,240); is replaced by TFT_Init_ILI9341_8bit(320,240); ) There is examples for nearly all the onboard peripherals

10. Go take a look at the http://www.libstock.com/ website which contains lots of useful library for various projects. You'll need the Project Manager (http://www.mikroe.com/package-manager/) to install them.

Other example usages of the board

For a project I had to dump an SPI flash, so I used the board as a programmable interface between the USB (as device) and the SPI.

I went to LibStock, downloaded the USB Device library, used the MassStorageDevice provided sample, added and SPI Flash driver and adapted the MSD routines to read and init the flash. Just had to hardcode the chip size to gain some time.

I soldered small wires on the flash chip and connected the to one of the mikroBUS connectors as there is SCK, MISO, MOSI and a pin to use has CS.

I powered the board, connected my computer to the usb device and used linux to easily use the dd command to make an full image of the flash.

I'll join the project files later...

Another simple usage, was to use the board as simple USB to 3.3v UART with the FTDI, I programmed the PIC to ensure it doesn't use the UART, turned on the dipswitch of the UART A or B and used the mikroBUS connector to have the USB to 3.3v UART as I don't yet have one. Here the PIC is useless.

A webradio as prototyping test project

mikroC with mikroProg vs. MPLAB X + XC32 with PICkit3

More to come