ReadyBoard-02 PIC Project Board

The ReadyBoard series is designed to make prototyping or building one-off projects with Microchip PIC microcontrollers quick, easy, and cost effective.  The basic infrastructure around the PIC and interface to some specialized peripherals is provided.  You can concentrate on the unique part of your application circuit, which is made easy by the large prototype area.  The resulting unit will be solid and rugged despite being a one-off. 

The ReadyBoard-02 is targeted towards implementing USB devices.  It can be fully powered from the USB, or powered separately to make "self powered" USB devices.  This board may also be useful for non-USB applications due to its very flexible input power and circuit power options.  It supports the common 28 pin PDIP package of the 16F and 18F PICs. 

Purchase

Individual units, $75.00 each

For shipping to the United States.  A flat fee of $8.00 will be charged for shipping and handling the first unit and $2.00 for each additional unit in the same order. 

For shipping to all other destinations.  A flat fee of $25.00 will be charged for shipping and handling the first unit and $3.00 for each additional unit in the same order. 

Pack of 3 units, $190.00/pack

For shipping to the United States.  A flat fee of $8.00 will be charged for shipping and handling the first 3-pack, and $3.00 for each additional 3-pack in the same order. 

For shipping to all other destinations.  A flat fee of $25.00 will be charged for shipping and handling the first 3-pack, and $5.00 for each additional 3-pack in the same order. 

Product package

The product includes the circuit board with a PIC 18F2550 installed in the target PIC socket and the U1EX USB example firmware pre-loaded on it.  No external power supply is included, such as the wall wart shown powering the unit in the picture above. 

Features

• Very flexible input power: USB, "5V" or "6V" power supply, 12-31V DC, or 9-22V AC.

• Very flexible target circuit power: -2.4V, 3.3V, 3.9V, 5.0V, 5.6V, and 6.3V.

• USB interface.

• Intended for 28 pin 18F USB PICs but supports most PICs with the 28 pin PDIP footprint, such as 16F886, 18F2620, etc.  PIC 18F2550 included.  Does not support 28 pin dsPICs because these have a different pinout. 

• Built-in RS-232 interface to PIC UART. 

• 8MHz main oscillator crystal included.

• Pads and load caps for timer 1 32768Hz crystal included.  Pads are for 8.0mm x 3.8mm SMD crystal like the Abracon ABS25 series.  A suitable crystal can be obtained from DigiKey as part number 535-9166-1-ND. 

• Debug display for 8 digital signals.  Separate LED for high and low for each signal. 

• MCLR driven high via 20Kohms by power supply circuit after power up complete. 

• RUN3V signal available for enabling 3.3V logic.  This signal is pulled up to 3.3V with 20Kohms and held low whenever MCLR is held low.

• ICD2-compatible connector for programming and debugging of target PIC. 

• All PIC I/O lines available on labeled double pads. 

• Large breadboard area that includes two 14 pin SOIC and three SOT23 footprints. 

• Pushbuttons to ground on RB4, RB5, RB6, and RB7. 

• 2x15 pin connector area, .1 inch pin pitch. 

• RS-232 interface can be powered down and disconncted from the PIC I/O lines by removing solder blob jumpers. 

• Debug LED circuit can be powered down by removing a solder blob jumper. 

• Quality four layer board with complete ground plane.  The breadboard area is suitable for high frequency signals. 

• The Embed Inc USB firmware is licensed for free use on this product.  The U1EX USB example firmware is preloaded onto the 18F2550 PIC supplied with the board. 

• After installing the PIC 18F USB Framework release from the software downloads page, parts of the board can be controlled from a host out of the box.  For example, a arbitrary value can be driven on port B by using the SETB command of the TEST_U1EX USB example host program. 

Documentation

• Schematic. 
• Drawing. 
• Parts locator index. 

• To products main page