The Interface

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The Initial Prototype

MELab’s 40 Pin ProtoBoard is used for the initial design. Sockets for the eeprom and Max232 are added as well as a  PCB DB9 female connector, which fits nicely in the area where a DB25 is supposed to be installed. The DB9 connector is used to program the PIC as well as for serial in / serial out communication.

The GLiPIC compact board

Schematic 53K jpg file

PCB layout

Super small size - measures only 1.9 x 2.5”! Double sided board with plated through holes. It houses a 16F877, a Max232, an I2C eeprom and provides headers for unused  pins. A standard DB9 Female connector is implemented for easy communication. The circuit also has an on-board 78L05 voltage regulator including power led. Provisions are made for a contrast pot,  backlight switch and PIC reset switch. A 20 pin header interfaces to a KS0108 (or equiv ) based graphic LCD controller.

The board layout

Assembled GLiPIC Ver 1.0

The doubled sided PCB

Designed for use with KS0108 Graphic LCD controllers, however it can be used as a general purpose controller since all pins are brought to headers.

The assembled board. Very compact in size. Shown with a PIC 16F877, Max232, 24CL256 eeprom, an LM7805 and a 20MHz xtal. All IC’s are socketed. A 20k pot provides LCD  contrast adjustment. A momentary switch is used for resetting the PIC. Power for the backlit LED is available via a 2 pin header. It also has a 2 pin regulated 5v header available for other devices. A 20  pin header accommodates the graphic lcd. It can be powered by any 7-16 volts DC supply.

Headers are provided for the unused pins. Pins used are as follows:

  • PORTD - 8 bit data bus
  • PORTC Pins 3,4 for the I2C eeprom
  • PORTC Pins 6,7 for Serin/Serout
  • PORTC Pins 0,1,2,5 LCD control
  • PORTB 1,2 LCD chip select
  • All remaining pins are brought to headers

 

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Updated on:

February 16, 2018 

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