The QwikFlash devlopment board is used as an example in the book for interfacing the PIC18F452 to various external components. The board contains varous I/O devices such as an RS-232 port (for program code development with QwikBug), RPG, potentiometer,a pushbutton, an LCD, and a few LEDs. A temperature sensor is included on the board to demonstrate the use of the PIC18F452's A/D module. A two-channel D/A converter illustrates the use of the PIC18F452's SPI three-wire interface. A prototyping section is included to add functionality to the board. Additional components can also be added by chaining a QwikProto board to the QwikFlash board via the SPI / I2C bus (and a few unused I/O pins) as depicted below.

     The figure above depicts the target system used in our Embedded Microcontroller Design course at Georgia Tech. Here the QwikFlash board has been chained to a QwikProto board which has been equipped with a magnetic card reader, a stepper motor, and a temperature sensor having a PWM output.

Does your computer lack RS232 serial ports?

Josh McKenna, a student at Georgia Tech, has found a solution to this problem using a USB to RS232 adapter cable. One can be purchased at Cables to Go. Within TeraTerm Pro, two changes must be made to its default serial port settings. The COM port must be made to match that of the adapter (usually COM4). The transmit delay must be changed to 40 msec/line.

Assembled and tested QwikFlash boards, QwikProto boards, QwikBreadboards, stands, and PIC18F452 parts pre-programmed with QwikBug, everything needed to set up a microcontroller laboratory, can be purchased at MICRODESIGNS, INC.!

	QwikFlash Board Schematic
	Assembly of the QwikFlash Board
	Laboratory Development with the QwikProto Add-On Board

02/08/2003