User manual

PICDEM

Mechatronics Demo Board User’s Guide

1.8 GENERAL PICDEM™ MECHATRONICS DEMONSTRATION BOARD

INFORMATION

Power Supply Maximum Ratings

Supply voltage: 12 VDC

Output current (drive stage): 1.2A (total)

1.8.1 Experimentation

The PICDEM Mechatronics Demo Board was designed for your experimentation. After

completing the projects in Chapter 2. “Example Projects”, please experiment freely

on your own. Voltage power supplies and motors, other than those provided in the kit,

may be used.

The driver portion of the board (the part that supplies power to the motors) has an

over-current sense circuit and will trip should the motor draw more than 1.2 amps. The

LM7805 regulator also protects the circuit by limiting the current consumed by the

board. Logic has also been put in place to ensure that the P and N-Channel MOSFETs

connected to each of the output drives can not be turned on simultaneously.

1.8.2 On-Board Status LEDs

There are eight status LEDs on the board specifically provided to assist the user in the

developing and debugging of your code. The user can output register values on one of

the Ports of the microcontroller and have a binary reading of the value of that register.

Connect the LEDs as shown in Figure 1-5. For instance, if it is suspected that the

STATUS register is not being set appropriately, move the STATUS value into PORTC.

If PORTC is attached as shown in Figure 1-5, the LEDs will show the value of STATUS.

Note: Although reasonable measures have been taken to protect the board from

the occasional mistake, THE BOARD MAY BE DAMAGED if proper design

techniques are not used and special attention to the schematic is not made.