PICAXE Manual www.picaxe.com IMPORTANT! This PDF is designed to be used with the shortcut links (document outline) visible on the left hand side. Displaying these links makes it much easier to navigate through this manual! revolution www.picaxe.com GETTING STARTED Section 1 2 Contents About this manual ............................................................................................ 4 Software Overview ............................................................................................ 4 Software Comparison ........................................................................................ 5 Software Quick Choice Guide .............................................................................. 5 Third Party Software ......................................................................................... 5 Technical Support Forum ................................................................................... 5 Quick Start - Project Board PCB Preparation ......................................................... 6 Quick Start - Flashing an LED ............................................................................. 7 At a glance - specifications: .............................................................................. 8 At a glance - download circuit: .......................................................................... 8 At a glance - pinout diagrams (older parts): ........................................................ 9 At a glance - pinout diagrams (M2 parts): ......................................................... 10 At a glance - pinout diagrams (X2 parts): .......................................................... 11 What is a microcontroller? ............................................................................... 12 Microcontrollers, input and outputs .................................................................. 13 What is the PICAXE system? ............................................................................. 14 Building your own circuit / PCB ....................................................................... 14 What is a PICAXE microcontroller? .................................................................... 15 PICAXE chip labels ......................................................................................... 16 Superseded older PICAXE chips ......................................................................... 16 Which PICAXE chip? ........................................................................................ 17 Using the PICAXE system. ................................................................................ 19 PICAXE Starter Packs....................................................................................... 20 PICAXE Project Boards .................................................................................... 21 Software Installation ...................................................................................... 22 Installation on RM CC3 networks ...................................................................... 22 Installing the AXE027 USB cable drivers ............................................................ 23 Downloading over a network using TCP/IP ......................................................... 24 PICAXE Power Supply ...................................................................................... 25 PICAXE-08M2/08M/08 Pinout and Circuit .......................................................... 27 PICAXE-14M2/14M Pinout and Circuit ............................................................... 28 PICAXE-20X2/20M2/20M Pinout and Circuit ....................................................... 30 PICAXE-18M2/18X/18M/18A/18 Pinout and Circuit ............................................ 32 PICAXE-28X2/28X1/28X/28A Pinout and Circuit ................................................. 34 PICAXE-28X2 Module (AXE200/AXE201) ............................................................. 36 PICAXE-28X2 Shield Base (AXE401) ................................................................... 38 PICAXE-40X2/40X1/40X Pinout and Circuit ........................................................ 40 USB Download Circuit ..................................................................................... 43 Serial Download Circuit (NB: Obsolete, for info only) .......................................... 44 Enhanced Serial Download Circuit (NB: Obsolete, for info only) ............................ 45 Download Cables ............................................................................................ 45 Using the Serial In pin as a general input pin .................................................... 46 Reset Circuit .................................................................................................. 47 Resonator ..................................................................................................... 47 Testing the System ......................................................................................... 49 Hard-reset procedure ...................................................................................... 50 Download Checklist ........................................................................................ 51 Understanding the PICAXE memory. .................................................................. 52 Parallel Task Processing ................................................................................... 62 Flowchart or BASIC? ....................................................................................... 66 BASIC Simulation ........................................................................................... 67 Interfacing Circuit Summary ............................................................................ 70 Tutorial 1 – Understanding and using the PICAXE System .................................... 71 Input / Output Pin Naming Conventions ........................................................... 72 Tutorial 2 - Using Symbols, Comments & White-space ......................................... 75 Tutorial 3 - For…Next Loops ........................................................................... 76 Tutorial 4 - Making Sounds .............................................................................. 77 Tutorial 5 – Using Digital Inputs ...................................................................... 78 Tutorial 6 – Using Analogue Sensors ................................................................. 79 Tutorial 7 - Using Debug ................................................................................. 80 Tutorial 8 - Using Serial Terminal with Sertxd ..................................................... 81 Tutorial 9 - Number Systems ............................................................................ 82 Tutorial 10 - Sub-procedures ............................................................................ 84 Tutorial 11 - Using Interrupts .......................................................................... 86 (c) Revolution Education Ltd. Web: www.picaxe.com 2 revolution All rights reserved. Version 8.0 10/2013 www.picaxe.com GETTING STARTED Section 1 3 The next step - your own PICAXE project! .......................................................... 89 Appendix A – BASIC Commands Summary .......................................................... 90 Appendix B – Over-clocking at higher frequencies .............................................. 91 Appendix C – Configuring the obsolete PICAXE-14M I/O Pins ............................... 93 Appendix D – Configuring the obsolete 08/08M I/O Pins ..................................... 95 Appendix E – Configuring the obsolete 28X/28X1 I/O Pins .................................. 97 Appendix F – Configuring the obsolete 40X/40X1 I/O Pins .................................. 99 Appendix G - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). .............................................. 101 Appendix I - Advanced Technical Information and FAQ ...................................... 105 Software Version .......................................................................................... 110 Contact Address ........................................................................................... 110 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... 110 (c) Revolution Education Ltd. Web: www.picaxe.com 3 revolution All rights reserved. Version 8.0 10/2013 www.picaxe.com GETTING STARTED Section 1 4 About this manual The PICAXE manual is divided into four separate sections: Section 1 - Getting Started (picaxe_manual1.pdf) Section 2 - BASIC Commands (picaxe_manual2.pdf) Section 3 - Microcontroller interfacing circuits (picaxe_manual3.pdf) Section 4 - Using Flowcharts (picaxe_manual4.pdf) This first section provides general information for getting started with the PICAXE system. No prior understanding of microcontrollers is required. A series of tutorials introduce the main features of the system. For more specific information, syntax and examples of each BASIC Command please see section 2 ‘BASIC Commands’. For microcontroller interfacing circuits, and example programs, for most common input/output transducers, please see section 3 Software Overview Revolution Education Ltd publish 3 software titles for use with the PICAXE microcontroller chips. Two are free, the other two are low cost options. PICAXE Editor 6 The PICAXE Editor is the main Windows application used for