The OOPic-R board is a new 2-1/2 x 3 inch board layout with a plug and play, "no soldering iron needed" style. This "no soldering iron needed" approach is aimed at convenience as well as expanding the OOPic audience to a younger, school based group.
The OOPic-R board includes an RS232 serial port for the new serial control protocol (explained below), 16 I/O lines configured for RC Servos (while other I/O lines are configured for DC Motors), serial LCDs, I2C network, etc. Each I/O line has a solderable test point labeled with the I/O number. The OOPic-R board comes equipped with two (expandable to three) voltage regulators, three programmable push buttons, three indicator LED's, a speaker, and the OOPic2+ firmware.
The OOPic2+ firmware is the next in line firmware release for the OOPic line of microcontrollers. Built on the capabilities of the PIC16F877, this firmware release's main feature is a serial control protocol that allows a remote PC, Pocket PC, Palm Pilot, or any other device with a serial port to interact with, control and debug an OOPic application while it is running. Other features of this release include several new hardware objects that are focused on motor control and a few objects that use the additional features of the PIC16F877 such as the 10-Bit A2D.
Serial Control Protocol
This exciting new feature introduced in OOPic firmware version OOPic2+ is a system by which the OOPic can be controlled via the serial port. SCP allows any serially connected device to interact with an OOPic with simple serial commands.
SCP also provides debugging features that allow the OOPic's application program to be stopped, single stepped, resumed, or branched to, and even allows program modifications as well as entirely new programs to be downloaded to the OOPic. SCP accomplishes these features by allowing access to the OOPic's RAM, EEPROM and I2C port through the serial port with a simple serial protocol. The structure of the protocol is configured in such a way that the data loss that may be experienced during use of a radio linked serial port can be detected and corrected using only the Transmit and Receive lines of the serial port without the need for additional flow control I/O lines. The entire character set used by SCP is composed of human readable characters so that a serial terminal program can be used to manually control, program and debug the OOPic. The default baud rate of 9600 BPS may be changed to a baud rate as high as 38400 BPS and as low as 1200 BPS.
More information can be found in the document www.oopic.com/pgchap16.htm
Property Dialog Boxes
The new OOPic compiler version 5 contains Property Dialog Boxes for each Object. These property dialog boxes are used for interactively working with the properties of any Object while the application is running. By hitting the dialog boxes refresh button, all the properties of the Object are loaded in via SCP and updated in the dialog box. If a value is changed in the dialog box, the value is sent via SCP to the Object in the OOPic and the change occurs in real time. Several property dialog boxes can be open at the same time, and if more than one property dialog box is open when values are written, then all of the property dialog boxes are updated with new values.
OOPic2+ Memory Map.
The memory of the OOPic2+ is arranged so that the application program has 96 bytes of Object space (Note that the OOPic Object used 10 bytes of this), 72 bytes of variable space and 256 bytes of Fast-Access EEPROM. The EEPROM space is accessible by a new variable type, sByte. This new variable type will retain its value when the power is shut off.
Power and the Voltage Regulators
The OOPic-R's 3 voltage regulators are configured so that the logic side of the board has a private one-Amp power supply, while the I/O has a full five Amps of regulated power, plus an optional voltage regulator that can be specified and installed as the end user needs. A set of power selection jumpers allows different sections of the main I/O lines to be connected to the various power supplies. In addition to regulated power, a Servo Power input is provided so that a device connected to the main I/O lines can be connected to unregulated power when needed.
Main I/O
The Main I/O of the OOPic-R board is split up into four groups of four I/O connections. Each I/O connection has three pins: Signal, Power, and Ground. Each group of four I/O lines has a power selection jumper by the voltage regulator that allows the individual groups to be connected to power as needed. The order of the three pins are configured so that a standard RC Servo can be plugged directly onto the three pins. Power and ground pins are also found in four more places along the Main I/O which allow various connections to be made for a wide variety of devices.
Dual DC Motor I/O
The Dual DC Motor I/O contains the OOPic's two PWM lines and four digital control lines. The OOPic2+ firmware contains four DC Motor Objects that can utilize this I/O group. Which DC Motor Object to use depends on the H-Bridge. These I/O lines can be used for other functions if DC Motors are not being used.
LCD I/O
The LCD I/O consists of power, ground and a single I/O line. The OOPic2+ firmware contains several display Objects that can utilize this port. This I/O line can be used for other functions if no displays are being used.
Push Buttons and status LED's
The three push button and status LED's are designed to work with the new oButton Object in OOPic2+. This new Object reads the status of a push button and controls the state of an LED with only one I/O line. The button can be set to one of two modes (push button or toggle button), and the LED can be set to Off, Solid On, blink twice a second, blink four times a second or alternating Blink. A property of the oButton Object controls whether the LED follows the state of the Button or if the state of the LED is controlled by another source.
Network
The Network I/O of the OOPic-R board is the same as the I2C connector on the OOPic II.
Speaker
The Speaker on the OOPic-R board is connected to I/O line 21. This I/O line is used with the new oFreq Object to provide high frequency outputs.
Power-Good indicator
The Power Good LED shows the status of the EEPROM clock. If this LED is lit, then the OOPic is getting enough power to run the PIC chip and the PIC chip is driving the EEPROM's Clock input. This LED is labeled EAC for EEPROM Activity.
Pgm Port
In addition to being able to program the OOPic via the serial port, the Local I2C port has a Programming connector on it that uses the original parallel OOPic programming cable. This port is also used for the coprocessors that use the Local I2C Port.