PIC16F887 Microcontroller

The PIC16F887 is an 8-bit microcontroller from Microchip. The 40-pin IC has 14 Channel 10-bit ADC making it suitable for applications which require more ADC inputs. The IC also has 2 Comparators, 2 Timers (8-bit and 16-bit) and supports SPI, I2C and UART communication protocols.

 

Features

PIC16F887 –Simplified Features
CPU	8-bit PIC
Number of  Pins	40
Operating Voltage (V)	2 to 5.5 V
Number of I/O pins	35
ADC Module	14ch, 10-bit
Timer Module	8-bit(2), 16-bit(1)
Comparators	2
DAC Module	Nil
Communication Peripherals	UART(1), SPI(1), I2C(1), MSSP(SPI/I2C)
External Oscillator	Up to 20Mhz
Internal Oscillator	8Mhz to 32KHz
Program Memory Type	Flash
Program Memory (KB)	14KB
CPU Speed (MIPS)	5 MIPS
RAM Bytes	368
Data EEPROM	256 bytes

 

Note: The PIC16F887 datasheet of the Microcontroller and more detailed Features can be found at the bottom of this page.

 

Pin Description

 

Alternative for PIC16F887 

PIC16F18877

 

Other PIC MCUs

PIC16F877A, PIC12F508, PIC12F629, PIC12F683, PIC16F505, PIC16F628A, PIC16F676, PIC16F72, PIC16F873A, PIC16F876A, PIC16F886, PIC18F252, PIC18F2520, PIC18F452, PIC18F4520

 

PIC16F887 Microcontroller Overview

The PIC16F887 is an 8-bit microcontroller from Microchip. The 40-pin IC has 14 Channel 10-bit ADC making it suitable for applications which require more ADC inputs. The IC also has 2 Comparators, 2 Timers (8-bit and 16-bit) and supports SPI, I2C and UART communication protocols.

It can operate at a speed of upto 20MHz with external oscillator and also has precision internal oscillator tunable between 8MHz to 32kHz. The IC supports nanoWatt technology allowing it to consume very low power and operate in Power-Saving sleep mode. It also have a wide operating voltage from 2V to 5.5V making it suitable for battery powered applications.  

The IC also supports safety features like Power-on Reset (POR), Brown-out Reset (BOR), Low Current Watchdog Timer (WDT) etc making it suitable for task critical and industrial applications. The controller supports In Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) allowing the designer to program the controller easily even without removing it from the actual circuit.

 

How to select your PIC Microcontroller

Microchip provides a wide verity of Microcontrollers from PIC family. Each MCU has its own advantage and disadvantage. There are many parameters that one has to consider before selecting a MCU for his project. The below points are just suggestions which might help one to select a MCU.

• If you are a beginner who is learning PIC then, selecting a MCU that has good online community support and wide applications will be a good choice. PIC16F877A and PIC18F4520 are two such MCUs
• Consider the operating voltage of your system. If they are 5V then select a 5V MCU some sensors or devices work and communicate on 3.3V in such case a 3.3V MCU can be selected
• If size and price is a limitation then you can choose small 8-pin MCUs like PIC12F508. These are also comparatively cheaper.
• Based on the sensors and actuators used in your project, verify which modules you might need in for MCU. For example is you are reading many Analog voltages then make sure PIC has enough ADC channels and supportive resolution. The details of all modules are given in the table above.
• If you project involves communication protocols like UART, SPI ,I2C, CAN etc make sure you PIC can support them. Some MCU can support more than one module of the same protocol

 

Programming PIC Microcontroller

PIC microcontroller can be programmed with different software's that is available in the market. There are people who still use Assembly language to program PIC MCUs. The below details is for most advanced and common software and compiler that has been developed by Microchip itself.

In order to program the PIC microcontroller we will need an IDE (Integrated Development Environment), where the programming takes place. A compiler, where our program gets converted into MCU readable form called HEX files. An IPE (Integrated Programming Environment), which is used to dump our hex file into our PIC MCUs.

IDE: MPLABX v3.35

IPE: MPLAB IPE v3.35

Compiler: XC8

Microchip has given all these three software for free. They can be downloaded directly from their official page. I have also provided the link for your convenience. Once downloaded install them on your computer. If you have any problem doing so you can post them on the comment below.

To dump or upload our code into PIC, we will need a device called PICkit 3. The PICkit 3 programmer/debugger is a simple, low-cost in-circuit debugger that is controlled by a PC running MPLAB IDE (v8.20 or greater) software on a Windows platform. The PICkit 3 programmer/debugger is an integral part of the development engineer's tool suite. In addition to this we will also need other hardware like Perf board or breadboard, Soldering station, PIC ICs, Crystal oscillators, capacitors etc.

 

Applications

• Design requiring many ADC channels
• Battery Operated Low Power applications
• Design requiring Multiple I/O interfaces and communications
• Ideal for more advanced level A/D applications in automotive, industrial, appliances and consumer applications.