Pinguino PIC18F4550

waihung.net/pinguino-pic18f4550/

I’m trying out the Pinguino platform, which is made for Microchip PIC MCUs and it
mimics the Arduino environment.
It uses programming syntaxes that are very similar to the Arduino environment. It is
to make the programming of PICs easier.

Since it’s an open source platform, the firmware (bootloader) and schematics are
openly available at their website.

I’m using a PIC18F4550 which is one of the four supported 8 bit MCUs.

The
benefit
of the

PIC18F4550 is it has USB capabilities. With the Pinguino firmware, it can be

programmed without the Pickit programmer.

Following the official schematic, I’ve designed the PCB myself using eagle.

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Another one of my usual routines, making a PCB at home.

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Fully assembled board.

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I’ll go through the installation but first you’ve to download the required files which is
provided in the link below.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rlmc5rmot0anbx0/pinguino_installer.rar
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There are 5 files required in the installation.

Bootloader v4.14
libusb 1.2.5.0
Python 2.6.6 32-bit (use 32-bit even if you’re on a 64-bit system)
wxPython 2.8
PyUSB 0.4.3

First, we have to upload the bootloader to the PIC using a Pickit programmer.

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After programming the bootloader, disconnect Pickit 2 and connect the board
through USB to your computer.

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A notification will pop-up saying that Windows is unable to find the driver. If not, go to
the Device Manager and you’ll see a hardware named ‘P8’ that has error.

Open up libusb and run bin/inf-wizard.exe. If the P8 device doesn’t show up, reset the
MCU.

It will then generate the required drivers.

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Go back to Device Manager and update the driver of P8

Select Browse my computer for

driver software.

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Browse to the folder where the driver was generated by libusb.

Install this driver software anyway.

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Driver is successfully installed.

The device can now be found in Device Manager with no errors.

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Install Python 2.6.6

Install wxPython.

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After installing, let the batch command run. Do not close the window.

Install PyUSB.

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Extract the Pinguino IDE zip file using winrar to C:\ (Must be C:\)

Launch

Pinguino.exe.

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Select the correct board. Pinguino 4550 and USB bootloader.

Open up the Blink example and try to upload to the board.

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Make sure the code is compiled successfully before uploading it.

Download Installer Files

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