MICRO - DICE

INSTRUCTION SHEET

Price - Stock No 255

Note, this kit is supplied complete including batteries.

The Micro_Dice is a simple introduction to the PIC microcontroller.  This kit will produce a random number on the led display in a dice pattern.  It is simple to construct and the PIC microcontrollers are supplied pre-programmed.  When constructing you can select either fast roll or slow roll option.

Check Your Kit

Component Layout

Construction

1. To  make up the Kit, firstly check the PC Board for any damage. Check continuity of all tracks  with  a  multimeter  or  an  electronic circuit tester.
2. Elect the fast roll option or slow roll option.  Place the 10K resistor in the appropriate position and solder. See  Soldering Technique
3. The resistors can be bent to shape, fitted and soldered.
4. The  IC socket has a notch to indicate the orientation, insert and solder.
5. The LED's can now be inserted observing polarity.  With all LED's in place solder one leg of each LED.  Turn the PCB over to view the LED's, adjust the position of each LED to give a neat appearance.  Carefully solder the remaining leg of each LED.
6. The PCB pins can now be inserted and soldered.
7. Connenct the side switch and push button switch.  Wire is included if you wish to mount the switches away from the PCB.
8. Attach the +ve (red) and -ve (black) battery leads.
9. Insert the PIC146F88 with the correct orientation.
10. Insert the batteries in the holder - Let the games begin! 

MORE INFORMATION

Overview

This is a purely digital circuit and this explanation will the terms high and low.  In this project with the 6V source, high will indicate a voltage of 5 to 6 volts and low will indicate a voltage below 1 V.  There are no alternate states - digital - it is either high or low.

The PIC 16F88 has two input/output registers (PORTA, PORTB).  By configuring and reading/writing to them, we can achieve complex electronic results without complex electronic construction.  In this project we use all 8 pins of PORTB (pins 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 on the pic) and are labelled PORTB.0 to PORTB.7.  PORTB.0 is configured as input to detect the PB switch depress.  PORTB.1 to PORTB.7 are connected to the LED's through 220R resistors.  The LED's are connected to +6V and are illuminated when the respective pin on PORTB is taken low.  The dice pattern is produced by encoding the required pattern as 1's and 0's  (1 is off, 0 is on).  

PORTB.0 is controlled by the 10K resistor to 0V.  This keeps PORTB.0 low while the button is not depressed.  When the button is pressed, PORTB.0 is taken high by the switch connected to +6V.

We also use PORTA.  PORTA.6 is used to control the fast roll / slow roll option.  By selecting if it is connected to 0V or +6Vvia the 10K resistor you can select fast roll or slow roll.

This circuit uses the PIC 16F88's internal clock to eliminate the need for external components.  The Master Clear (pin 4) of the PIC is taken high through the 4K7 to eliminate any false resets. 

View the Datasheet for the PIC 16F88 (3769 kb)

The Micro-Dice Program

TROUBLESHOOTING

Troubleshooting will consist of:

• check all components for values and location and polarity
• resolder any or all joints

Contact CdS electronics

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