Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks

252

Part II: Advanced Hacks, Tools, and Techniques

Software Setup Instructions

After you have verified that power is going to the chips, it is time to pro-

gram the microcontroller inside the IR cannon and the hit-sensor board. I

chose the PIC16F876A controller, which is versatile and reasonably priced.

You will need to locate a programmer for this part; I used the ICD2 pro-

grammer/emulator from Microchip. A large number of companies offer

low-cost (less than $50) programmers on the Web. Do a quick search for

“PIC programmer” and ensure that the model you choose can program the

PIC16F876A (or whatever controller you use).

I wrote the control software for this hack in C to allow easy debugging. I

used the C2C compiler from http://www.picant.com/ as my C compiler. The

very efficient C2C compiler targets the PIC family of processors.

After you purchase a programmer,

download an evaluation copy of the

C compiler. Compile the code, and

then program the processor.

Software operation

The software looks for incoming IR

signals and generates outbound IR

cannon signals. A simple flowchart

illustrating the logic is shown in

Figure 13-13.

The IR cannon can be fired only

15 times, and the vehicle can take

only four hits before it becomes dis-

abled. Note that the four LEDs are

used for three different purposes;

the total number of hits will display

on the