Note the following details of the code protection feature on Microchip devices:
•Microchip products meet the specification contained in their particular Microchip Data Sheet.
•Microchip believes that its family of products is one of the most secure families of its kind on the market today, when used in the
intended manner and under normal conditions.
•There are dishonest and possibly illegal methods used to breach the code protection feature. All of these methods, to our
knowledge, require using the Microchip products in a manner outside the operating specifications contained in Microchip’s Data
Sheets. Most likely, the person doing so is engaged in theft of intellectual property.
•Microchip is willing to work with the customer who is concerned about the integrity of their code.
•Neither Microchip nor any other semiconductor manufacturer can guarantee the security of their code. Code protection does not
mean that we are guaranteeing the product as “unbreakable.”
Code protection is constantly evolving. We at Microchip are committed to continuously improving the code protection features of our
products. Attempts to break Microchip’s code protection feature may be a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If such acts
allow unauthorized access to your software or other copyrighted work, you may have a right to sue for relief under that Act.
Information contained in this publication regarding device
applications and the like is provided only for your convenience
and may be superseded by updates. It is your responsibility to
ensure that your application meets with your specifications.
MICROCHIP MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
WRITTEN OR ORAL, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE,
RELATED TO THE INFORMATION, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO ITS CONDITION, QUALITY, PERFORMANCE,
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written approval by Microchip. No licenses are conveyed,
implicitly or otherwise, under any Microchip intellectual property
rights.
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EELOQ, microID, MPLAB, PIC, PICmicro, PICSTART,
PRO MATE, PowerSmart, rfPIC, and SmartShunt are
registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated
in the U.S.A. and other countries.
AmpLab, FilterLab, Migratable Memory, MXDEV, MXLAB,
PICMASTER, SEEVAL, SmartSensor and The Embedded
Control Solutions Company are registered trademarks of
Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A.
Analog-for-the-Digital Age, Application Maestro, dsPICDEM,
dsPICDEM.net, dsPICworks, ECAN, ECONOMONITOR,
FanSense, FlexROM, fuzzyLAB, In-Circuit Serial
Programming, ICSP, ICEPIC, Linear Active Thermistor,
MPASM, MPLIB, MPLINK, MPSIM, PICkit, PICDEM,
PICDEM.net, PICLAB, PICtail, PowerCal, PowerInfo,
PowerMate, PowerTool, Real ICE, rfLAB, rfPICDEM, Select
Mode, Smart Serial, SmartTel, Total Endurance, UNI/O,
WiperLock and Zena are trademarks of Microchip Technology
Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries.
SQTP is a service mark of Microchip Technology Incorporated
in the U.S.A.
All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their
respective companies.
Microchip received ISO/TS-16949:2002 quality system certification for
its worldwide headquarters, design and wafer fabrication facilities in
Chandler and Tempe, Arizona and Mountain View, California in
October 2003. The Company’s quality system processes and
procedures are for its PICmicro
devices, Serial EEPROMs, microperipherals, nonvolatile memory and
analog products. In addition, Microchip’s quality system for the design
and manufacture of development systems is ISO 9001:2000 certified.
All documentation becomes dated, and this manual is no exception. Microchip tools and
documentation are constantly evolving to meet customer needs, so some actual dialogs
and/or tool descriptions may differ from those in this document. Please refer to our web site
(www.microchip.com) to obtain the latest documentation available.
Documents are identified with a “DS” number. This number is located on the bottom of each
page, in front of the page number. The numbering convention for the DS number is
“DSXXXXXA”, where “XXXXX” is the document number and “A” is the revision level of the
document.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains general information that will be useful to know before using the
Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board. Items discussed in this chapter include:
• Document Layout
• Conventions Used in this Guide
• Recommended Reading
• The Microchip Web Site
• Customer Support
• Document Revision History
DOCUMENT LAYOUT
This document describes how to use the Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board as a
development tool to emulate and debug firmware on a target board. The manual layout
is as follows:
• Chapter 1. “Product Overview” – This is an introduction to the Humidity Sensor
PICtail™ Demo Board. It covers the kit contents, associated tools and how they
work together.
• Chapter 2. “Setup and Installation” – Covers the initial set-up of the Humidity
Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board. It lists the required tools, shows how to connect
this board and demonstates how to verify the set-up.
• Chapter 3. “Operation” – This chapter discusses using the humidity sensor on
the PCB and using the software PC Application.
• Chapter 4. “Modified Circuit” – Gives the modifications necessary to increase
measurement resolution by a factor of 100 (see AN1016 for details)
• Appendix A. “Schematic and Layouts” – Gives detailed information on the
Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board. Includes detailed circuit explanation,
schematic and board layouts.
• Appendix B. “Bill Of Materials (BOM)” – Gives detailed information on the
This user's guide describes how to use Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board. Other
useful documents are listed below and are recommended as supplemental reference
resources.
Microchip provides online support via our web site at www.microchip.com. This web
site is used as a means to make files and information easily available to customers.
Accessible by using your favorite Internet browser, the web site contains the following
information:
• Product Support – Data sheets and errata, application notes and sample
programs, design resources, user’s guides and hardware support documents,
latest software releases and archived software
• General Technical Support – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), technical
support requests, online discussion groups, Microchip consultant program
member listing
• Business of Microchip – Product selector and ordering guides, latest Microchip
press releases, listing of seminars and events, listings of Microchip sales offices,
distributors and factory representatives
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Users of Microchip products can receive assistance through several channels:
• Distributor or Representative
• Local Sales Office
• Field Application Engineer (FAE)
• Technical Support
• Development Systems Information Line
Customers should contact their distributor, representative or field application engineer
(FAE) for support. Local sales offices are also available to help customers. A listing of
sales offices and locations is included in the back of this document.
Technical support is available through the web site at: http://support.microchip.com
The Printed Circuit Board (PCB) discussed in this user’s guide is described as follows:
HUMIDITY SENSOR PICTAIL™
DEMO BOARD USER’S GUIDE
• Order Number:
• Assembly Number:
•Board Name:
This board supports the capacitive humidity sensor application note AN1016. It
measures the capacitance of a relative humidity sensor (or capacitor) plugged into the
board. The on-board microcontroller sends the measured and calculated data to a PC
(Personal Computer) for display.
Items discussed in this chapter include:
• Kit Contents
• Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board
• Associated Tools
• Initial Set-up
1.2KIT CONTENTS
• Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board – This is an assembled and tested
Printed Circuit Board (PCB).
• CD-ROM – Provided separately in the shipping box; it contains the files and
literature mentioned in this user’s guide.
• Humidity Sensor (HS1101LF) – Provided separately in the shipping box.
• Bag of Capacitors – Provided separately in the shipping box. These capacitors
are provided for the user’s convenience; they make it easy to try out this board’s
functionality, and to verify its accuracy.
The circuit operation is detailed in AN1016, “Detecting Small Capacitive Sensors Using
the MCP6291 and PIC16F690 Devices” (DS01016)
The Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board contains the circuitry represented in
Figure 1-1. The ambient relative humidity changes the capacitance of the humidity
sensor (HS1101LF from Humirel). This sensor is connected to a MCP6291 op amp and
a resistor to form an inverting (Miller) integrator. The PIC16F690 microcontroller sends
a square wave to the input of the integrator, which the integrator converts to a triangle
wave at its output. The firmware controls the magnitude of the triangle wave and
measures the integration time. The microcontroller measures the time it takes for the
triangle wave to rise and fall. These times are converted to a capacitance value.
A 14-pin header is provided for connecting to the PICkit™ 1 Flash Starter Kit, which
acts like a docking station. It includes a two-wire serial bus that transfers the data, and
two more wires for board power (+5V and GND inputs). This interface also supports
programming of the on-board PIC16F690.
The +5V single supply voltage from the PICkit™ 1 Flash Starter Kit board is bypassed
with two bulk 1 μF capacitors near the header, and two local 0.1 μF capacitors (one for
each Integrated Circuit (IC)).
A 6-pin header for ICSP™ (In-Circuit Serial Programming™) is available as an alternate
interface for programming the on-board PIC16F690. This allows the user to modify the
program that comes with the Humidity Sensor PICtail™ Demo Board (with the MPLAB
ICD 2 or PICkit™ 2 microcontroller programmer).
The test points make it easier to test key points in the circuit using common lab
equipment. The test points are:
• GND – Is connected to ground plane, and is for any lab equipment
• +5V – Positive supply voltage (at board edge); it provides a means to power this
board with a laboratory power supply (when not connected to the PICkit™ 1 Flash
Starter Kit)
•V
INT – Integrator’s input (a square wave during measurements)
CM – Op amp’s common mode voltage (at its inverting input)
•V
•V
SEN – Integrator’s output of the integrator (a triangle wave during
measurements)
More details on the circuit and on its design can be found in Appendix A. “Schematic and Layouts” and AN1016, “Detecting Small Capacitive Sensors Using the MCP6291
and PIC16F690 Devices” (DS01016).