PICGenios Board in PICSimLab: Microgenius PIC Projects
PICGenios is the second “full-size” PIC board in PICSimLab, and it is the board many Brazilian and Latin American PIC courses are built around. In the simulator it is interchangeable with the McLab2 for chip support — the official documentation gives both boards exactly the same microcontroller list — so most PIC16F877A and PIC18F4550 material works on either one.
Overview
PICGenios is PICSimLab’s model of the Microgenius PICGenios development board. It runs on the picsim backend. If your course, book or video series uses a PICGenios board, this is the simulated version to select in PICSimLab; the workflow is the same as on real hardware: write code in MPLAB X, compile with XC8, load the .hex file and run.
Supported MCUs
| Board | Microcontrollers (official list) | Backend |
|---|---|---|
| PICGenios | PIC16F777, PIC16F877A, PIC18F452, PIC18F4520, PIC18F4550, PIC18F4620 | picsim |
Six chips: PIC16F777 and PIC16F877A from the 16F family, plus PIC18F452, PIC18F4520, PIC18F4550 and PIC18F4620 from the 18F family — the same combination as the McLab2 board.
Backend & debugging
Like every picsim board, PICGenios uses MPLAB X Integrated Debug. With the com-picsim-picsimlab.nbm plugin installed, MPLAB X connects to PICSimLab over a TCP socket (port 1234 by default) and can debug and program the simulated board. The Code Project Wizard generates MPLAB X projects with the XC8 compiler for PIC16F and PIC18F boards. See the MPLAB X plugin guide for the connection steps.
What you can do
- Follow the PIC16F877A project series unchanged: LED blink, HD44780 LCD, matrix keypad, Timer0 interrupts and data EEPROM.
- Start 18F work with the PIC18F4550 first project.
- Add spare parts (displays, keypads, motors, sensors) from Modules → Spare parts to reproduce bench experiments without buying components.
Real limits
- Same backend, same caveats as McLab2: picsim describes itself as emulating some PIC microcontrollers and a specific peripheral set (ADC, interrupts, WDT, TMR0–TMR2, USART, CCP1–CCP3, EEPROM, I/O ports). Peripheral coverage beyond that list is not promised by the upstream project.
- Only the six chips in the table are supported on this board — no other PIC can be selected, and PICSimLab has no PIC32/dsPIC boards at all.
- PICSimLab does not edit source code; MPLAB X and XC8 are required, exactly as with the real PICGenios board.
- Simulation is not the physical board: treat successful runs as strong evidence, not proof, before flashing real hardware.
Install PICSimLab from the download page, select PICGenios, and start with the blink tutorial linked above.