Step-by-step PICSimLab tutorials: PIC microcontroller projects, spare parts and virtual instruments, with example XC8 code.
AVR, STM32 and ESP32 in PICSimLab: VSCode + PlatformIO, and the Arduino IDE For non-PIC boards, PICSimLab documentation names two distinct integration paths, and they are often confused. Keep them separate: The Code Project Wizard path is VSCode + PlatformIO. For boards based on AVR, STM32 and ESP32, the wizard generates projects that use VSCode…
The PIC Workflow: MPLAB X + XC8 Projects for PICSimLab PICSimLab has no source-code editor — by design, it emulates hardware, and you write code with the same tools you would use for a real board. For PIC microcontrollers that tool chain is MPLAB X IDE with the XC8 compiler, and PICSimLab’s Code Project Wizard…
How to Load a .hex or .bin File into PICSimLab PICSimLab does not run source code. It runs compiled firmware — the .hex file (or, on some paths, a .bin file) that your compiler produced. Loading sounds trivial, and it is, provided one rule is respected: the board and microcontroller selected in PICSimLab must match…
Your First Simulation in PICSimLab: From Install to a Blinking LED This walkthrough takes you from a fresh install to a running simulation with a visible result: an LED switching on and off. It uses the best-documented combination in PICSimLab — a PIC16F877A on the McLab2 board — and the built-in example route, so you…
HD44780 LCD over I2C (PCF8574) in PICSimLab The parallel HD44780 LCD uses six or more pins. The I2C version of the display — an HD44780 with a PCF8574 I/O expander backpack — needs only two: SDA and SCL. PICSimLab models this directly with its LCD hd44780 I2C spare part, described in the documentation as a…
The ETH W5500 Spare Part in PICSimLab: What It Does Among PICSimLab’s spare parts, the ETH w5500 (in the Others category) is the one most often oversold in third-party tutorials. This page sticks to what the official documentation supports: the part adds a W5500 Ethernet shield model to your simulation. What it does not do…
Control a Stepper Motor with the PICSimLab Step Motor Spare Part Stepper motors move in discrete steps driven by a repeating coil pattern, which makes them a clean simulation subject: if the sequence and timing are right, the motor turns; if not, it jitters. PICSimLab’s Step Motor spare part lets a PIC16F877A drive a virtual…
Using the PICSimLab Oscilloscope: Two-Channel Basics PICSimLab includes a built-in oscilloscope, and learning it early makes every other tutorial easier: instead of guessing whether a pin toggles at the right speed, you measure it. Be clear about what it is, though — per the official documentation it is a basic two-channel oscilloscope for viewing the…
LED on RB0 and RC0 with a Push Button in PICSimLab Spare Parts “LED on RB0, LED on RC0, push button to control them” is one of the most searched PICSimLab exercises — and a perfect spare-parts workout. This tutorial wires an LED to RB0, a second LED to RC0 and a push button that…
PIC18F4550 First Project in PICSimLab (McLab2 / PICGenios) The PIC18F4550 is one of the six microcontrollers officially supported by the McLab2 and PICGenios boards in PICSimLab, and moving from the PIC16F877A to it is a natural second step: the workflow is identical, only the chip family, configuration words and port registers change. This tutorial takes…
