Chameleon-PIC Nurve Networks, Chameleon-PIC Datasheet - Page 120

• Manufacturer Part Number: Chameleon-PIC
• Description: MCU, MPU & DSP Development Tools PIC24 & PROPELLER DEV SYSTEM (SBC)
• Manufacturer: Nurve Networks

Specifications of Chameleon-PIC

• Processor To Be Evaluated: PIC24
• Data Bus Width: 16 bit
• Interface Type: USB, VGA, PS/2, I2C, ISP, SPI
• Operating Supply Voltage: 3.3 V, 5 V
• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Lead free / RoHS Compliant

15.3 Installing the Parallax Propeller IDE
Since each Chameleon PIC (and AVR) has dual processors consisting of a PIC and Parallax Propeller chip, both chips
need to be loaded with firmware. To program the Parallax Propeller chip, you need to install the Parallax IDE tool. This
tool is a very simply IDE that allows you edit programs for the Propeller chip and download them to the target. The editor
has no built in debugging which is really a result of the Propeller chip’s lack of debugging internally in hardware. However,
this isn’t as bad as it seems. You can use “printf” techniques as well as run debug like processes on other cores and
have them interrogate memory locations in real-time. Finally, it’s pretty easy to test code, change something, recompile
and download to the target since programs can only be up to 32K bytes in size.
The Propeller Chip IDE was developed by Parallax Inc. to program their new multi-core “Propeller” chip. The
Chameleon PIC (and AVR) uses a Propeller chip as the media processor, thus to program the Propeller chip’s EEPROM
on the Chameleon with code we need to use this tool. The Propeller is a 32-bit processor and you program it in a BASIC
like language called SPIN, or you can program in Assembly language. The Propeller IDE supports both seamlessly. The
assembly language is very nice, but SPIN takes a bit to get used to as does the editor which uses indentation like Python
for block level. This can be frustrating for C/C++ programmer initially. You can read about programming the Propeller chip
here:
Also, there is a single book about developing games and media applications for the Propeller chip:
The installation procedure for the Propeller IDE is very simple and consists of the Propeller tool itself along with some
“Virtual COM” port drivers developed by FTDI inc. that are needed to communicate with the Propeller Chip itself. These
drivers are installed as part of the installer program if everything goes smoothly. However, you might recall we have
already installed the FTDI drivers while setting up the bootloader tool. As you can see everyone seems to use FTDI
chips!!!
Step 1: Locate the Propeller IDE installation program Setup-Propeller-Tool-v1.2.6.exe on the DVD here:
and launch it, you will see the installer splash screen as shown in Figure 15.56 below. Click <NEXT>.
Step 2: The installation type should be displayed next as shown below in Figure 15.57, select “Complete” install, click
<NEXT>.
DVD-ROM :\ CHAM_PIC \ TOOLS \ PROPELLER \ Propeller_Manual_WebPM-v1.1.pdf
DVD-ROM :\ CHAM_PIC \ TOOLS \ PROPELLER \ PropellerDatasheet-v1.2.pdf
“Game Programming the Propeller Powered HYDRA” by Andre’ LaMothe.
DVD-ROM :\ CHAM_PIC \ TOOLS \ PROPELLER \ Setup-Propeller-Tool-v1.2.6.exe
Figure 15.56 – The Propeller IDE installation splash screen (your version # might vary).
© 2009 NURVE NETWORKS LLC “Exploring the Chameleon PIC 16-Bit”
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