My team has recently dug up our old IFI controllers and were hoping to use them. Unfortunately we don’t have a C or C++ compiler for it and we have no desire to use EasyC again. Does anyone know of a free and fairly decent IFI compatible compiler we could use?
Thanks!
~Cadyyan~
As far as I know it is only possible to program the Pic microprocessor using Microchip’s compiler which is available on their website.
This being said, googling around may be your best bet.
EDIT
You must use the MCC18 complier c2.4. Later versions will NOT work.
The following instructions assume you have access to either and EasyC install, activated or trial.
If you can find a copy of the MCC18 v2.4 installer you can skip copying the folder from EasyC.
/EDIT
If you have a copy of EasyC installed you’ll find the folder “c:\program files\Intelitek\EasyC\mcc18” (this may not be quite right, but its close). This folder contains the MCC18 complier and other required files. Copy that folder to “C:\mcc18”.
Then install MPLAB IDE from http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en019469&part=SW007002.
You can find the default source code and documentation at http://www.ifirobotics.com/rc.shtml#Programming. IFI loader, which is used to transfer the program to the robot can also be found on that page.
This information is all from memory. I haven’t had to work with the IFI system for some time, so there may be small errors in this post.
You can download the C18 compiler version 2.4 here:
https://jvex-robotics.dev.java.net/files/documents/4592/28735/c18_240_se.zip
You can get both the Microchip C18 compiler and the MPLAB IDE off of http://tshs.tahoma.wednet.edu/sites/robotics/?page=teams_programming
I’d just like to point out that redistibuting copyrighted material, such as MPLAB or C18 installers, withot persmission of the copyright owner is illegal. Discussion of such activities is also forbidden by the forum rules (second bolded line).
That’s a grey area, as the team has a license to use said software, but not the actual files. One could argue they do have the right to redownload and use said software.
This is the student edition, 60-day trial offered by Microchip for free. After 60 days, it still works, but is “feature limited” (the features that are then limited are the ones you don’t use for IFI controllers anyway). As far as I know, these are not files restricted by Microchip.
Does anyone know what the vista/Linux compatibilities with this software are? or are we limited to just XP? I am assuming It is not Vista compatible but not sure about Linux. any help would be appreciated!
Redownload/reinstall/create private backups, yes. Redistribute publicly, no. It is not a grey area.
I’ve never had an issue running it on Vista. There were some tutorials for getting it running in WINE a few years ago, but I never tried.
Thanks for all the help you guys!
I actually run C18 on Linux under WINE and there is no issue. I use an MPLAB clone called Piklab, and you just tell it the directory to find mcc18, and it sets it all up. If you want more help, let me know. It works both with WPILib (library used in EasyC) and the default code libraries.
We got everything working today! I being a noob to the IFI control system spent a while reading documentation and manuals. We wrote, compiled and successfully (after plenty of debugging) ran a few simple programs to test functionality of a few mechanisms. Everything worked great
Thanks for all your help!!
here are the links for BOTH MPLAB (FULL) and C18 Compiler (FULL). and these are from the Microchip web site, so they are NOT illegal copies FYI.
MPLAB IDE (IFI version)
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en019469&part=SW007002#P140_5618
C18 Compiler for MPLAB IDE
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en536656
Note that unless you use Kevin Watson’s C18 3.x compatable libraries (whish are not compatable with the IFI libs), the C18 compiler you linked to won’t work.