PICkit

PICkit is a family of programmers for PIC microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology. They are used to program and debug microcontrollers, as well as program EEPROM. Some models also feature logic analyzer and serial communications (UART) tool.

The people who develop open-source software for the PICkit use a mailing list for collaboration.

Versions

PICkit 1

The PICkit 1 — introduced on March 31, 2003 for US$36 — was a rudimentary USB programmer for PIC microcontrollers, produced by Microchip Technology, the manufacturers of the PIC series of microcontrollers. It was integrated into a demonstrator board, featuring eight LEDs, a switch, and a potentiometer. Its default program, explained in the documentation, rotates the LEDs in series. The light display's direction and speed of rotation can be changed with the button and potentiometer on the PICkit board.

PICkit 2

The PICkit 2 — introduced in May 2005 — replaced the PICkit 1. The most notable difference between the two is that the PICkit 2 has a separate programmer/debugger unit which plugs into the board carrying the chip to be programmed, whereas the PICkit 1 was a single unit. This makes it possible to use the programmer with a custom circuit board via an In Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) header. This feature is not intended for so-called "production" programming, however.