Nathan House wrote:
> Everyone has USB ports on their computers, so this seems like a good
> option. But I really don't know *anything* about USB. Is using the
> USB module on a PIC difficult?

That all depends on your context, of course.  Think about it.  How are we
supposed to know whether it is difficult for you?

I have written a lot of PIC code compared even to other PIC consultants, and
we are one of the very few of the 500 or so worldwide that have platinum
status.  I think I can reasonably claim expert level at writing PIC
assembler.  I'm only saying this to put my impressions into context.

I just checked, and my USB code for the 18F2550 is 3000 lines of assembler.
My impression when writing it a few years ago was that it was dense code
that I had to wake up for.  Part of that may have been because I was
creating something I intended to use as a low level resource in yet
unspecified future projects, so I thought a lot about footprint and some
about efficiency and was willing to put in the up front work to do it right.
I ended up using the ping pong buffering mode of the hardware, with triple
software buffers so that the hardware could own two and the software could
be filling or draining the third.

The Windows kernel driver was also not trivial.  I have written drivers
before, but in that case I had someone else write it that was more familiar
with USB drivers in general than I was.

However, none of this really matters if you can use code someone else has
already created.  My PIC USB firmware, Windows driver, host library, and a
example app are all available for free.  There is no cost to hobbyists or if
you make a few one offs that you don't sell.  My ReadyBoard-02
(http://www.embedinc.com/products/ready02) comes preloaded with the firmware
so you can wiggle port B pins from a Windows app right out of the box.

> Would it be hard to write a windows
> program to recieve and send data?

Again, we have no way to judge how hard that is for you.  However, writing a
app given a driver is relatively easy compared the driver and the USB
firmware.

> In your opinion, is it worth taking the time to learn about how USB
> works and how to implement it in my project?

Absolutely.  USB is how it's done nowadays.

> are serial communications becoming
> obsolete, and is it time to move on to USB?

Yes and yes.


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