Micromite Plus User manual

Micromite Plus
Manual
MMBasic Ver 5.4
For updates to this manual and more details on MMBasic
go to http://geoffg.net/micromite.html
or http://mmbasic.com
This manual is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Australia
license (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Micromite Plus Manual Page 2
The Micromite Plus is part of the Micromite family. . The firmware runs on 64 and 100-pin PIC32
microcontrollers and implements all the features of the standard Micromite as described in the Micromite User
Manual. It also has many additional features and they are described in this document.
The focus of this manual is to describe just the features that are unique to the Micromite Plus. For general
Micromite programming you should refer to the Micromite User Manual in addition to this manual.
Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................. 3
Suitable Microcontrollers........................................................................................................ 6
Micromite Plus Connections................................................................................................... 7
Programming the Firmware.................................................................................................... 9
SPI Based LCD Displays...................................................................................................... 10
SSD1963 Based LCD Displays............................................................................................ 13
Touch Support...................................................................................................................... 17
SD Card Support.................................................................................................................. 19
Sound Output....................................................................................................................... 24
Basic Drawing Features ....................................................................................................... 26
Advanced Graphics.............................................................................................................. 29
Advanced Graphics Programming Techniques.................................................................... 34
Console Input/Output............................................................................................................ 38
Miscellaneous Features........................................................................................................ 40
Examples.............................................................................................................................. 41
Read Only Variables (extra for the Micromite Plus Only) ..................................................... 45
Commands (extra for the Micromite Plus Only).................................................................... 46
Functions (extra for the Micromite Plus Only)....................................................................... 57

Micromite Plus Manual Page 3
Introduction
This section provides an introduction for users who are familiar with the Micromite and need a summary of the
extra features in the Micromite Plus.
The Micromite Plus is an extension of the standard Micromite; all features of the standard Micromite are also
supported in the Micromite Plus. This includes features of the BASIC language, input/output, communications,
etc. Some commands have changed slightly (for example the CPU command) but for the main part Micromite
programs will run unchanged on the Micromite Plus.
The following summarises the new features in the Micromite Plus as compared to the standard Micromite:
MX470 Processor
The Micromite Plus is based on the Microchip PIC32MX470 32 bit microcontroller. This chip is available in
64 and 100-pin surface mount packages and is two to three times faster than the MX170 chip used in the
standard Micromite. In BASIC the space available for both programs and variables is doubled to approx 100
KB flash and 100KB RAM.
The Micromite Plus uses a crystal for timekeeping. This allows the Micromite Plus to support USB
communications and also ensures that its internal clocks are much more accurate.
I/O Pins
The 64-pin Micromite Plus has up to 45 free I/O pins and the 100-pin chip 77. Of these 28 pins (on either chip)
can be analog inputs.
The Micromite Plus has two SPI ports and up to four serial COM ports. All serial COM ports are high speed
(over 1,000,000 baud). The provision of two SPI ports means that one can be used for SPI LCD's, touch and
SD card interfaces leaving the other entirely free for use in a BASIC program. If the SPI is not used for these
features then both SPI interfaces can be used in BASIC programs.
USB
The Micromite Plus has a built in USB 2.0 interface which will work at all CPU frequencies at 20MHz or more.
The USB is integrated in the chip and no other hardware or components are required. MMBasic uses the USB
CDC protocol which allows the USB interface to be used as the console with a host computer running a
terminal emulator such as Tera Term.
The USB console operates in parallel with the serial console, anything received from either of the inputs is
placed in the input queue for the interpreter or the program to read and anything outputted by the program or
interpreter will be sent to either devices.
The USB feature is optional, if nothing is connected to the USB interface MMBasic will ignore it.
SD Card
The Micromite Plus includes full support for SD cards. This includes opening files for reading, writing or
random access and loading and saving programs. The firmware will work with cards up to 64GB formatted in
FAT16 or FAT32 and the files created can also be read and written on personal computers running Windows,
Linux or the Mac operating system.
Up to 10 files can be open simultaneously. Using the OPEN command files can be opened and read from using
INPUT, LINE INPUT, or INPUT$() or written to using PRINT or WRITE with. A program can be saved using
the SAVE command and reloaded or run using LOAD. Programs and files stored on the card can be listed with
the FILES command and deleted using the KILL command. The current working directory can be changed
using CHDIR and a new directory be created with MKDIR.
The LOAD IMAGE command can be used to load a bitmap image from the SD card and display it on an
attached LCD display panel. This can be used to draw a logo or add a background on the display.
The SD card feature is entirely optional and MMBasic will operate normally if it is not used.
LCD Display Panels
Micromite Plus supports two additional LCD panels that use SPI controllers (the ST7735 and ILI9163) and also
parallel LCD displays that use the SSD1963 controller.
SSD1963 based LCD panels are available in sizes from 4.3 inch to 8 inch for prices that range from US$30 to
US$60 on eBay. They use a parallel interface so the Micromite Plus can transfer data much faster than via SPI
resulting in a very quick screen update. These displays are also much larger, have more pixels and are brighter.
MMBasic will drive them using 24-bit true colour for a full colour rendition (16 million colours).

Micromite Plus Manual Page 4
All LCD panels that use the SSD1963 controller have a SD card socket and touch sensitive screen, both of which
are fully supported by MMBasic on the Micromite Plus.
The LCD display panel feature is entirely optional and if not configured MMBasic will operate normally.
Additional LCD Panel Features
The Micromite Plus includes six fonts that are built in and provides for up to ten additional fonts that can be
embedded in the program. It also provides a set of read only variables to return the coordinates of the next print
position on the screen.
An optional PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) output is available for controlling the brightness of the LCD
backlight. In addition the Micromite Plus will work with SSD1963 based LCD panels that are configured to
use their controller to control the backlight.
Touch Input
The Micromite Plus extends the standard Micromite touch sensitive features with two new capabilities:
Functions to detect if the touch is down or up, to return reference of the control currently being touched
(see "Advanced Graphics" below) and also the last position or control touched.
The ability to drive a connected Piezo buzzer to produce a click when a screen control is touched.
Advanced Graphics
The Micromite Plus incorporates a suite of advanced graphic controls that respond to touch, these include on
screen switches, buttons, indicator lights, keyboard, etc. MMBasic will draw the control and animate it (ie, a
switch will depress when touched). All that the BASIC program needs to do is invoke a single line command
to specify the basic details of the control.
Using these advanced graphic controls it is easy to create a sophisticated control panel that includes WISWIG
screen elements that are familiar to uses of modern computers (eg, check boxes, radio buttons, etc). A
Micromite Plus using these controls could be used to create a professional control panel for anything from
industrial machinery to a simple reticulation controller.
With some LCD displays the Micromite Plus supports transparent text (ie, the background image shows
through the gaps in the text) and the BLIT command. The latter allows the background image to be saved and
then restored allowing moving objects to be displayed over a background image.
Console Input/Output
You can attach a PS2 keyboard to the Micromite Plus and, if you are using a SSD1963 based LCD panel,
display the output of the interpreter in the LCD. This turns the Micromite Plus into a completely self contained
computer with its own keyboard, display and SD card for storage. Using the built in colour coded editor
programs can be entered, edited and run without requiring another computer.
The keyboard interface supports the standard USA keyboard layout or special United Kingdom, French,
German, Belgium, Italian or Spanish layouts.
Sound Output
Using the Micromite Plus you can play stereo WAV files stored on the SD card. You can also generate precise
sine waves with selectable frequencies from 1Hz to 20KHz.
Miscellaneous
Other features of the Micromite Plus include:
The ability to disable the serial console if it is not required. This allows the two I/O pins previously used
by the console to be used as general I/O pins or as a fourth serial port (COM4:).
The CPU command can vary the processor speed from 5MHz to 120MHz. The CPU command can also
put the processor to sleep.
The ability to specify the I/O pins used for connecting to a real time clock. When this option is specified
MMBasic will automatically get the correct time on power up.

Micromite Plus Manual Page 5
Micromite Family Summary
Micromite Micromite Plus
28-pin
Dual In Line
44-pin
SMD 64-pin SMD 100-pin SMD
Maximum CPU Speed 48MHz 48MHz 120MHz 120MHz
Maximum BASIC Program Size 59KB 59KB 100KB 100KB
RAM Memory Size (used for variables, buffers, etc) 52KB 52KB 108KB 108KB
Clock Speed (MHz) 5 to 48 5 to 48 5 to 120 5 to 120
Serial Console for Programming and Control 
USB Console (serial emulator over USB 2.0) 
PS2 Keyboard and LCD Display Console 
SD Card Interface (FAT16 or FAT32 up to 64GB) 
Total Number of I/O pins 19 33 45 77
Number of Analog Inputs 10 13 28 28
Number of Serial I/O ports 2 2 3 or 4 3 or 4
Number of SPI Channels 1 1 2 2
Number of I2C Channels 1 1 1 + RTC 1 + RTC
Maximum Number of 1-Wire I/O pins 19 33 45 77
Number of PWM or Servo Channels 5 5 5 5
Supports 2.2", 2.4" and 2.8" SPI LCD Displays 
Supports eleven LCD Displays from1.4" to 8" 
Supports Resistive Touch Panels 
Power Requirements 3.3V 30mA
3.3V 30mA
3.3V 80mA
3.3V 80mA

Micromite Plus Manual Page 6
Suitable Microcontrollers
The microcontroller used in the Micromite Plus is available in two different frequency specifications (100MHz
and 120MHz). The Micromite Plus will start up at 100MHz and if you have a 120MHz chip you can use the
CPU command to step up to 120MHz. See http://microchip.com for the data sheets.
The recommended chips are:
PIC32MX470F512H-I/PT 64-pin TQFP package – maximum speed 100MHz
PIC32MX470F512H-120/PT 64-pin TQFP package – maximum speed 120MHz
PIC32MX470F512L-I/PF 100-pin TQFP package – maximum speed 100MHz
PIC32MX470F512L-120/PF 100-pin TQFP package – maximum speed 120MHz
All these chips are in a TQFP surface mount package with a lead pitch of 0.5mm. They are reasonably easy to
solder and can be mounted on a carrier board (for example futurlec.com part code 64PINTQFP) or the
Explore64 which is a breadboard compatible PCB or the Explore100 which is designed to mate with a 5"
display (see http://geoffg.net/micromite.html for examples).
Typical Circuit
Note that the pin numbers refer to the 64-pin chip. For the 100-pin chip refer to the table in the next section.
Note that the only required components are:
The capacitor on pin 56 (Vcap). This must be a tantalum (47µF) or multilayer ceramic (10µF) type.
The 20MHz crystal and its two 27pF load capacitors.
The 10KΩ pullup resistor on pin 7 (MCLR).

Micromite Plus Manual Page 7
Micromite Plus Connections
The tick column ANA means ANALOG, DIG means digital I/O and 5V means a 5V tolerant pin. Pins marked
SSD1963 xxx are required for a SSD1963 based display - see the "Micromite Advanced Features" manual for
more details. Otherwise the notation is similar as described for the 28-pin version.
64-pin Micromite Plus A
N
A
D
I
G
5
V
5
V
D
I
G
A
N
A
DIGITAL INPUT ONLY
33 



32 PWM 2B
USB +5V 34 

31
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V) 35


30
USB D- 36


29 COM1: ENABLE
USB D+ 37


28 SSD1963 RESET
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V) 38


27 SSD1963 RS (data/command)
20MHz CRYSTAL) 39
26 POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
20MHz CRYSTAL) 40
25 GROUND
GROUND 41


24 SSD1963 WR
PWM 1B 42 



23 COUNT
I2C DATA
43 



22
I2C CLOCK 44 



21
SPI 1 IN (MISO) 45 

20 ANALOG GROUND
46 

19 ANALOG POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
SPI 2 IN (MISO) 47 


18
PWM 1A 48 


17 COM3: Rx
COUNT 49 



16 COM3: Tx
SPI 1 CLOCK 50 



15 COM1: Tx
COUNT | WAKEUP | IR 51 



14
COUNT 52 



13 COM2: Rx
PWM 2A 53 



12
KEYBOARD CLOCK 54 



11 COM2: Tx
KEYBOARD DATA
55 

10 POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
47µF TANT CAPACITOR (+) 56
9 GROUND
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V) 57


8 SPI 1 OUT (MOSI)
COM4: Tx | CONSOLE Tx (OUT) 58 

7 RESET Normally 10KΩ to V+
COM1: Rx
59 



6 CONSOLE Rx (IN) | COM4: Rx
SSD1963 D0 60 



5 SPI 2 OUT (MOSI) |
SSD1963 D1 61 



4 SPI 2 CLOCK
SSD1963 D2 62 



3 SSD1963 D7
PWM 1C | SSD1963 D3 63 



2 SSD1963 D6
SSD1963 D4 64 



1 SSD1963 D5

Micromite Plus Manual Page 8
100-pin Micromite Plus A
N
A
D
I
G
5
V 5 V D I
G
A
N
A
DIGITAL INPUT ONLY
51


F3
F5


50
52


F2
F4


49
53


F8
D15


48
USB +5V
54

D14


47
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
55
46
POWER (+2.3 to +
3.6V)
USB D
-
56
45
GROUND
USB D+
57
B15


44
58


A2
B14


43
COM1: ENABLE
59


A3
B13


42
SSD1963 RESET
60


A4
B12


41
61


A5
F12


40
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
62
F13


39
20MHz CRYSTAL
)
63
A1


38
20MHz CRYSTAL
)
64
37
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
GROUND
65
36
GROUND
I
2
C CLOCK
66


A14
B11


35
I
2
C DATA
67


A15
B10


34
COUNT
PWM 1B
68


D8


33
69


D9
B8


32
SPI 1 CLOCK
70


D10
3
1
ANALOG
GROUND
SPI 1 IN (MISO)
71


D11
30
ANALOG
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
SPI 1 OUT (MOSI)
72


D0
A10

29
73

C13
A9

28
PWM 1A
74

C14
B7


27
GROUND
75
B6


26
COM3: Rx
COUNT
76


D1
B0


25
COM3
: Tx
77


D2
B1


24
COM1: Tx
COUNT | WAKEUP | IR
78


D3
B2


23
PWM 1C
79


D12
B3


22
COM2: Rx
80


D13
B4


21
COUNT
81


D4
B5


20
COM2: Tx
PWM 2A
82


D5
E9


19
SSD1963
WR
KEYBOARD CLOCK
83


D
6
E8


18
SSD1963 RS (data/command)
KEYBOARD DATA
84


D7
A0


17
47µF TANT CAPACITOR (+)
85
16
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
86
15
GROUND
COM4: Tx |
CONSOLE Tx (OUT)
87


F0
G9


14
COM1: Rx
88


F1

13
RESET
Normally
10K
Ω to V+
COM4: Rx | CONSOLE Rx (IN
)
89


G1
G8


12
SPI 2 OUT (MOSI)
90


G0
G7


11
SPI 2 IN (MISO)
91


A6
G6


10
SPI 2 CLOCK
92


A7
C4


9
PWM 2B
SSD1963 D0
93


E0


8
SSD1963 D1
9
4


E1
C2


7
95


G14
C1


6
96


G12
E7


5
SSD1963 D7
97


G13
E6


4
SSD1963 D6
SSD1963 D2
98


E2
E5


3
SSD1963 D5
SSD1963 D3
99


E3
2
POWER (+2.3 to +3.6V)
SSD1963 D4
100


E4
G15


1

Micromite Plus Manual Page 9
Programming the Firmware
Programming the 64 and 100-pin Micromite Plus is similar to programming the 28-pin standard Micromite
described in the Micromite User Manual.
Refer to the following table for the pin connections to a PICkit 3 programmer:
PICkit 3
Pins Description 64-pin Micromite Plus Pin Numbers 100-pin Micromite Plus Pin Numbers
47µF Tantalum Capacitor to GND 56 85
1 - MCLR Master Reset (active low) 7 13
2 - Vcc Power Supply (3.3V) 10, 19, 26, 35, 38, and 57 2, 16, 30, 37, 46, 55, 62
and 86
3 - GND Ground 9, 20, 25 and 41 15, 31, 36, 45, 65 and 75
4- PGD Programming Data 16 25
5 - PGC Programming Clock 15 24
6 - NC Not used
Notes:
A pullup resistor of 10K is required between the MCLR pin and Vcc.
A crystal is not required to program these chips and will be ignored if it is present.
The microcontroller being programmed can be powered by the PICkit 3 but it is recommended that a
separate power supply be used. When the PICkit 3 supplies the power pin 2 (Vcc) on the PICkit 3 will
become an output supplying the power to the chip being programmed.

Micromite Plus Manual Page 10
SPI Based LCD Displays
The Micromite Plus includes support for three types of colour LCD display panels using a SPI interface. These
are the:
Standard 2.2”, 2.4" and 2.8” 240x320 pixel display with an ILI9341 controller as described in the
Micromite User Manual.
A 1.8" 128x160 pixel display with a ST7735 controller
A 1.44" 128x128 pixel display using the ILI9163 controller.
On eBay you can find suitable displays by searching for the controller name (ILI9341, ST7735 or ILI9163).
ILI9341 Based Displays
The ILI9341 based displays are illustrated on the right.
They use an SPI interface and have the following basic
specifications:
A 2.2, 2.4 or 2.8 inch display
Resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and a colour depth of
262K/65K
A ILI9341 controller with a SPI serial interface
ST7735 Based Displays
The ST7735 based displays also use a SPI interface and are smaller than the
ILI9341 based displays. ST7735 displays have the following basic
specifications:
A 1.8 inch display
Resolution of 128 x 160 pixels and a colour depth of 262K/65K
A ST7735 controller with a SPI serial interface
These do not come with a touch controller.
A typical ST7735 based display is illustrated on the right. On eBay
you can find suitable displays by searching for the controller name
(ST7735).
ILI9163 Based Displays
ILI9163 based displays have a 1.44 inch display with 128x128 pixels. They
have an SPI interface and use the same connections as ST7735 based displays.
ILI9163 based displays use an SPI interface and have the following basic
specifications:
A 1.44 inch display
Resolution of 128 x 128 pixels
A ILI9163 controller with a SPI serial interface
A typical ILI9163 based display is illustrated on the right. On eBay you can
find suitable displays by searching for the controller name (ILI9163).
Be warned, apparently some displays with a red PCB have a fault and will not
work with the Micromite Plus. So, you should choose a display with a black
PCB (as illustrated) as these have been tested and work correctly