Hello,
I looking to use a controller to operate an underwater robot. I would like to use a joystick with several buttons. I would like to program a pic and make my own circuit board. I am not using a computer. Where do I look to for help on programming a pic?
Thanks,
Cory
Get a PICkit 3 programmer tool, which includes a PIC programming tutorial and a CD with software for creating PIC programs.
You still need a computer to write and compile/assemble the source code, but afterwards this tool will let you download the binary to the chip.
Check out Microchip.com they make the PIC processor. I would recommend you buy a PICKit 2 Starter kit. The PICKit 2 programmer has many features that the PICKit 3 does not. For example it can be used as a serial bus analyzer. This is very helpful in debugging projects if you don't have an oscilloscope. Additionally if you need help you can ask questions at http://chiphacker.com/ they are like stack overflow but much more focus on embedded systems.