<s>
PICkit	B-Device
is	O
a	O
family	O
of	O
programmers	B-General_Concept
for	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontrollers	I-Architecture
made	O
by	O
Microchip	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
program	O
and	O
debug	B-Device
microcontrollers	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
program	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
people	O
who	O
develop	O
open-source	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
use	O
a	O
mailing	O
list	O
for	O
collaboration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PICkit	B-Device
1	O
—	O
introduced	O
on	O
March	O
31	O
,	O
2003	O
for	O
US$36	O
—	O
was	O
a	O
rudimentary	O
USB	B-Protocol
programmer	B-General_Concept
for	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontrollers	I-Architecture
,	O
produced	O
by	O
Microchip	O
Technology	O
,	O
the	O
manufacturer	O
of	O
the	O
PIC	O
series	O
of	O
microcontrollers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
integrated	O
into	O
a	O
demonstrator	O
board	O
,	O
featuring	O
eight	O
LEDs	O
,	O
a	O
switch	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
potentiometer	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
light	O
display	O
's	O
direction	O
and	O
speed	O
of	O
rotation	O
can	O
be	O
changed	O
with	O
the	O
button	O
and	O
potentiometer	B-Device
on	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
board	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
—	O
introduced	O
in	O
May	O
2005	O
—	O
replaced	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
notable	O
difference	O
between	O
the	O
two	O
is	O
that	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
has	O
a	O
separate	O
programmer/debugger	O
unit	O
which	O
plugs	O
into	O
the	O
board	O
carrying	O
the	O
chip	O
to	O
be	O
programmed	O
,	O
whereas	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
1	O
was	O
a	O
single	O
unit	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
programmer	B-General_Concept
with	O
a	O
custom	O
circuit	O
board	O
via	O
an	O
in-circuit	B-Device
serial	I-Device
programming	I-Device
(	O
ICSP	O
)	O
header	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
uses	O
an	O
internal	O
PIC18F2550	O
with	O
FullSpeed	O
USB	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
latest	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
firmware	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
program	O
and	O
debug	B-Device
most	O
of	O
the	O
8	O
and	O
16	O
bit	O
PICmicro	B-Architecture
and	O
dsPIC	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
Microchip	O
product	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
is	O
open	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
,	O
including	O
its	O
hardware	O
schematic	O
,	O
firmware	O
source	O
code	O
(	O
in	O
C	O
language	O
)	O
and	O
application	O
programs	O
(	O
in	O
C#	O
language	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
version	O
of	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
application	O
software	O
,	O
DOS	O
style	O
CMD	O
support	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
has	O
a	O
programmer-to-go	O
(	O
PTG	O
)	O
feature	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
download	O
the	O
hex	O
file	O
and	O
programming	O
instructions	O
into	O
on-board	O
memory	O
(	O
128KB	O
I²C	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
or	O
256KB	O
I²C	O
EEPROM	B-General_Concept
)	O
,	O
so	O
that	O
no	O
PC	O
is	O
required	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Microchip	O
version	O
of	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
has	O
a	O
standard	O
128KB	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
a	O
500kHz	O
three-channel	O
logic	O
analyser	O
and	O
a	O
UART	O
tool	O
are	O
built	O
into	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
features	O
are	O
missing	O
from	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
release	O
of	O
V2.61	O
,	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
PC	O
software	O
now	O
supports	O
a	O
maximum	O
4	O
megabytes	O
of	O
memory	O
for	O
the	O
programmer-to-go	O
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
modification	O
makes	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
support	O
eight	O
times	O
as	O
much	O
memory	O
as	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
enhancement	O
has	O
been	O
contributed	O
by	O
Au	O
Group	O
Electronics	O
and	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
firmware	O
is	O
also	O
reported	O
to	O
be	O
submitted	O
to	O
Microchip	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
team	O
in	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
March	O
2009	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microchip	O
has	O
gone	O
on	O
to	O
manufacture	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
,	O
a	O
variation	O
of	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
form	O
factor	O
and	O
a	O
new	O
translucent	O
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
some	O
complaints	O
of	O
it	O
not	O
being	O
as	O
reliable	O
as	O
the	O
Pickit	B-Device
2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Both	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
and	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
have	O
internal	O
,	O
switch-mode	O
voltage	O
regulators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
them	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
,	O
to	O
generate	O
voltages	O
from	O
2.5	O
to	O
5	O
volts	O
,	O
or	O
in	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
,	O
2.5	O
to	O
5.5	O
volts	O
,	O
from	O
a	O
5V	O
USB	B-Protocol
supply	O
,	O
at	O
around	O
100mA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2018	O
,	O
Microchip	O
released	O
the	O
4th	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
PICkit4	O
also	O
supports	O
programming/debugging	O
of	O
AVR	O
devices	O
with	O
UPDI/PDI/JTAG/SPI/debugWIRE	O
interfaces	O
by	O
enumerating	O
in	O
"	O
AVR	O
mode	O
"	O
which	O
makes	O
its	O
USB	B-Protocol
communication	O
interface	O
compatible	O
with	O
that	O
of	O
Atmel-ICE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
has	O
been	O
an	O
interesting	O
PIC	O
programmer	B-General_Concept
from	O
Microchip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
can	O
program	O
and	O
debug	B-Device
most	O
PICs	O
(	O
as	O
of	O
May-2009	O
,	O
only	O
the	O
PIC32	O
family	O
is	O
not	O
supported	O
for	O
MPLAB	O
debugging	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
makes	O
it	O
relatively	O
easy	O
for	O
an	O
end	O
user	O
to	O
modify	O
the	O
programmer	B-General_Concept
for	O
use	O
with	O
a	O
non-Windows	O
operating	O
system	O
such	O
as	O
Linux	B-Application
or	O
Mac	O
OS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
open-source	O
structure	O
brings	O
many	O
features	O
to	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
community	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Programmer-to-Go	O
,	O
the	O
UART	O
Tool	O
and	O
the	O
Logic	O
Tool	O
,	O
which	O
have	O
been	O
contributed	O
by	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
have	O
also	O
added	O
such	O
features	O
to	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
as	O
4MB	O
Programmer-to-go	O
capability	O
,	O
USB	B-Protocol
buck/boost	O
circuits	O
,	O
RJ12	O
type	O
connectors	O
,	O
and	O
more	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
many	O
other	O
USB	B-Protocol
PIC	O
programmers	B-General_Concept
than	O
the	O
PICkit	B-Device
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
Microchip	O
PICkit	B-Device
2	O
and	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
in-circuit	O
debugger/programmers	O
was	O
released	O
by	O
Microchip	O
in	O
2009	O
and	O
2012	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
is	O
open	O
source	O
and	O
therefore	O
not	O
maintained	O
with	O
no	O
support	O
for	O
modern	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
no	O
formal	O
support	O
from	O
Microchip	O
no	O
support	O
for	O
new	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontrollers	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2018	O
,	O
PICkit	B-Device
Plus	O
software	O
was	O
released	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
newer	O
8-bit	O
microcontrollers	O
that	O
were	O
not	O
supported	O
by	O
the	O
original	O
Microchip	O
software	O
—	O
including	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
,	O
the	O
16F18xxx	O
and	O
18F2xKxx	O
ranges	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
intent	O
of	O
PICkit	B-Device
Plus	O
is	O
to	O
facilitate	O
programming	O
of	O
any	O
8-bit	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontroller	I-Architecture
using	O
the	O
PICkit™	O
2	O
and	O
PICkit™	O
3	O
(	O
ICSP	O
)	O
In-Circuit	O
Debuggers/Programmers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
extends	O
the	O
life	O
of	O
the	O
existing	O
PICkit2	O
and	O
PICkit3	O
hardware	O
devices	O
by	O
allowing	O
them	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
newer	O
8-bit	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontrollers	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Updated	O
PICkit	B-Device
3	O
graphical	O
interface	O
for	O
the	O
PICkit3	O
hardware	O
;	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
programming	O
protocol	O
support	O
for	O
new	O
classes	O
of	O
Microchip	O
's	O
8-bit	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontrollers	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
plans	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
to	O
support	O
MacOS	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
