AMICUS18-COMPANION-SHIELD AMICUS, AMICUS18-COMPANION-SHIELD Datasheet - Page 3

• Manufacturer Part Number: AMICUS18-COMPANION-SHIELD
• Description: Amicus18 Companion Shield
• Manufacturer: AMICUS

Specifications of AMICUS18-COMPANION-SHIELD

• Silicon Manufacturer: Microchip
• Core Architecture: PIC
• Core Sub-architecture: PIC18
• Features: USB Interface, In Circuit Serial Programming Interface
• Kit Contents: Board
• Silicon Family Name: PIC
• Silicon Core Number: PIC18F25K20
• Rohs Compliant: Yes
• Lead Free Status / RoHS Status: Lead free / RoHS Compliant
• For Use With: PIC18F25K20 Microcontroller

Amicus18 Companion Shield
Amicus18 Companion Shield
A shield is a PCB that fits over the Amicus18 board and provides extra functionality, such as Ethernet,
Motor control, LCD, Smartcard, GPS, GSM etc…
All Arduino shields will physically fit on the Amicus18, however, Arduino source code is not compatible
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with Amicus18, as they differ in two very crucial aspects. First, the Amicus uses a Microchip PICmicro
for it’s microcontroller, while the Arduino uses an Atmel AVR microcontroller. The Arduino uses a subset
of the language C, where as the Amicus18’s supplied language is BASIC. However, there is no reason
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that any PICmicro
language cannot be used with Amicus18, in fact, it’s encouraged.
The entry level shield, and in the authors opinion, the most useful, is the Companion shield. This is a
PCB laid out in the pattern of a solderless breadboard. The holes are single sided, which means that
components can easily be removed using solder mop braid, or a solder vacuum tool, if a mistake is
made, or components need to be re-used.
Another solution is to add a solderless breadboard to the Companion shield, thus allowing the full re-use
of components without the need for a soldering iron. Notice the use of header sockets instead of header
pins.
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Crownhill AssociatesLimited 2009 - All Rights Reserved
Version 1.0
06-10-2009