dsPIC33A Hands-on Labs Using VS Code®

Last modified by Microchip on 2026/04/07 10:25

Introduction

These lab exercises will provide hands-on practice in developing simple dsPIC33A applications using Microsoft^® VS Code^® by using MPLAB^® Extensions for VS Code.

Lab 0. Setup will guide you through toolchain installation and creation of your first standalone dsPIC33A project in VS Code.

Lab 1. Simple Digital I/O will show you how to configure simple digital input/output functions using the IO Port on the dsPIC33A, and how to program/debug MPLAB projects in VS Code.

Lab 2. Using Peripheral Pin Select (PPS) will show you how to configure the PPS registers to map Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (UART) TX/RX functions to specific IO pins on the dsPIC33A.

Lab 3. Tick Interface Using Timer1 will show you how to configure Timer1 interrupts on a dsPIC33A DSC, and create a simple Tick interface to implement non-blocking delays.

Lab 4. Configure 200 MHz Operation will show you how to configure PLL1 and CLKGEN1 to generate a 200 MHz CPU/System clock to run the MCU at its maximum speed, using the built-in 8 MHz FRC oscillator source.

Prerequisites

The lab material assumes you have prior experience with:

Microcontroller-based programming/debugging fundamentals
C language programming

Conventions

VS Code keyboard shortcuts will assume you are running on Windows^®. Mac^® users can use the same shortcuts by replacing Ctrl with Command. For example:

Windows: Ctrl+Shift+P
Mac: Command+Shift+P
Linux®: Ctrl+Shift+P

Hardware Requirements

You will need an internet-connected, Windows 11 or macOS®-based computer with an available USB port.

In addition, you will need the following hardware development tools to complete the labs:

Curiosity Platform Development Board (EV74H48A)

dsPIC33AK512MPS512 General Purpose DIM (Dual In-Line Module) (EV80L65A)

USB-C Cable (not included)

USB cable

Insert the DIM card into the Curiosity Board using the orientation shown here, and connect the USB cable to an available USB port on your PC.

DIM card into the Curiosity Board

Software Requirements

Here is the list of software needed to complete the labs (these will be installed in Lab 0):

Note: MPLAB XC Compilers are distributed and installed separately from the MPLAB Extensions for VS Code. You can install multiple compiler versions and the MPLAB Extensions will detect them and make them available.

Next Project

Start Lab 0 to install the software tools and create your first dsPIC33A MPLAB X IDE project in VS Code.