Enable port RA0 as input and retrieve value LDR from led

Question

I'm using the picdem 18F4550 with microchip v8.63 with the C18 compiler.

I will enable PortA to set as input, I will connect a LDR on port RA0. Which is as following (I think):

TRISAbits.TRISA0 = 1; //<= set RA0 as input.

Now I want the value of the LDR (voltage/value if a led is on), can I say:

int colorLed = PortAbits.RA0;

And now in the variable of type int there is the value/voltage of my Led.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Answer 1

Firstly, lets check that you have connected your LDR up correctly, it should be something like this...

LDR wiring

To read the value of PIN RA0/AN0, you need to do some initialisation to make sure the port is setup correctly. The datasheet explains how all this works, but these values should work:

TRISAbits.TRISA0 = 1; // Set RA0/AN0 to input
ADCON0 = 0b00000000; // Set channel select to AN0
ADCON1 = 0b00001110; // Configure RA0/AN0 as analogue
ADCON2 = 0b10101010; // Right justified result
 // TAD 12 and FOSC 32 - may need to adjust this
 // depending on your clock frequency (see datasheet)
ADCON0.ADON = 1; // Enable ADC

Now the port should be set up, you can now read the LDR value:

ADCON0bits.GO = 1; // Set the GO bit of the ADCON0 register to start
 // the conversion.
while (ADCON0bits.GO); // Wait until the conversion is complete.

You can now read the result of the LDR as a 10-bit value in ADRESH:ADRESL. If you only need 8-bit resolution, then set ADCON2.ADFM = 0 for left justification of the result, then you only need to read the ADRESH to get your result.

• yannick: the plan that you signed, correct. The code that you write is what I wanted! Many thanks for your help!!!

Answer 2

To read an analogue voltage you need to use the PIC's ADC (Analogue to Digital Converter).

Here's a tutorial: http://www.roboticsguy.com/tutorials/pic-microcontrollers/configuring-the-pic18f4550-10-bit-adc-module