Create your own USB devices

I know the first few posts on this blog have been a bit technical, and mostly electronics based, but I'm looking to build a number of computer controlled devices. Back in the good old days you could hook up a cable to your serial port and send a few commands via DOS and hey presto! Your own working PC peripheral device.
Things are not quite so simple these days, as most modern PCs and laptops have forgotten all about the humble 9-pin serial port and have opted for loads of USB hubs all over the place.

So the first step in any PC device project is going to be getting the instructions from your computer to the device (and back again). So I'm off to Maplin to investigate the FTDI chip. This basically creates a virtual COM port on your computer and converts all the tricky USB stuff into nice simple, easy-to-use serial data.
And since most mid-range PIC micros have built in USART (serial buffers) getting the data in and out of the microcontroller should be a doddle.....

If you're interested, have a look at the USB basics page on the main Nerb Club website. There are a few of us working on this one, so first to crack the FT232RL chip gets to post about it!