Create a new stand-alone project in MPLAB X for a PIC16F1508.

Open the MCC under the Tools > Embedded menu of MPLAB X IDE.

Select the peripherals for your project.
In this first project these peripherals need to be selected:

• System Module
• Interrupt Module
• Pin Module
• PWM3
• TMR2

These modules will automatically be included when you launch the MCC. PWM3 and TMR2 need to be added from Device Resources. Just click on the PWM and then double-click on PWM3 to add it to the project. Under Timers, double-click on TMR2 to add that peripheral.

The Timer2 needs to be set up. Click on Timer2 under Project Resources to make the Timer2 setup appear.

Timer2 will be driven by the instruction clock which will be set up in a future step. These selections need to be made for the TMR2 operation.

1. Check the Enable Timer box.
2. Set the Prescaler box to 1:16.
3. Set the Postscaler box to 1:1.
4. Set the Timer Period to 16.384 ms.

The window will appear as below after the setup.

The next step is to setup the PWM3 module. Click on PWM3 under Project Resources.

The PWM3 setup will appear in the center of the MPLAB X screen. This requires a few setup selections.

1. Check the Enable PWM box
2. Check the Enable pin Output box
3. Select Timer2 from the Select a Timer drop-down menu.
4. Set the Duty Cycle to 50%

Open the Pin Manager and then click on the PORTA pin 2 (RA2) blue lock symbol in the PWM3 row. It should turn green. This will output the PWM signal to the RA2 pin. Also, make sure the reset pin has the blue lock shown. If it is green, then click on the green lock to make it blue. This will make the reset internal.

Close the Pin Manager and then click on the Pin Module under Project Resources.

The center screen will show RA2 listed on the I/O chart. Click on the Output box to make the pin an output (if not checked) and make sure Analog and WPU are not checked (click on them to uncheck them).

The System needs to be setup next. Click on the System Name under Project Resources.

In this section, the oscillator settings and the configuration settings are selected.

Oscillator

1. Select the INTOSC from the System Clock Select drop-down menu.
2. Select the 1MHz_HF from the Internal Clock drop-down menu.

This will enable the internal 1 MHz internal oscillator as the system clock.

Configuration

Each configuration setting can be changed under the Register tab of the System window. Match the selections shown here.

Click on the Generate Code button to have the MCC create the software libraries for this project.

The project will now have both generated header and source files. It should also have a generated main.c file.

Double click on the main.c file to open it up in the Editor window.

The PWM Duty cycle is adjusted by a value of 0 to 1023 in the PWM control routine. This is a 10-bit resolution. This example will only use half of the range of 1 to 512 to change the brightness of the LED connected to the PWM output. The main loop of code adjusts the PWM value in increments of ten and uses a for-loop delay routine to allow the PWM value to be displayed on the RB2 LED. To perform this routine, the following code needs to be entered in the main.c file under the while (1) area where the MCC generated template says // Add your application code.

while (1)
    {
        // Add your application code
        for (int duty = 1; duty < 512; duty = duty + 10)
        {
            PWM3_LoadDutyValue(duty);
            for (int delay = 1; delay < 500; delay++)
            {;}
        }
    }

This is a simple example of how the MCC generates a library of useful functions to make creating a PWM project code much easier and quicker.

Click on the "Build Project" (hammer icon) to compile the code and you should see a "BUILD SUCCESSFUL" message in the Output window of MPLAB X.

BUILD SUCCESSFUL (total time: 7s)

Make sure your project has the programming tool selected (Part of Step 1 above) and connect power to your development board.

Click on "Make and Program Device". This will build the project again and launch the programmer. In the Output window you should see a series of messages and, if successful, it will end with a "Programming and Verify Successful" message.

Output Window:

Connecting to MPLAB PICkit 3...

Currently loaded firmware on PICkit 3
Firmware Suite Version.....01.41.06
Firmware type..............Enhanced Midrange

Target voltage detected
Target device PIC16F1709 found.
Device ID Revision = 2002

The following memory area(s) will be programmed:
program memory: start address = 0x0, end address = 0x7ff
configuration memory

Device Erased...

Programming...
Programming/Verify complete

The project can be closed in MPLAB X. The project is saved automatically when it is built but any changes to files or configuration may be asked to be saved before the project is closed.
The project can be closed under the File > Close Project.