Has anyone tried AI with PICBASIC

[Ioannis]

DeepSeek is much better in creating programs.

Not for a finished job of course, but helps to start.

Ioannis

[CuriousOne]

Well, I asked both to create a simple code - Read time from DS3231 and display it on HD44780 display.
Judge by yourself

' PICBasic Pro Code to Read DS3231 RTC and Display Time on LCD
' Connections:
' - DS3231: SDA -> PORTC.4, SCL -> PORTC.3
' - LCD: Connected in 4-bit mode to PORTB


' Define LCD
DEFINE LCD_DREG PORTB
DEFINE LCD_DBIT 4
DEFINE LCD_RSREG PORTB
DEFINE LCD_RSBIT 2
DEFINE LCD_EREG PORTB
DEFINE LCD_EBIT 3
DEFINE LCD_LINES 2
DEFINE LCD_COMMANDUS 2000
DEFINE LCD_DATAUS 50


' I2C Pin Assignments
SDA VAR PORTC.4
SCL VAR PORTC.3


' Time Variables
second VAR BYTE
minute VAR BYTE
hour   VAR BYTE


' DS3231 I2C Address
RTC_ADDR CON $D0  ' 7-bit address shifted left


' Convert BCD to Decimal
FUNC_BCD2DEC:
    ASM
    MOVF  second, W
    ANDLW  0x0F
    MOVWF _temp1
    SWAPF second, W
    ANDLW  0x0F
    MOVWF _temp2
    MOVF  _temp2, W
    MOVWF second
    ADDWF _temp1, F
    MOVF  minute, W
    ANDLW  0x0F
    MOVWF _temp1
    SWAPF minute, W
    ANDLW  0x0F
    MOVWF _temp2
    MOVF  _temp2, W
    MOVWF minute
    ADDWF _temp1, F
    MOVF  hour, W
    ANDLW  0x0F
    MOVWF _temp1
    SWAPF hour, W
    ANDLW  0x0F
    MOVWF _temp2
    MOVF  _temp2, W
    MOVWF hour
    ADDWF _temp1, F
    ENDASM
RETURN


' Read Time from DS3231
Read_Time:
    I2CWRITE SDA, SCL, RTC_ADDR, 0, [0]  ' Set register pointer to 0
    I2CREAD SDA, SCL, RTC_ADDR, [second, minute, hour] ' Read time
    GOSUB FUNC_BCD2DEC  ' Convert BCD to decimal
RETURN


' Initialize LCD
PAUSE 500
LCDOUT $FE, 1 ' Clear LCD
LCDOUT $FE, $80, "Time: "


' Main Loop
Main:
    GOSUB Read_Time  ' Read DS3231 time
    LCDOUT $FE, $C0, DEC2 hour, ":", DEC2 minute, ":", DEC2 second ' Display time
    PAUSE 1000  ' Wait 1 second
GOTO Main

;

' PICBASIC PRO code to read time from DS3231 and display on HD44780 LCD


' Define PIC microcontroller (e.g., PIC16F877A)
#CONFIG
    __CONFIG _HS_OSC & _WDT_OFF & _PWRTE_ON & _LVP_OFF
#ENDCONFIG


' Define LCD pins
DEFINE LCD_DREG PORTD   ' LCD data port
DEFINE LCD_DBIT 4       ' Starting data bit (D4)
DEFINE LCD_RSREG PORTE  ' RS pin port
DEFINE LCD_RSBIT 0      ' RS pin bit
DEFINE LCD_EREG PORTE   ' Enable pin port
DEFINE LCD_EBIT 1       ' Enable pin bit


' Define I2C pins
DEFINE I2C_SCL PORTB, 1 ' SCL pin (RB1)
DEFINE I2C_SDA PORTB, 2 ' SDA pin (RB2)


' Include necessary libraries
INCLUDE "DS3231.bas"    ' DS3231 I2C RTC library
INCLUDE "LCD.bas"       ' HD44780 LCD library


' Variables
Dim second As Byte
Dim minute As Byte
Dim hour As Byte
Dim day As Byte
Dim month As Byte
Dim year As Byte


' Initialize LCD
LCDOUT $FE, $01  ' Clear LCD
LCDOUT $FE, $0C  ' Turn on display, no cursor


' Main loop
Main:
    ' Read time from DS3231
    DS3231_ReadTime hour, minute, second


    ' Display time on LCD
    LCDOUT $FE, $80, "Time: ", DEC2 hour, ":", DEC2 minute, ":", DEC2 second


    ' Wait for 1 second
    PAUSE 1000


    ' Repeat
    GOTO Main

[richard]

which one is which

[Ioannis]

It is important to know also the prompt given since it plays crucial role for the result.

On deepseek, and on my second attempt, I had to ask for the correct syntax regarding variables and config settings. So that time it got it correct while ChatGPD had really difficulties correcting the errors.

But asking for Tiananmen Square was a failure!

Ioannis

[CuriousOne]

It does not matter, since none of code works.

Sometimes ChatGPT makes really funny moves - Once it created a new type of variable - "svar" which is not in PBP, I asked, what is this - so it replied, "Yes, this is a new type of variable, I've invented it for convience", "but such variable is not supported by picbasic pro?", "Yes I know, this is very sad, below is the code which works without svar variable" (and that code was not compiling anyways).

[CuriousOne]

Here's a working code, written by ChatGPT, which allows to control playback of DY-SV17F and similar "DY" series mp3 modules. These modules provide far better audio quality, no noise and cracking, compared to more common, "Dfplayer" type of modules, and also, they have 4mb of onboard flash (and also MicroSD and USB flash support), which is quite handy, when you need to design an announcement or counter system.

This code took multiple iterations - it was not compiling initially because it used Proton Basic statements randomly. It was figured out. Code compiled, but not working. After reading the datasheet, I've figured out that it was not sending "source selection" statement. After pointing it to that, it took about 20 minutes to generate the code. It was still far from perfect, because "main" part was at the bottom, so module was confused. Now I've moved manually the "Main" code to the proper place and yay, it works!

The moral of story? - It coded a lot of code, which most likely I would never be able to write, considering my limited skills, but until I suggested what is wrong and needs to be fixed, it was struggling with the working code, despite making several attempts.

' Use software UART on a chosen pin
MP3_TX   VAR PORTB.1     ' pick your PIC output pin
BAUD9600 CON 84          ' 9600 baud, N,8,1 for SEROUT2


' === Constants from DY-SV17F datasheet ===
USB     CON $00
TF_CARD CON $01
FLASH   CON $02


' Command IDs
CMD_PLAY          CON $02
CMD_PAUSE         CON $03
CMD_STOP          CON $04
CMD_PREV          CON $05
CMD_NEXT          CON $06
CMD_PLAY_SPECIFIC CON $07
CMD_SWITCH_DEVICE CON $0B
CMD_VOL_SET       CON $13


' === Variables ===
dyCmd    VAR BYTE
dyLen    VAR BYTE
dyBuf    VAR BYTE[8]
i        VAR BYTE
sumW     VAR WORD
crc      VAR BYTE
track    VAR WORD
hiB      VAR BYTE
loB      VAR BYTE
vol      VAR BYTE




' --- Example main ---
Main:
    PAUSE 500
    GOSUB DY_SelectDeviceFlash      ' set source = FLASH


    vol = 20
    GOSUB DY_SetVolume


    track = 1
    GOSUB DY_PlayTrack


    PAUSE 5000
    GOSUB DY_Pause
    PAUSE 1500
    GOSUB DY_Play
    PAUSE 3000
    GOSUB DY_Stop
END


' --- Low-level: send DY-SV17F packet (AA, cmd, len, data..., crc) ---
DY_Send:
    sumW = 0
    SEROUT2 MP3_TX, BAUD9600, [$AA]
    sumW = sumW + $AA


    SEROUT2 MP3_TX, BAUD9600, [dyCmd]
    sumW = sumW + dyCmd


    SEROUT2 MP3_TX, BAUD9600, [dyLen]
    sumW = sumW + dyLen


    IF dyLen > 0 THEN
        FOR i = 0 TO dyLen-1
            SEROUT2 MP3_TX, BAUD9600, [dyBuf[i]]
            sumW = sumW + dyBuf[i]
        NEXT
    ENDIF


    crc = sumW & $FF
    SEROUT2 MP3_TX, BAUD9600, [crc]
    PAUSE 10
RETURN


' --- High-level helpers ---
DY_SelectDeviceFlash:              ' Switch to internal FLASH (02)
    dyCmd = CMD_SWITCH_DEVICE
    dyLen = 1
    dyBuf[0] = FLASH
    GOSUB DY_Send
    PAUSE 150                       ' module auto-plays first track after switch
    ' Stop playback immediately so only source is selected:
    dyCmd = CMD_STOP
    dyLen = 0
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_Play:
    dyCmd = CMD_PLAY : dyLen = 0
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_Pause:
    dyCmd = CMD_PAUSE : dyLen = 0
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_Stop:
    dyCmd = CMD_STOP : dyLen = 0
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_Next:
    dyCmd = CMD_NEXT : dyLen = 0
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_Prev:
    dyCmd = CMD_PREV : dyLen = 0
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_SetVolume:                       ' vol = 0..30
    dyCmd = CMD_VOL_SET
    dyLen = 1
    dyBuf[0] = vol
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN


DY_PlayTrack:                       ' track = 1..65535
    hiB = track >> 8
    loB = track & $FF
    dyCmd = CMD_PLAY_SPECIFIC
    dyLen = 2
    dyBuf[0] = hiB
    dyBuf[1] = loB
    GOSUB DY_Send
RETURN

[Ioannis]

Despite the progress of AI it is evident that will not replace soon a programmer.

And for the size of projects like the one you showed, probably it is worth the time to do it yourself and expand your experience than spend time in showing AI how to do it!

My 2c.

Ioannis