The OOPic is an Object Oriented Programmable Integrated Circuit. Created by Savage Innovations, this PIC microcontroller comes with an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that supports programming in syntaxes based on the BASIC, Java and C programming languages. The last three versions released to market were the OOPic-R, the OOPic-S and the OOPic-C, which is a miniature version of the former. The oldest model is the OOPic I, which uses the A.2 version of the firmware. Architecture The OOPic firmware defines numerous built-in "objects," which can provide custom methods and properties. The objects may be wrappers for hardware, such as an external infrared sensor or a built-in LED, or logic helpers, such as dividers or logic gates. The OOPic also makes use of "virtual circuits," where the programmer can create links between object properties. Example program The following is an example piece of code written in the BASIC syntax, which links a built-in clock that cycles every 1 Hz to an LED. ' The LED is defined as a single I/O line Dim Red As New oDio1 ' Here we create a virtual wire. Wires are ' used to link output or flag values to ' input values. Dim W As New oWire ' All OOPic programs need to define a "main" sub-routine. ' This is what will be run when the OOPic is turned on. Sub Main() ' Here we specify the pin number for the I/O line. ' The onboard red LED is on pin 7. Red.IOLine = 7 ' The LED can also be used for a button, so we need ' to specify whether we wish to read from or write to ' the pin. ' (cvOutput is a constant value) Red.Direction = cvOutput ' Now we can set up the wire link! ' For the wire's input, we wish to use the built-in ' 1Hz timer. W.Input.Link(OOPic.Hz1) ' Now we send the output of the wire to the LED. ' Note that we actually send it to the "Value" ' property of the LED, as this is what determines ' whether the LED is lit. W.Output.Link(Red.Value) ' All that's left to do is to tell the wire to ' operate, and the OOPic will do the rest! ' (cvTrue is a constant value) W.Operate = cvTrue End Sub This virtual circuit behaviour gives the programmer considerable control and flexibility, and allows for better reaction to real-time