Turns out, after much fussing and attempted debugging, the reason I couldn’t get I²C working with my PIC was due to a compiler bug. I can’t complain too much, since I’m using the free version of the software, but still, it’s a bummer to spend days working on a problem only to find out it’s nothing to do with you.

They did release an update to the compiler this week, and I spent some time last night coding. I successfully got my Mac reading motor encoder position info from the PIC over I²C! Once I get the motor control electronics worked out, I’ll be ready to start hooking things up to the robot arm itself. Plenty of things still to work out, but it’s nice to make progress.

It was an active week – I went for a run, played soccer, walked to work twice, and went climbing. Took today off from exercise and spent the morning with friends eating and playing card games. Very satisfying.