Transform physical pressures into actionable data thanks to the HSFPAR003A and STM32L496AG

Your ultimate force measurement solution!

Force 4 Click with Discovery kit with STM32L496AG MCU

Published Jul 22, 2025

Click board™

Force 4 Click

Dev. board

Discovery kit with STM32L496AG MCU

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32L496AG

Utilize our advanced force measurement solution to accurately determine the magnitude of applied forces, enabling precise load analysis and optimization in mechanical designs

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Force 4 Click is based on the HSFPAR003A piezoresistive force sensor from Alpsalpine. It works like our air (atmospheric) pressure sensors, using the piezoresistive method. They detect loads (force) with a piezoresistive element manufactured using MEMS processes. Force sensors differ from air pressure sensors in that they have a thicker diaphragm, allowing detection of only relatively large changes in pressure, like from loads, while very subtle fluctuations, such as changes in air pressure, do not affect the output.

Force 4 Click utilizes an additional IC. It uses the MCP3221 from Microchip, a 12-bit successive approximation A/D converter (ADC) with I2C interface. It is used to sample the output voltage from the sensor, providing data for the microcontroller (MCU) or some other device capable of communicating over the I2C bus. The voltage is sampled to a 12-bit value using the MCP1101-33 as the reference. Suppose analog voltage is preferred to be red directly by the MCU. In that case, it can be easily done by adding a

0-ohm resistor on the J1 marked position on the PCB, and the sensor output voltage will be available for reading on the AN pin of mikroBUS™. This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Features overview

Development board

The 32L496GDISCOVERY Discovery kit serves as a comprehensive demonstration and development platform for the STM32L496AG microcontroller, featuring an Arm® Cortex®-M4 core. Designed for applications that demand a balance of high performance, advanced graphics, and ultra-low power consumption, this kit enables seamless prototyping for a wide range of embedded solutions. With its innovative energy-efficient

architecture, the STM32L496AG integrates extended RAM and the Chrom-ART Accelerator, enhancing graphics performance while maintaining low power consumption. This makes the kit particularly well-suited for applications involving audio processing, graphical user interfaces, and real-time data acquisition, where energy efficiency is a key requirement. For ease of development, the board includes an onboard ST-LINK/V2-1

debugger/programmer, providing a seamless out-of-the-box experience for loading, debugging, and testing applications without requiring additional hardware. The combination of low power features, enhanced memory capabilities, and built-in debugging tools makes the 32L496GDISCOVERY kit an ideal choice for prototyping advanced embedded systems with state-of-the-art energy efficiency.

Discovery kit with STM32L496AG MCU double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M4

MCU Memory (KB)

1024

Silicon Vendor

STMicroelectronics

Pin count

169

RAM (Bytes)

327680

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Analog Output

PA4

RST

SCK

MISO

MOSI

Power Supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

PWM

INT

I2C Clock

PB8

SCL

I2C Data

PB7

SDA

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Discovery kit with STM32H750XB MCU front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Discovery kit with STM32L496AG MCU as your development board.

Thermo 21 Click front image hardware assembly

Board mapper by product7 hardware assembly

Discovery kit with STM32H750XB MCU NECTO MCU Selection Step hardware assembly

Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

1. Application Output - In Debug mode, the 'Application Output' window enables real-time data monitoring, offering direct insight into execution results. Ensure proper data display by configuring the environment correctly using the provided tutorial.

2. UART Terminal - Use the UART Terminal to monitor data transmission via a USB to UART converter, allowing direct communication between the Click board™ and your development system. Configure the baud rate and other serial settings according to your project's requirements to ensure proper functionality. For step-by-step setup instructions, refer to the provided tutorial.

3. Plot Output - The Plot feature offers a powerful way to visualize real-time sensor data, enabling trend analysis, debugging, and comparison of multiple data points. To set it up correctly, follow the provided tutorial, which includes a step-by-step example of using the Plot feature to display Click board™ readings. To use the Plot feature in your code, use the function: plot(*insert_graph_name*, variable_name);. This is a general format, and it is up to the user to replace 'insert_graph_name' with the actual graph name and 'variable_name' with the parameter to be displayed.

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for Force 4 Click driver.

Key functions:

force4_read_adc - This function reads 12bit ADC data from device

Open Source

Code example

The complete application code and a ready-to-use project are available through the NECTO Studio Package Manager for direct installation in the NECTO Studio. The application code can also be found on the MIKROE GitHub account.

/*!
 * \file 
 * \brief Force4 Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This example shows the use of Force 4 Click.
 * It reads 12bit ADC value, using I2C communication,
 * at the interval of one second. 
 * The result is represented on the UART terminal.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initializes the driver and logger, and makes an initial log.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * It reads 12bit ADC value, using I2C communication,
 * at the interval of one second.
 * The result is represented on the UART terminal.
 * 
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "force4.h"

// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES

static force4_t force4;
static log_t logger;

uint16_t adc_val;

// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    force4_cfg_t cfg;

    /** 
     * Logger initialization.
     * Default baud rate: 115200
     * Default log level: LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG
     * @note If USB_UART_RX and USB_UART_TX 
     * are defined as HAL_PIN_NC, you will 
     * need to define them manually for log to work. 
     * See @b LOG_MAP_USB_UART macro definition for detailed explanation.
     */
    LOG_MAP_USB_UART( log_cfg );
    log_init( &logger, &log_cfg );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
    log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init ----" );

    //  Click initialization.

    force4_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    FORCE4_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    force4_init( &force4, &cfg );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    adc_val = force4_read_adc( &force4 );
    log_printf( &logger, "ADC value: %d\r\n", adc_val );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
}

int main ( void ) 
{
    /* Do not remove this line or clock might not be set correctly. */
    #ifdef PREINIT_SUPPORTED
    preinit();
    #endif
    
    application_init( );
    
    for ( ; ; ) 
    {
        application_task( );
    }

    return 0;
}

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END