Intermediate
30 min

Hear your heart's story with SFH 7060 and STM32F405RG

Your heartbeat, your guide

Heart Rate 9 Click with UNI Clicker

Published Jul 18, 2023

Click board™

Heart Rate 9 Click

Dev Board

UNI Clicker

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32F405RG

Upgrade your solution's heart rate monitoring capabilities with our advanced sensor technology - designed to deliver accurate and consistent readings

A

A

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Heart Rate 9 Click is based on the SFH 7060, a heart rate and pulse oximetry monitoring sensor from ams OSRAM. It utilizes a Phase Division Multiplexing technique to simultaneously measure multiple signals with zero cross-talk. This technique uses the PIC16F1779 MCU's integrated Core Independent Peripherals (CIPs) from Microchip. CIPs allow you to achieve a low-noise reflective heart rate monitor design with significantly lower BOM costs than conventional designs. This Heart Rate 9 Click board™ introduces Microchip's proprietary method (hereafter "proprietary method") of measuring multiple signals in a body using pseudorandom binary sequence generation and phase division multiplexing. This proprietary method uses a special encoding/decoding scheme to allow multiple light-emitting diodes (LED) to transmit light simultaneously with a single photodiode to condition each light from the combined lights at the receiving side. While the blood passes through the capillary blood vessels, they expand and dilate. Their light reflectance index changes accordingly. This is the basis of the photo-plethysmogram (PPM), a method used for the volumetric measurement of an organ, or in this case - blood vessels. The heart rate signal is calculated

according to the changes in the reflected green light sensed by the PD element. The Heart Rate 6 click can provide the HRM readings by placing the index finger over the optical sensor. Oxygen saturation in the blood can be determined by measuring the light absorption in the red/IR part of the spectrum. The oxygen-saturated blood absorbs more red light and less infrared than the unsaturated blood. This fact can be used to determine the oxygen saturation of the blood. The peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2) percentage ranges from 95% to 100% for a healthy adult. The challenge in a multiple signal sources system (for example, the LEDs in the case of a pulse oximeter) is that each LED must share the same photodiode. A classic solution is to turn on each light source in sequence and then take each measurement in turn. Each light source gets its slice of time in which the photodiode can get its measurement. This method is called Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM). The same principle is also applied to the TDMA-based cellular system. The drawback of the TDM approach is that adding more light sources while keeping the data processing routine the same results in more time to get a measurement from every source. Microchip's proprietary method uses a known

concept called Maximal Length (ML) sequence, a type of pseudorandom binary sequence, to generate a gold code or a reference sequence. This reference sequence is then phase-shifted using PhaseDivision Multiplexing (PDM) to drive multiple LEDs. After passing through a part of a body, the light amplitudes from these LEDs are detected by a phototransistor or photodiode and digitized with an Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC). The digitized ADC light amplitude values are re-correlated with each LED's driving sequence. Spread spectrum techniques are known for their noise mitigation properties and ability to pass multiple signals through the same medium without interference. Thus, these measurements of each light absorption of the body can be performed substantially simultaneously with minimal interference from each other. The SFH7060, made by ams OSRAM, integrates three green, one red, one infrared emitter, and one photodiode in a reflective package. The reflective photo sensing method has become increasingly popular in developing small, wearable biometric sensors, such as those green light sensors seen in the back of smartwatches or activity tracker wristbands.

Heart Rate 9 Click top side image
Heart Rate 9 Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

UNI Clicker is a compact development board designed as a complete solution that brings the flexibility of add-on Click boards™ to your favorite microcontroller, making it a perfect starter kit for implementing your ideas. It supports a wide range of microcontrollers, such as different ARM, PIC32, dsPIC, PIC, and AVR from various vendors like Microchip, ST, NXP, and TI (regardless of their number of pins), four mikroBUS™ sockets for Click board™ connectivity, a USB connector, LED indicators, buttons, a debugger/programmer connector, and two 26-pin headers for interfacing with external electronics. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, it allows you to build

gadgets with unique functionalities and features quickly. Each part of the UNI Clicker development kit contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. In addition to the possibility of choosing the UNI Clicker programming method, using a third-party programmer or CODEGRIP/mikroProg connected to onboard JTAG/SWD header, the UNI Clicker board also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development kit. It provides two ways of board-powering; through the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector, where onboard voltage regulators provide the appropriate voltage levels to each component on the board, or using a Li-Po/Li

Ion battery via an onboard battery connector. All communication methods that mikroBUS™ itself supports are on this board (plus USB HOST/DEVICE), including the well-established mikroBUS™ socket, a standardized socket for the MCU card (SiBRAIN standard), and several user-configurable buttons and LED indicators. UNI Clicker is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem, allowing you to create a new application in minutes. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.

UNI clicker double image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Type

8th Generation

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M4

MCU Memory (KB)

1024

Silicon Vendor

STMicroelectronics

Pin count

64

RAM (Bytes)

196608

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
Reset
PC13
RST
NC
NC
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
NC
NC
INT
UART TX
PA2
TX
UART RX
PA3
RX
NC
NC
SCL
NC
NC
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

Heart Rate 9 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

UNI Clicker front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the UNI Clicker as your development board.

UNI Clicker front image hardware assembly
Thermo 28 Click front image hardware assembly
SiBRAIN for STM32F745VG front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
UNI Clicker MB 1 - upright/with-background hardware assembly
Necto image step 2 hardware assembly
Necto image step 3 hardware assembly
Necto image step 4 hardware assembly
Necto image step 5 hardware assembly
Necto image step 6 hardware assembly
Necto image step 7 hardware assembly
Necto No Display image step 8 hardware assembly
Necto image step 9 hardware assembly
Necto image step 10 hardware assembly
Debug Image Necto Step hardware assembly

Track your results in real time

Application Output

After loading the code example, pressing the "DEBUG" button builds and programs it on the selected setup.

Application Output Step 1

After programming is completed, a header with buttons for various actions available in the IDE appears. By clicking the green "PLAY "button, we start reading the results achieved with Click board™.

Application Output Step 3

Upon completion of programming, the Application Output tab is automatically opened, where the achieved result can be read. In case of an inability to perform the Debug function, check if a proper connection between the MCU used by the setup and the CODEGRIP programmer has been established. A detailed explanation of the CODEGRIP-board connection can be found in the CODEGRIP User Manual. Please find it in the RESOURCES section.

Application Output Step 4

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for Heart Rate 9 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • heartrate9_generic_write - Heart Rate 9 data writing function

  • heartrate9_generic_read - Heart Rate 9 data reading function

  • heartrate9_set_rst - Sets state of the rst pin setting

Open Source

Code example

This example can be found in NECTO Studio. Feel free to download the code, or you can copy the code below.

/*!
 * @file main.c
 * @brief Heart Rate 9 Click Example.
 *
 * # Description
 * This example reads and processes data from Heart Rate 9 clicks.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initializes driver and wake-up module.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * Reads the received data and logs it.
 *
 * ## Additional Function
 * - static void heartrate9_clear_app_buf ( void ) - Function clears memory of app_buf.
 * - static err_t heartrate9_process ( void ) - The general process of collecting data the module sends.
 *
 * @note
 * Data structure is:
 *  > AA;BB;CC;DD;EE; <
 * 
 *  > AA -> Data header.
 *  > BB -> Red diode.
 *  > CC -> IR diode.
 *  > DD -> Green diode.
 *  > EE -> BPM.
 *
 * @author Luka Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "heartrate9.h"

#define PROCESS_BUFFER_SIZE 200

static heartrate9_t heartrate9;
static log_t logger;

static char app_buf[ PROCESS_BUFFER_SIZE ] = { 0 };
static int32_t app_buf_len = 0;
static int32_t app_buf_cnt = 0;

/**
 * @brief Heart Rate 9 clearing application buffer.
 * @details This function clears memory of application buffer and reset it's length and counter.
 * @note None.
 */
static void heartrate9_clear_app_buf ( void );

/**
 * @brief Heart Rate 9 data reading function.
 * @details This function reads data from device and concatenates data to application buffer.
 *
 * @return @li @c  0 - Read some data.
 *         @li @c -1 - Nothing is read.
 *         @li @c -2 - Application buffer overflow.
 *
 * See #err_t definition for detailed explanation.
 * @note None.
 */
static err_t heartrate9_process ( void );

void application_init ( void ) 
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    heartrate9_cfg_t heartrate9_cfg;  /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * 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 );

    // Click initialization.
    heartrate9_cfg_setup( &heartrate9_cfg );
    HEARTRATE9_MAP_MIKROBUS( heartrate9_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    err_t init_flag  = heartrate9_init( &heartrate9, &heartrate9_cfg );
    if ( init_flag == UART_ERROR ) 
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Application Init Error. " );
        log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );

        for ( ; ; );
    }

    app_buf_len = 0;
    app_buf_cnt = 0;
}

void application_task ( void )
{
   heartrate9_process();

    if ( app_buf_len > 0 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "%s", app_buf );
        heartrate9_clear_app_buf(  );
    }
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

    for ( ; ; )
    {
        application_task( );
    }
}

static void heartrate9_clear_app_buf ( void )
{
    memset( app_buf, 0, app_buf_len );
    app_buf_len = 0;
    app_buf_cnt = 0;
}

static err_t heartrate9_process ( void )
{
    int32_t rx_size;
    char rx_buff[ PROCESS_BUFFER_SIZE ] = { 0 };

    rx_size = heartrate9_generic_read( &heartrate9, rx_buff, PROCESS_BUFFER_SIZE );

    if ( rx_size > 0 )
    {
        int32_t buf_cnt = 0;

        if ( app_buf_len + rx_size >= PROCESS_BUFFER_SIZE )
        {
           heartrate9_clear_app_buf(  );
            return -2;
        }
        else
        {
            buf_cnt = app_buf_len;
            app_buf_len += rx_size;
        }

        for ( int32_t rx_cnt = 0; rx_cnt < rx_size; rx_cnt++ )
        {
            if ( rx_buff[ rx_cnt ] != 0 )
            {
                app_buf[ ( buf_cnt + rx_cnt ) ] = rx_buff[ rx_cnt ];
            }
            else
            {
                app_buf_len--;
            }

        }
        return 0;
    }
    return -1;
}

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

Additional Support

Resources