Beginner
10 min

Track light intensity with precision using TSL2583 and STM32F207ZG

From light to digital data

Illuminance Click with UNI Clicker

Published 6月 21, 2023

Click board™

Illuminance Click

Dev Board

UNI Clicker

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32F207ZG

Seamlessly integrate light intensity measurements into digital systems, enabling automation, analytics, and enhanced decision-making capabilities

A

A

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Illuminance Click is based on the TSL2583, a high-sensitivity light-to-digital converter from ams. The TSL2583 combines one broadband photodiode (visible plus infrared) and one infrared-responding photodiode on a single CMOS integrated circuit capable of providing a near-photopic response over an effective 16-bit dynamic range (16-bit resolution). Two integrating analog-to-digital converters (ADC) convert the photodiode currents to a digital output representing the irradiance measured on each channel. Besides general-purpose light sensing applications, the TSL2583 is explicitly designed for displays (LCD, OLED) to extend battery life and provide optimum viewing in diverse lighting conditions. The TSL2583 communicates with the MCU using the standard

I2C 2-Wire interface with a maximum frequency of 400kHz. Besides, it allows choosing the least significant bit (LSB) of its I2C slave address using the SMD jumper labeled I2C ADD. An integration of both ADC channels co-occurs. Upon completion of the conversion cycle, the conversion result is transferred to the Channel 0 and Channel 1 data registers, respectively. The transfers are double-buffered to ensure that the integrity of the data is maintained. After the transfer, the device automatically begins the next integration cycle. This sensor also supports an interrupt feature, routed to the INT pin on the mikroBUS™ socket, that simplifies and improves system efficiency by eliminating the need to poll a sensor for a light intensity value. The purpose of the interrupt

function is to detect a meaningful change in light intensity, where the user can define the concept of a significant change in light intensity and time or persistence. Users can define a threshold above and below the current light level, where an interrupt generates when the conversion value exceeds either of these limits. 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. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Illuminance Click hardware overview 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-M3

MCU Memory (KB)

1024

Silicon Vendor

STMicroelectronics

Pin count

144

RAM (Bytes)

131072

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
NC
NC
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
Interrupt
PD3
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
PB8
SCL
I2C Data
PB9
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

Illuminance 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 Illuminance Click driver.

Key functions:

  • illuminance_set_atime - This function sets the timing register for the selected integration time

  • illuminance_set_gain - This function sets the gain level

  • illuminance_read_raw_data - This function checks if the data is ready and then reads the raw ADC data from two channels

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 
 * \brief Illuminance Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates basic Illuminance Click functionality.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initialize device and driver.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * Every second calculate illuminance measured by sensor and log 
 * results to UART Terminal.
 * 
 * *note:* 
 * By default, integration time is set to 402ms but it may be modified
 * by user using illuminance_write_data() function and provided macros.
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "illuminance.h"

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

static illuminance_t illuminance;
static log_t logger;

static uint16_t value_ch0;
static uint16_t value_ch1;
static uint16_t lux_value;
static uint16_t lux_value_old;
static uint8_t sensitivity;

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    illuminance_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 );
    log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init ----" );

    //  Click initialization.

    illuminance_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    ILLUMINANCE_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    illuminance_init( &illuminance, &cfg );
    illuminance_default_cfg ( &illuminance );

    // Variable Initializations for this example.
    
    lux_value_old = 0;
    sensitivity = 50;
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    illuminance_get_result( &illuminance, &value_ch0, &value_ch1 );

    lux_value = illuminance_calculate_lux( ILLUMINANCE_TSL2561_GAIN_0X, ILLUMINANCE_TSL2561_INTEGRATIONTIME_402MS , value_ch0, value_ch1 );
    Delay_ms( 1000 );

    if ( ( ( lux_value - lux_value_old ) > sensitivity ) && ( ( lux_value_old - lux_value ) > sensitivity ) )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "\r\n--------------------------------" );
        log_printf( &logger, "\r\nFull  Spectrum: %u [ lux ]", lux_value );
        log_printf( &logger, "\r\nVisible  Value: %u [ lux ]", value_ch0 - value_ch1 );
        log_printf( &logger, "\r\nInfrared Value: %u [ lux ]", value_ch1 );    
        log_printf( &logger, "\r\n--------------------------------\r\n" );
        
        lux_value_old = lux_value;
    }
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

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

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

Additional Support

Resources