Intermediate
30 min

Experience the future of magnetic field detection with ALS31300 and PIC32MZ2048EFM100

A new dimension of insight: Discover our 3D magnetic sensor's X, Y, and Z capabilities

3D Hall 9 Click with Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Published Sep 28, 2023

Click board™

3D Hall 9 Click

Dev. board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC32MZ2048EFM100

From industrial automation to scientific research, our 3D magnetic field strength detector opens doors to endless possibilities, ensuring accurate measurements across all three dimensions

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

3D Hall 9 Click is based on the ALS31300, a 3D linear Hall-effect sensor used to detect the strength of a magnetic field in all three dimensions (X, Y, and Z axes) from Allegro Microsystems. The ALS31300 provides a 12-bit digital output value proportional to the magnetic field generally applied to any of the Hall elements alongside a 12-bit temperature output representing the junction temperature of the IC. The quiescent output value (zero magnetic fields used) is at mid-scale. The ALS31300 has a factory-programmed sensitivity range of ±500G, suitable for 3D linear or 2D angle sensing applications. Power management on the ALS31300 is user-selectable and highly configurable, allowing for system-level optimization of current consumption and performance. It supports three power modes: Active, Sleep, and Low-Power Duty Cycle Mode (LPDCM). The operating mode of the ALS31300 will

be determined by the selected proper value of the 0x27 register. More information on the operational modes can be found in the attached datasheet. 3D Hall 9 Click communicates with MCU using the standard I2C 2-Wire interface to read data and configure settings, supporting Standard Mode operation with a clock frequency of 100kHz and Fast Mode up to 400kHz. It provides data in digital format of 12 bits corresponding to the magnetic field measured in each X, Y, and Z axes. The ALS31300 also requires a supply voltage of 3V to work regularly. Therefore, a small LDO regulator, NCP170 from ON Semiconductor, provides a 3V out of mikroBUS™ 3V3 power rail. This Click board™ also uses the Enable pin labeled as EN and routed to the CS pin of the mikroBUS™ socket to optimize power consumption, used for its power ON/OFF purposes. The ALS31300 provides the ability to set different I2C slave addresses (16

unique addresses) by populating the appropriate resistors (R8 and R6), thus forming a voltage divider with a voltage value that corresponds to the desired I2C address. It also possesses an additional interrupt signal, routed on the INT pin of the mikroBUS™ socket. It integrates the detection and reporting of significant changes in an applied magnetic field (independently turned on or off for each of the three axes). An interrupt event is initiated when the applied magnetic field forces the ADC output to a value greater than or equal to the user-programmed threshold. 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.

3D Hall 9 Click top side image
3D Hall 9 Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board is a fully integrated 32-bit development platform featuring the high-performance PIC32MZ EF Series (PIC32MZ2048EFM) that has a 2MB Flash, 512KB RAM, integrated FPU, Crypto accelerator, and excellent connectivity options. It includes an integrated programmer and debugger, requiring no additional hardware. Users can expand

functionality through MIKROE mikroBUS™ Click™ adapter boards, add Ethernet connectivity with the Microchip PHY daughter board, add WiFi connectivity capability using the Microchip expansions boards, and add audio input and output capability with Microchip audio daughter boards. These boards are fully integrated into PIC32’s powerful software framework, MPLAB Harmony,

which provides a flexible and modular interface to application development a rich set of inter-operable software stacks (TCP-IP, USB), and easy-to-use features. The Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF development board offers expansion capabilities making it an excellent choice for a rapid prototyping board in Connectivity, IOT, and general-purpose applications.

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

PIC32

MCU Memory (KB)

2048

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

100

RAM (Bytes)

524288

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
NC
NC
RST
Enable
RPD4
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
Interrupt
RF13
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
RPA14
SCL
I2C Data
RPA15
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

3D Hall 9 Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF as your development board.

Curiosity PIC32MZ EF front image hardware assembly
GNSS2 Click front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MB 1 Access - upright/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
Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF MCU Step 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

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 3D Hall 9 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • c3dhall9_write_register - This function writes a desired data to the selected register by using I2C serial interface.

  • c3dhall9_read_register - This function reads a desired data from the selected register by using I2C serial interface.

  • c3dhall9_read_data - This function reads new data which consists of X, Y, and Z axis values in Gauss, and temperature in Celsius. It also calculates the angles between all axes in Degrees based on the raw axes data read.

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 main.c
 * @brief 3DHall9 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of 3D Hall 9 click board by reading the magnetic
 * flux density from 3 axes as well as the angles between axes and the sensor temperature.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initializes the driver and the click board.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * Reads the new data from the sensor approximately every 300ms and displays 
 * the measurement values on the USB UART.  
 *
 * @author Stefan Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "c3dhall9.h"

static c3dhall9_t c3dhall9;
static log_t logger;

void application_init ( void ) 
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    c3dhall9_cfg_t c3dhall9_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 );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Init " );

    // Click initialization.
    c3dhall9_cfg_setup( &c3dhall9_cfg );
    C3DHALL9_MAP_MIKROBUS( c3dhall9_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == c3dhall9_init( &c3dhall9, &c3dhall9_cfg ) ) 
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    if ( C3DHALL9_ERROR == c3dhall9_default_cfg ( &c3dhall9 ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Default configuration." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}

void application_task ( void ) 
{
    c3dhall9_data_t sensor_data;
    
    if ( C3DHALL9_OK == c3dhall9_read_data ( &c3dhall9, &sensor_data ) )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, " X-axis: %.1f Gauss\r\n", sensor_data.x_axis );
        log_printf( &logger, " Y-axis: %.1f Gauss\r\n", sensor_data.y_axis );
        log_printf( &logger, " Z-axis: %.1f Gauss\r\n", sensor_data.z_axis );
        log_printf( &logger, " Angle XY: %.1f Degrees\r\n", sensor_data.angle_xy );
        log_printf( &logger, " Angle XZ: %.1f Degrees\r\n", sensor_data.angle_xz );
        log_printf( &logger, " Angle YZ: %.1f Degrees\r\n", sensor_data.angle_yz );
        log_printf( &logger, " Temperature: %.2f Celsius\r\n\n", sensor_data.temperature );
        Delay_ms ( 300 );
    }
}

void main ( void ) 
{
    application_init( );

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

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

Additional Support

Resources

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