Beginner
10 min

Provide precise detection of magnetic field strength in all three dimensions with MLX90333 and PIC32MZ2048EFM100

The magnetic world unveiled

3D Hall Click with Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Published Sep 13, 2023

Click board™

3D Hall Click

Dev. board

Curiosity PIC32 MZ EF

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC32MZ2048EFM100

Our primary objective is to provide a comprehensive 3D Hall sensor solution that combines the precision of three-dimensional magnetometry with the user-friendly features you need to explore and utilize magnetic data effectively

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

3D Hall Click is based on the MLX90333, a Triaxis® contactless position sensor from Melexis Technologies able to sense any magnet moving in its surroundings through the measurement and the processing of the three spatial components of the magnetic flux density vector (Bx, By, and Bz). The horizontal components (Bx and By) are sensed thanks to an Integrated Magneto-Concentrator (IMC), while the vertical component (Bz) is sensed through a conventional Hall plate.

Thanks to its excellent performance, the MLX90333 can accurately measure its rotational, linear, and 3D displacement. The MLX90333 features a 3D magnetometer mode for which the 3D information of the magnetic flux density is reported to a host controller through an SPI interface supporting the most common SPI mode, SPI Mode 1, with a maximum frequency of 20MHz. The output transfer characteristic is fully programmable (e.g., offset, gain, clamping levels,

linearity, thermal drift, filtering, range, and such) to match any specific requirement through end-of-line calibration. This Click board™ can be operated only with a 5V 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 Click hardware overview 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
SPI Chip Select
RPD4
CS
SPI Clock
RPD1
SCK
SPI Data OUT
RPD14
MISO
SPI Data IN
RPD3
MOSI
NC
NC
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
NC
NC
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
NC
NC
SCL
NC
NC
SDA
Power Supply
5V
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

3D Hall 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
Board mapper by product7 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 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • c3dhall_read_all_data - Read 8 bytes data from sensor function

  • c3dhall_calculate_angle - Calculate angle function

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 c3DHall Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This application use to determine angle position.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initialization driver enable's - SPI and start write log.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * This is a example which demonstrates the use of 3D Hall Click board.
 * 3D Hall Click communicates with register via SPI by read data from register
 * and calculate Alpha and Beta angle position.
 * Results are being sent to the Usart Terminal where you can track their changes.
 * All data logs on usb uart.
 * 
 * ## NOTE
 * The maximal SPI Clock frequency for MLX90333 sensor is about 430 Khz. 
 * If you are expiriencing issues, please try to lower MCU's main clock frequency.
 *
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "c3dhall.h"

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

static c3dhall_t c3dhall;
static log_t logger;

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    c3dhall_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.

    c3dhall_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    C3DHALL_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    c3dhall_init( &c3dhall, &cfg );
    Delay_100ms( );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    c3dhall_all_data_t all_data;

    uint8_t angle_alpha;
    uint8_t angle_beta;

    c3dhall_read_all_data( &c3dhall, &all_data );
    Delay_100ms( );

    if ( ( all_data.data_error ) == C3DHALL_NO_ERRORS )
    {
        angle_alpha = c3dhall_calculate_angle( &c3dhall, all_data.data_angle_a );
        angle_beta = c3dhall_calculate_angle( &c3dhall, all_data.data_angle_b );
        
        log_printf( &logger, "     Alpha : %u\r\n", ( uint16_t ) angle_alpha );

        log_printf( &logger, "     Beta  : %u\r\n", ( uint16_t ) angle_beta );

        log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------\r\n", angle_beta );
    }
    else
    {
        if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_ADCMONITOR )
            log_printf( &logger, "       ADC Failure       \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_ADCSATURA )
            log_printf( &logger, "    Electrical failure   \r\n"  );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_GAINTOOLOW )
            log_printf( &logger, "    Gain code is less    \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_GAINTOOHIGH )
            log_printf( &logger, "   Gain code is greater  \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_NORMTOOLOW )
            log_printf( &logger, "   Fast norm below 30   \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_FIELDTOOLOW )
            log_printf( &logger, "     The norm is less    \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_FIELDTOOHIGH )
            log_printf( &logger, "   The norm is greater   \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_ROCLAMP )
            log_printf( &logger, "  Analog Chain Rough off \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_DEADZONEALPHA )
            log_printf( &logger, " Angle ALPHA in deadzone \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_F_DEADZONEBETA )
            log_printf( &logger, "  Angle BETA in deadzone \r\n" );
        else if ( all_data.data_error == C3DHALL_MULTIPLE_ERRORS )
            log_printf( &logger, "   More than one error   \r\n" );
        else
            log_printf( &logger, "      Unknown error      \r\n" );

        log_printf( &logger, "-------------------------\r\n" );
        Delay_1sec( );
    }
}

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

Additional Support

Resources

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