Transform physical pressures into actionable data thanks to the HSFPAR003A and PIC18F2525
Your ultimate force measurement solution!
Published Nov 01, 2023
Click board™
Force 4 Click
Dev. board
EasyPIC v8
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
PIC18F2525
Utilize our advanced force measurement solution to accurately determine the magnitude of applied forces, enabling precise load analysis and optimization in mechanical designs
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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
EasyPIC v8 is a development board specially designed for the needs of rapid development of embedded applications. It supports many high pin count 8-bit PIC microcontrollers from Microchip, regardless of their number of pins, and a broad set of unique functions, such as the first-ever embedded debugger/programmer. The development board is well organized and designed so that the end-user has all the necessary elements, such as switches, buttons, indicators, connectors, and others, in one place. Thanks to innovative manufacturing technology, EasyPIC v8 provides a fluid and immersive working experience, allowing access anywhere and under any
circumstances at any time. Each part of the EasyPIC v8 development board contains the components necessary for the most efficient operation of the same board. In addition to the advanced integrated CODEGRIP programmer/debugger module, which offers many valuable programming/debugging options and seamless integration with the Mikroe software environment, the board also includes a clean and regulated power supply module for the development board. It can use a wide range of external power sources, including a battery, an external 12V power supply, and a power source via the USB Type-C (USB-C) connector.
Communication options such as USB-UART, USB DEVICE, and CAN are also included, including the well-established mikroBUS™ standard, two display options (graphical and character-based LCD), and several different DIP sockets. These sockets cover a wide range of 8-bit PIC MCUs, from the smallest PIC MCU devices with only eight up to forty pins. EasyPIC v8 is an integral part of the Mikroe ecosystem for rapid development. Natively supported by Mikroe software tools, it covers many aspects of prototyping and development thanks to a considerable number of different Click boards™ (over a thousand boards), the number of which is growing every day.
Microcontroller Overview
MCU Card / MCU
Architecture
PIC
MCU Memory (KB)
48
Silicon Vendor
Microchip
Pin count
28
RAM (Bytes)
3968
Used MCU Pins
mikroBUS™ mapper
Take a closer look
Click board™ Schematic
Step by step
Project assembly
Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the EasyPIC v8 as your development board.
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
