Ensure your devices perform at their peak with NIS6150 and PIC18F57Q43
eFuse: Unlock reliability, enhance efficiency
Published Feb 13, 2024
Click board™
eFuse 3 Click
Dev Board
Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
PIC18F57Q43
Experience enhanced reliability and efficiency with our cutting-edge eFuse device, where voltage and current are managed effortlessly to safeguard your devices and elevate their performance
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Hardware Overview
How does it work?
eFuse 3 Click is based on the NIS6150, a self-protected, resettable electronic fuse from ON Semiconductor that contains circuits to monitor the input voltage, output voltage, output current, and die temperature. It has an ENABLE feature with a separate ‘flag’ for fault identification, adjustable output current-limit protection with a thermal shutdown, and a current monitoring pin. The NIS6150 also includes an internal temperature sensing circuit that senses the temperature on the die of the power FET. If the temperature reaches 175°C, the device will shut down and remove power from the load. This Click board™ communicates with MCU through the 3-Wire SPI serial interface using the MCP3551, a 22-bit sigma-delta ADC from Microchip. The MCP3551 is used for current monitoring purposes by converting the output current from the NIS6150 IMON pin with a very high resolution of 22 bits and low noise to digital data, which can be obtained via the SPI interface of the Click board™. This ADC uses the
reference voltage, the 4.096V reference voltage level provided by the MCP1541 from Microchip powered from the +5V mikroBUS™ power rail, resulting in high accuracy and stability. A resistor that connects to the middle connector on this Click board™, labeled as Rlim, sets the overload and short circuit current limit levels. The VSL pin routed to the RST pin on the mikroBUS™ socket allows the overvoltage clamp to be set at a 5.7V or 6.5V minimum by pulling this pin to a low logic state. It monitors the output voltage, and if the input exceeds the output voltage, the gate drive of the main FET is reduced to limit the output. This is intended to allow operation through transients while protecting the load. If an overvoltage condition exists for many seconds, the device may overheat due to the voltage drop across the FET combined with the load current. In this event, the thermal protection circuit would shut down the device. The eFuse 3 Click also has two active additional pins of the mikroBUS™ socket, the INT
and PWM pins labeled as FLG and EN. The Enable feature, routed to the PWM pin on the mikroBUS™ socket, provides a digital interface to control the output of the eFuse. That’s why when this pin is pulled to a low logic state - the eFuse is turned OFF. On the other hand, the ‘flag’ pin routed to the INT pin on the mikroBUS™ socket sends information to the MCU regarding the state of the chip. If a thermal fault occurs, the voltage on this pin will go to a low state to signal a monitoring circuit that the device is in thermal shutdown. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VCC SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can use the communication lines properly. Also, this Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing easy-to-use functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.
Features overview
Development board
PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity Nano evaluation kit is a cutting-edge hardware platform designed to evaluate microcontrollers within the PIC18-Q43 family. Central to its design is the inclusion of the powerful PIC18F57Q43 microcontroller (MCU), offering advanced functionalities and robust performance. Key features of this evaluation kit include a yellow user LED and a responsive
mechanical user switch, providing seamless interaction and testing. The provision for a 32.768kHz crystal footprint ensures precision timing capabilities. With an onboard debugger boasting a green power and status LED, programming and debugging become intuitive and efficient. Further enhancing its utility is the Virtual serial port (CDC) and a debug GPIO channel (DGI
GPIO), offering extensive connectivity options. Powered via USB, this kit boasts an adjustable target voltage feature facilitated by the MIC5353 LDO regulator, ensuring stable operation with an output voltage ranging from 1.8V to 5.1V, with a maximum output current of 500mA, subject to ambient temperature and voltage constraints.
Microcontroller Overview
MCU Card / MCU
Architecture
PIC
MCU Memory (KB)
128
Silicon Vendor
Microchip
Pin count
48
RAM (Bytes)
8196
You complete me!
Accessories
Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards is a versatile hardware extension platform created to streamline the integration between Curiosity Nano kits and extension boards, tailored explicitly for the mikroBUS™-standardized Click boards and Xplained Pro extension boards. This innovative base board (shield) offers seamless connectivity and expansion possibilities, simplifying experimentation and development. Key features include USB power compatibility from the Curiosity Nano kit, alongside an alternative external power input option for enhanced flexibility. The onboard Li-Ion/LiPo charger and management circuit ensure smooth operation for battery-powered applications, simplifying usage and management. Moreover, the base incorporates a fixed 3.3V PSU dedicated to target and mikroBUS™ power rails, alongside a fixed 5.0V boost converter catering to 5V power rails of mikroBUS™ sockets, providing stable power delivery for various connected devices.
Used MCU Pins
mikroBUS™ mapper
Take a closer look
Schematic
Step by step
Project assembly
Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43 as your development board.
Track your results in real time
Application Output via Debug Mode
1. Once the code example is loaded, pressing the "DEBUG" button initiates the build process, programs it on the created setup, and enters Debug mode.
2. After the programming is completed, a header with buttons for various actions within the IDE becomes visible. Clicking the green "PLAY" button starts reading the results achieved with the Click board™. The achieved results are displayed in the Application Output tab.
Software Support
Library Description
This library contains API for eFuse 3 Click driver.
Key functions:
efuse3_get_current- eFuse 3 get current functionefuse3_get_flag- eFuse 3 get flag functionefuse3_reset- eFuse 3 reset function
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 eFuse3 Click example
*
* # Description
* This library contains API for the eFuse 3 Click driver.
* The library contains drivers to enable/disable the device,
* for reading ADC voltage, overflow status, output and current value [ A ].
*
* The demo application is composed of two sections :
*
* ## Application Init
* Initializes SPI driver and set default configuration.
*
* ## Application Task
* This is an example that demonstrates the use of the eFuse 3 Click board.
* Read and display device status information and current value [ A ].
* The eFuse 3 includes an overvoltage clamp the circuit that limits the output voltage
* during transients but does not shut the unit down,
* thereby allowing the load circuit to continue its operation.
* The Electronic Fuse is to limit current and current limit
* Current limit ( 0.1 A - 1.8 A ) depends on the choice of resistor wired
* on the Rlimit ( 1 Ohm - 15 Ohm ) connector.
* For example, for Rlimit resistance of 1 Ohm, current limit is 1 A
* ( 3.5 Ohm - 0.5 A, 7 Ohm - 0.25 A ).
* Read details from the ON Semiconductor NIS6150 datasheets.
* Results are being sent to the Usart Terminal where you can track their changes.
*
* @author Nenad Filipovic
*
*/
#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "efuse3.h"
static efuse3_t efuse3;
static log_t logger;
static float voltage;
static float current;
static uint8_t overflow_status;
void application_init ( void ) {
log_cfg_t log_cfg; /**< Logger config object. */
efuse3_cfg_t efuse3_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.
efuse3_cfg_setup( &efuse3_cfg );
EFUSE3_MAP_MIKROBUS( efuse3_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
err_t init_flag = efuse3_init( &efuse3, &efuse3_cfg );
if ( init_flag == SPI_MASTER_ERROR ) {
log_error( &logger, " Application Init Error. " );
log_info( &logger, " Please, run program again... " );
for ( ; ; );
}
efuse3_default_cfg ( &efuse3 );
log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
log_printf( &logger, "---------------------------\r\n" );
Delay_ms( 100 );
}
void application_task ( void ) {
log_printf( &logger, " Status :" );
if ( efuse3_get_flag( &efuse3 ) == EFUSE3_FLAG_NORMAL_OPERATION ) {
log_printf( &logger, " Normal operation \r\n" );
} else {
log_printf( &logger, " Device OFF \r\n" );
if ( overflow_status == EFUSE3_OVERFLOW_HIGH ) {
log_printf( &logger, " Overflow high in the analog input voltage.\r\n" );
} else if ( overflow_status == EFUSE3_OVERFLOW_LOW ) {
log_printf( &logger, " Overflow low in the analog input voltage.\r\n" );
}
efuse3_reset( &efuse3 );
Delay_ms( 1000 );
}
log_printf( &logger, "- - - - - - - - - - - - - - \r\n" );
efuse3_get_current( &efuse3, ¤t );
log_printf( &logger, " Current : %.5f A\r\n", current );
log_printf( &logger, "---------------------------\r\n" );
Delay_ms( 2000 );
}
void main ( void ) {
application_init( );
for ( ; ; ) {
application_task( );
}
}
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END
