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Fine-tune your world: Meet the precision of trimmer potentiometers

POT Click with Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43

Published Feb 13, 2024

Click board™

POT Click

Dev. board

Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

PIC18F57Q43

We're dedicated to providing you with the tools to fine-tune and optimize your devices for better performance and accuracy, and our trimmer potentiometers are at the heart of this dedication

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

POT Click is based on the MCP1501, a precision voltage reference IC from Microchip is used to provide the voltage of 2.048V. This voltage is routed to the small SMD jumper labeled as OUT SEL. By moving the jumper to the REF position, 2.048V will be applied to one end of the potentiometer. Otherwise, the potentiometer will be connected to the 3.3V rail of the mikroBUS™. The other end of the potentiometer is tied to GND, allowing to select voltage either from 0 to 2.048V range (VREF) or from 0 to 3.3V range. The adjustable voltage is available on both AN pin of the mikroBUS™ and 1x2-pin header on the upper edge of the Click board™, which is labeled as VOUT. The potentiometer itself is labeled as PT10MV11-103A2020-S. It is a high-quality potentiometer from Piher Sensing Systems. This company is otherwise known for their high-quality potentiometers, used in many industries. The

potentiometer has a carbon-based resistive surface with the resistance of 10 kΩ. It is a single-turn linear potentiometer, with 50% of resistance achieved when in the middle position. It has 10mm in diameter. Its turning knob is not fixed: the potentiometer has a hole with flat surfaces instead (hexagonal shape), and a small pole with the matching shape can be inserted. This makes possible using both fingers and some other precision tool (screwdriver, hex keys, and more). The output of the potentiometer is fed to the non-inverting input of the OPA344, a rail-to-rail single supply operational amplifier, from Texas Instruments. This operational amplifier is a perfect choice for this design, as it allows rail-to-rail operation, uses a single power supply of 5V, and has a stable unity gain. The OPA344 is used as a buffer, providing a constant input and output impedance. Without buffer, variable impedance

would affect the reference voltage. The reference voltage can provide less than 10 mA, with the significant voltage drop for output currents exceeding 2 mA. Therefore, the OPA344 ensures good stability of the circuit. The current output of this Click board™ is limited by the circuit at the output, which consists of two BJT transistors. When the output load is too large, a voltage drop will appear across the base-emitter resistor on the Q2 transistor, which in turn starts to conduct, reducing the voltage across the feedback loop, limiting the max current this way. Q1 transistor is otherwise used to provide enough current to the output load, preventing the damage to the buffer and the rest of the circuit. Therefore, in the case of short circuit, this transistor will start dissipating heat. It is dimensioned so that it can withstand short circuit on the output. The connected load can draw up to 100mA of current.

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.

PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity Nano double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

Architecture

PIC

MCU Memory (KB)

128

Silicon Vendor

Microchip

Pin count

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

Analog Output

PA0

RST

SCK

MISO

MOSI

Power Supply

3.3V

Ground

GND

PWM

INT

SCL

SDA

Power Supply

Ground

GND

Take a closer look

Click board™ Schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Curiosity Nano Base for Click boards front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Curiosity Nano with PIC18F57Q43 as your development board.

Charger 27 Click front image hardware assembly

PIC18F47Q10 Curiosity Nano front image hardware assembly

Charger 27 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly

Board mapper by product8 hardware assembly

PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity MCU Step hardware assembly

Necto No Display image step 8 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 POT Click driver.

Key functions:

pot_read_an_pin_value - This function reads results of AD conversion of the AN pin
pot_read_an_pin_voltage - This function reads results of AD conversion of the AN pin and converts them to proportional voltage level

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 Pot Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * Click board with the accurate selectable reference voltage output.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Performs logger and Click initialization.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * Reads and displays on the USB UART the voltage level measured from AN pin.
 * 
 * \author Nemanja Medakovic
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "pot.h"

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

static pot_t pot;
static log_t logger;

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    pot_cfg_t pot_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.
    pot_cfg_setup( &pot_cfg );
    POT_MAP_MIKROBUS( pot_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( ADC_ERROR == pot_init( &pot, &pot_cfg ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    float voltage = 0;
    if ( POT_OK == pot_read_an_pin_voltage ( &pot, &voltage ) ) 
    {
        log_printf( &logger, " AN Voltage : %.3f[V]\r\n\n", voltage );
        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