Intermediate
30 min

Transform your message with captivating numbers and letters using 160100-71 and STM32L073RZ

RGB 7-segment display: Where numbers come to life

7-SEG RGB Click with Nucleo-64 with STM32L073RZ MCU

Published Feb 26, 2024

Click board™

7-SEG RGB Click

Dev Board

Nucleo-64 with STM32L073RZ MCU

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32L073RZ

Our full-color RGB 7-segment digit display is engineered to provide a vibrant and dynamic visual experience, enabling you to express your creativity and showcase information with dazzling, customizable colors

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

7-SEG RGB Click is based on the 160100-71, a full-color single 7-segment digit display from Elektor. The click is designed to run on either 3.3V or 5V power supply. It communicates with the target microcontroller over the CS, and PWM pin on the mikroBUS™ line. The click can be connected in a chain, in order to display a larger number of characters. Unlike with conventional 7

segment displays, you will be able to use multiple colors on the display. Each segment has R, G, B LEDs that can be adjusted in 255 steps and therefore 16,581,375 color combinations are available for each segment of the digit on the display. Also, the ability to control the brightness of all the LED's is driven at 255 steps. It should be noted that the brightness values above 80 should

rarely be used. This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the LOGIC 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.

7-SEG RGB Click top side image
7-SEG RGB Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

Nucleo-64 with STM32L073RZ MCU offers a cost-effective and adaptable platform for developers to explore new ideas and prototype their designs. This board harnesses the versatility of the STM32 microcontroller, enabling users to select the optimal balance of performance and power consumption for their projects. It accommodates the STM32 microcontroller in the LQFP64 package and includes essential components such as a user LED, which doubles as an ARDUINO® signal, alongside user and reset push-buttons, and a 32.768kHz crystal oscillator for precise timing operations. Designed with expansion and flexibility in mind, the Nucleo-64 board features an ARDUINO® Uno V3 expansion connector and ST morpho extension pin

headers, granting complete access to the STM32's I/Os for comprehensive project integration. Power supply options are adaptable, supporting ST-LINK USB VBUS or external power sources, ensuring adaptability in various development environments. The board also has an on-board ST-LINK debugger/programmer with USB re-enumeration capability, simplifying the programming and debugging process. Moreover, the board is designed to simplify advanced development with its external SMPS for efficient Vcore logic supply, support for USB Device full speed or USB SNK/UFP full speed, and built-in cryptographic features, enhancing both the power efficiency and security of projects. Additional connectivity is

provided through dedicated connectors for external SMPS experimentation, a USB connector for the ST-LINK, and a MIPI® debug connector, expanding the possibilities for hardware interfacing and experimentation. Developers will find extensive support through comprehensive free software libraries and examples, courtesy of the STM32Cube MCU Package. This, combined with compatibility with a wide array of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), including IAR Embedded Workbench®, MDK-ARM, and STM32CubeIDE, ensures a smooth and efficient development experience, allowing users to fully leverage the capabilities of the Nucleo-64 board in their projects.

Nucleo 64 with STM32L073RZ MCU double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M0

MCU Memory (KB)

192

Silicon Vendor

STMicroelectronics

Pin count

64

RAM (Bytes)

20480

You complete me!

Accessories

Click Shield for Nucleo-64 comes equipped with two proprietary mikroBUS™ sockets, allowing all the Click board™ devices to be interfaced with the STM32 Nucleo-64 board with no effort. This way, Mikroe allows its users to add any functionality from our ever-growing range of Click boards™, such as WiFi, GSM, GPS, Bluetooth, ZigBee, environmental sensors, LEDs, speech recognition, motor control, movement sensors, and many more. More than 1537 Click boards™, which can be stacked and integrated, are at your disposal. The STM32 Nucleo-64 boards are based on the microcontrollers in 64-pin packages, a 32-bit MCU with an ARM Cortex M4 processor operating at 84MHz, 512Kb Flash, and 96KB SRAM, divided into two regions where the top section represents the ST-Link/V2 debugger and programmer while the bottom section of the board is an actual development board. These boards are controlled and powered conveniently through a USB connection to program and efficiently debug the Nucleo-64 board out of the box, with an additional USB cable connected to the USB mini port on the board. Most of the STM32 microcontroller pins are brought to the IO pins on the left and right edge of the board, which are then connected to two existing mikroBUS™ sockets. This Click Shield also has several switches that perform functions such as selecting the logic levels of analog signals on mikroBUS™ sockets and selecting logic voltage levels of the mikroBUS™ sockets themselves. Besides, the user is offered the possibility of using any Click board™ with the help of existing bidirectional level-shifting voltage translators, regardless of whether the Click board™ operates at a 3.3V or 5V logic voltage level. Once you connect the STM32 Nucleo-64 board with our Click Shield for Nucleo-64, you can access hundreds of Click boards™, working with 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels.

Click Shield for Nucleo-64 accessories 1 image

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

NC
NC
AN
NC
NC
RST
Write Enable
PB12
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
Data Input
PC8
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

Schematic

7-SEG RGB Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Click Shield for Nucleo-64 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Nucleo-64 with STM32L073RZ MCU as your development board.

Click Shield for Nucleo-64 front image hardware assembly
Nucleo 64 with STM32F401RE MCU front image hardware assembly
EEPROM 13 Click front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
Nucleo-64 with STM32XXX MCU MB 1 Mini B Conn - 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
Clicker 4 for STM32F4 HA 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 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.

DEBUG_Application_Output

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for 7-SEG RGB Click driver.

Key functions:

  • c7segrgb_set_num - The function sets character and its color

  • c7segrgb_set_seven_seg - The function sets the state and color of every segment from click board object segment array data

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 
 * \brief 7-SEG RGB Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This click shows all ten digits on a full-color single 7 segment digit display. 
 * Each segment has R, G, B LEDs that can be adjusted in 255 steps and 
 * the ability to control the brightness of all the LED.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initialization driver enables - GPIO.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * This is an example which demonstrates the use of 7-SEG RGB Click board.
 * This simple example shows all ten digits in different colors on 7-SEG RGB click.
 * 
 * @note 
 * Make sure the logic delays are defined for your system in the c7segrgb_delays.h file.
 *
 * <pre>
 * Additional Functions :
 * void logic_one ( )  - Generic logic one function.
 * void logic_zero ( ) - Generic logic zero function.
 * </pre>
 * 
 * - segments layout
 *       _0_
 *     5|   |1
 *      |_6_|
 *     4|   |2
 *      |_3_|.7
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "c7segrgb.h"
#include "c7segrgb_delays.h"

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

static c7segrgb_t c7segrgb;

static uint8_t CHARACTER_TABLE[ 10 ] = 
{
    0x3F, // '0'
    0x06, // '1'    _a_
    0x5B, // '2'  f|   |b
    0x4F, // '3'   |_g_|
    0x66, // '4'  e|   |c
    0x6D, // '5'   |_d_|.dp
    0x7D, // '6'
    0x07, // '7'
    0x7F, // '8'
    0x6F  // '9'
};
                                       
static c7segrgb_segment_t segments_data[ 8 ] = 
{
    { true, 40, 0, 0 },
    { true, 0, 40, 0 },
    { true, 0, 0, 40 },
    { true, 10, 40, 40 },
    { true, 40, 10, 40 },
    { true, 40, 40, 10 },
    { true, 10, 20, 30 },
    { true, 30, 20, 10 }
};

// ------------------------------------------------------- ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS

void logic_one ( void )
{
    hal_ll_gpio_set_pin_output( &c7segrgb.pwm.pin );
    DELAY_T1H;
    hal_ll_gpio_clear_pin_output( &c7segrgb.pwm.pin );
    DELAY_T1L;
}

void logic_zero ( void )
{
    hal_ll_gpio_set_pin_output( &c7segrgb.pwm.pin );
    DELAY_TOH;
    hal_ll_gpio_clear_pin_output( &c7segrgb.pwm.pin );
    DELAY_TOL;
}

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    c7segrgb_cfg_t cfg;

    //  Click initialization.
    c7segrgb_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    cfg.logic_one = &logic_one;
    cfg.logic_zero = &logic_zero;
    C7SEGRGB_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    c7segrgb_init( &c7segrgb, &cfg );
    
    for ( uint8_t cnt = 0; cnt < 8; cnt++ )
    {
        c7segrgb.segments[ cnt ] = segments_data[ cnt ];
    }
    c7segrgb_set_seven_seg( &c7segrgb );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    for ( uint8_t cnt_i = 0; cnt_i < 10; cnt_i++ )
    {
        for ( uint8_t cnt_j = 10; cnt_j > 0; cnt_j-- )
        {
            c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, CHARACTER_TABLE[ cnt_i ], 4 * cnt_i, 4 * cnt_j, cnt_i * cnt_j );
            Delay_ms ( 100 );
        }
    }
    
    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_POINT, 10, 10, 10 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    
    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_ZERO, 40, 40, 40 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_ONE, 40, 0, 0 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_TWO, 0, 40, 0 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_THREE, 0, 0, 40 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_FOUR, 40, 0, 40 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_FIVE, 0, 40, 40 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_SIX, 40, 40, 0 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_SEVEN, 20, 30, 40 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_EIGHT, 40, 15, 31 );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );

    c7segrgb_set_num( &c7segrgb, C7SEGRGB_NINE, 20, 10, 30 );
    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

Additional Support

Resources

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