NH3 monitoring made simple with MQ-137 and STM32F091RC
Guardians of purity: Innovating ammonia sensing solution
Published Feb 26, 2024
Click board™
Ammonia Click
Dev Board
Nucleo-64 with STM32F091RC MCU
Compiler
NECTO Studio
MCU
STM32F091RC
Our ammonia sensing solution provides accurate and timely information, enabling industries and communities to manage ammonia levels and maintain safe, breathable air
A
A
Hardware Overview
How does it work?
Ammonia Click is based on the MQ-137 gas sensor from Winsen, which uses the SnO2 (tin-oxide) alloy, which decreases its resistance while exposed to the NH3 gas. The greater the NH3 concentration is, the more conductive this material becomes. This can be utilized to obtain the NH3 concentration readings. The sensor contains a small heating element connected to a 5V power supply. The heater element can be controlled via a MOSFET power switch connected to the PWM pin on the mikroBUS™ socket for lower power consumption. It needs to be preheated for a minimum of 24 hours before it can perform as specified. A stainless mesh protects The sensor against particles and mechanical damage; however, exposure to excessive moisture and corrosive gases can damage the inner structure. The measuring circuit consists of the MQ-137 sensor, a power source, and a load resistor (RL) between the output pin and GND. With its internal
resistance, the sensor forms a voltage divider with the load resistor. The RL is designed as a variable resistor, allowing the output voltage to be trimmed to the desired value. The calibration should be performed in controlled conditions, as the ambient temperature and humidity affect the sensor's resistance. The sensor can measure relative NH3 concentration change without accurate calibration, which is useful for building applications that can be used as warning systems. The middle tap of the sensor RL voltage divider is routed to an SMD jumper labeled ADC SEL. This jumper can redirect the measuring voltage to the ADC for sampling or the AN pin so that it can be used in an external circuitry (external ADC or some other form of measurement signal conditioning). The MCP3551, a 22-bit sigma-delta ADC from Microchip, is used to sample the sensor output when selected by the ADC SEL jumper. This ADC converts the input voltage, 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, which is the same as the power supply voltage, and in this case, it is powered by 5V from the mikroBUS™ power rail. As already mentioned, the ADC uses a 5V power supply. Therefore, this board needs a level conversion circuitry interfacing with 3.3V MCUs. This Click board™ uses the TXB0106 IC, a 6-bit bidirectional level shifting IC from Texas Instruments, which is used to shift communication logic voltage levels from 5V to 3.3V. 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
Nucleo-64 with STM32F091RC 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.
Microcontroller Overview
MCU Card / MCU
Architecture
ARM Cortex-M0
MCU Memory (KB)
256
Silicon Vendor
STMicroelectronics
Pin count
64
RAM (Bytes)
32768
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.
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 Nucleo-64 with STM32F091RC MCU 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 Ammonia Click driver.
Key functions:
ammonia_heater- Sensor heater functionammonia_data_read- Read data 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
* \brief Ammonia Click example
*
* # Description
* This example shows the value of ammonia measurement aquired from Ammonia Click board.
*
* The demo application is composed of two sections :
*
* ## Application Init
* Calls functions for driver initializaton used for data conversion and results reading.
*
* ## Application Task
* Reads the level of ammonia in the air every with repetition of 1 second.
* This driver is able to get the level of ammonia gas in the range from 5 to 200 ppm.
* #note#
* Be sure that you correctly set the AD convertor which you want to use.
*
* \author Nemanja Medakovic
*
*/
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES
#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "ammonia.h"
// ------------------------------------------------------------------ VARIABLES
static ammonia_t ammonia;
static log_t logger;
// ------------------------------------------------------ APPLICATION FUNCTIONS
void application_init ( void )
{
log_cfg_t log_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... ----" );
ammonia_cfg_t ammonia_cfg;
// Click initialization.
ammonia_cfg_setup( &ammonia_cfg );
AMMONIA_MAP_MIKROBUS( ammonia_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
if ( ammonia_init( &ammonia, &ammonia_cfg ) == AMMONIA_INIT_ERROR )
{
log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init Error. ----" );
log_info( &logger, "---- Please, run program again... ----" );
for ( ; ; );
}
log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init Done. ----\n" );
}
void application_task ( void )
{
uint16_t nh3_ppm;
if ( ammonia_read_measurement( &ammonia, &nh3_ppm ) == AMMONIA_OK )
{
log_printf( &logger, " NH3 [ppm] : %u\r\n", nh3_ppm );
Delay_ms( 1000 );
}
}
void main ( void )
{
application_init( );
for ( ; ; )
{
application_task( );
}
}
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END
