Beginner
10 min

Seize every moment with BQ32000 and STM32L073RZ

Timekeeping excellence

RTC 3 Click with Nucleo-64 with STM32L073RZ MCU

Published Feb 26, 2024

Click board™

RTC 3 Click

Dev Board

Nucleo-64 with STM32L073RZ MCU

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32L073RZ

Incorporate a high-performance real-time clock into your solution and boost your timing control

A

A

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

RTC 3 Click is based on the BQ32000, a real-time clock from Texas Instruments presenting a compatible replacement for industry standard real-time clocks. The BQ32000 features an automatic backup supply with an integrated trickle charger for an automatic switchover to a backup power supply providing additional reliability (the circuit maintains the backup charge with an onboard supercapacitor). It also comes with a programmable calibration adjustment from –63ppm to +126ppm and clock frequency derived from an onboard 32.768KHz oscillator. The BQ32000 communicates with the MCU using the standard I2C 2-Wire interface with a maximum

frequency of 400kHz. Its time registers are updated once per second, with registers updated simultaneously to prevent a time-keeping glitch. It should be noted that when the BQ32000 switches from the main power supply to the backup supply, the time-keeping register cannot be accessed via the I2C interface. The access to these registers is only with supply voltage present. The time-keeping registers can take up to one second to update after the device switches from the backup power supply to the main power supply. The BQ32000 also includes an automatic leap year correction and general interrupt or oscillator fail flag indicating the status of the RTC oscillator

routed to the INT pin of the mikroBUS™ socket. The RTC classifies a leap year as any year evenly divisible by 4. Using this rule allows for reliable leap-year compensation until 2100. The host MCU must compensate for years that fall outside this rule. 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. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

RTC 3 Click hardware overview 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
NC
NC
CS
NC
NC
SCK
NC
NC
MISO
NC
NC
MOSI
Power Supply
3.3V
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
PWM
Interrupt
PC14
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
PB8
SCL
I2C Data
PB9
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

RTC 3 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 RTC 3 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • rtc3_set_time - Function sets time: hours, minutes and seconds data to the target register address of PCF8583 chip on RTC 3 Click

  • rtc3_get_time - Function gets time: hours, minutes and seconds data from the target register address of PCF8583 chip on RTC 3 Click

  • rtc3_set_calibration - Function set calibration by write CAL_CFG1 register of BQ32000 chip

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 Rtc3 Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * This application enables time measurment over RTC3 click.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initialization driver enable's - I2C,
 * set start time and date, enable counting and start write log.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * This is a example which demonstrates the use of RTC 3 Click board.
 * RTC 3 Click communicates with register via I2C by write to register and read from register,
 * set time and date, get time and date, enable and disable counting
 * and set frequency by write configuration register.
 * Results are being sent to the Usart Terminal where you can track their changes.
 * All data logs write on usb uart changes for every 1 sec.
 * 
 * *note:* 
 * Time stats measuring correctly but from 0 seconds, after 10 seconds.
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "rtc3.h"

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

static rtc3_t rtc3;
static log_t logger;

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

void display_log_day_of_the_week ( uint8_t day_of_the_week )
{
    if ( day_of_the_week == 1 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "      Monday      \r\n" );
    }        
    if ( day_of_the_week == 2 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "      Tuesday     \r\n" );
    }        
    if ( day_of_the_week == 3 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "     Wednesday    \r\n" );
    }        
    if ( day_of_the_week == 4 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "     Thursday     \r\n" );
    }        
    if ( day_of_the_week == 5 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "      Friday      \r\n" );
    }        
    if ( day_of_the_week == 6 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "     Saturday     \r\n" );
    }
    if ( day_of_the_week == 7 )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, "      Sunday      \r\n" );
    }
}

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    rtc3_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 );
    log_info( &logger, "---- Application Init ----" );

    //  Click initialization.

    rtc3_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    RTC3_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    rtc3_init( &rtc3, &cfg );

    /// Set Time: 23h, 59 min, 50 sec

    rtc3.time.time_hours = 23;
    rtc3.time.time_minutes = 59;
    rtc3.time.time_seconds = 50;

    rtc3_set_time( &rtc3 );

    // Set Date: 1 ( Day of the week ), 31 ( day ), 12 ( month ) and 2018 ( year )

    rtc3.date.day_of_the_week = 1;
    rtc3.date.date_day = 31;
    rtc3.date.date_month = 12;
    rtc3.date.date_year = 2018;

    rtc3_set_date( &rtc3 );

    // Start counting
   
    rtc3_enable_disable_counting( &rtc3, 1 );
    Delay_100ms( );
    
    Delay_ms( 1000 );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    //  Task implementation.

    uint8_t time_seconds_new = 0xFF;
    
     

    rtc3_get_time( &rtc3 );

    rtc3_get_date( &rtc3 );

    if ( time_seconds_new != rtc3.time.time_seconds )
    {
        if ( ( ( rtc3.time.time_hours | rtc3.time.time_minutes | rtc3.time.time_seconds ) == 0 )  && ( ( rtc3.date.date_day | rtc3.date.date_month ) == 1 ) )
        {
            log_printf( &logger, "  Happy New Year  \r\n" );
            log_printf( &logger, "------------------\r\n" );
        }

        log_printf( &logger, " Time : %d:%d:%d \r\n Date: %d.%d.20%d.\r\n------------------\r\n", (uint16_t)rtc3.time.time_hours, (uint16_t)rtc3.time.time_minutes,
                                                                                            (uint16_t)rtc3.time.time_seconds, 
                                                                                            (uint16_t)rtc3.date.date_day, (uint16_t)rtc3.date.date_month, (uint16_t)rtc3.date.date_year );

        time_seconds_new = rtc3.time.time_seconds;
    }

    Delay_ms( 200 );
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

    for ( ; ; )
    {
        application_task( );
    }
}


// ------------------------------------------------------------------------ END

Additional Support

Resources

Love this project?

'Buy This Kit' button takes you directly to the shopping cart where you can easily add or remove products.