Intermediate
30 min

Simplify water presence monitoring with MCP606 and STM32F091RC

Monitor water intrusion for peace of mind

Water Detect Click with Nucleo-64 with STM32F091RC MCU

Published Feb 26, 2024

Click board™

Water Detect Click

Dev Board

Nucleo-64 with STM32F091RC MCU

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32F091RC

The purpose of this solution is to offer reliable water detection, helping prevent water damage and mitigate potential risks in various environments

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Water Detect Click is used for detecting water and other electroconductive liquids. If the detection area is wet the output of Microchip's MCP606 CMOS op-amp will go positive, signaling the presence of liquid. Water Detect click can be used as a household flood alarm sensor, rain detector for smart buildings or for water tanks that act as a limit switch for a pump. Water Detect click works by comparing the voltage of two resistor dividers using the MCP606 comparator. The resistor divider (made of R2 and R3) is used as a voltage reference. The MCP606 functions as a comparator on this

Click board™. The second divider is made of resistor R1 and the sensory area. When the sensory area is dry, it's resistance is near infinite, and the voltage applied to the inverting terminal of the comparator equals VCC. Since the voltage of the reference divider connected to the non-inverting input is VCC/2, the output of the comparator is at zero voltage. Once the liquid is present at the sensory area, it's resistance drops and pulls the voltage on the inverting input of the comparator toward zero volts. Once this voltage falls below VCC/2, the comparator output swings toward VCC

signaling the presence of liquid. The comparator output is tied to the INT pin on the mikroBUS™ header. The water detection area is actually made of exposed conducting wires - simple but effective technology. 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.

Water Detect Click top side image
Water Detect Click bottom side image

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.

Nucleo 64 with STM32F091RC MCU double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

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.

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
Water Detect Interrupt
PC14
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

Water Detect 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 STM32F091RC 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 Water DetectClick driver.

Key functions:

  • waterdetect_get_status - Get the status of the water detection 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 Water Detect Click example
 * 
 * # Description
 * Water Detect click is used for detecting water and other electroconductive liquids. If the detection area is wet the output of Microchip's MCP606 CMOS op-amp will go positive, signaling the presence of liquid.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 * 
 * ## Application Init 
 * Initializes GPIO and LOG structures, set INT pins as input and starts to write log.
 * 
 * ## Application Task  
 * Reads device status and determines if there are water presence or not.
 * 
 * \author MikroE Team
 *
 */
// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "waterdetect.h"

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

static waterdetect_t waterdetect;
static log_t logger;

uint8_t wd_state = 0;
uint8_t wd_state_old = 0;

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

void application_init ( void )
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    waterdetect_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.

    waterdetect_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    WATERDETECT_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    waterdetect_init( &waterdetect, &cfg );
    Delay_100ms();
    
    log_printf( &logger, "  Initialization Driver   \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "------------------------- \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "  Wait to detect water... \r\n" );
    log_printf( &logger, "------------------------- \r\n" );
}

void application_task ( void )
{
    wd_state = waterdetect_get_status( &waterdetect );

    if ( wd_state > wd_state_old )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, " >  Water is detected  < \r\n" );
        log_printf( &logger, "------------------------- \r\n" );
        wd_state_old = 1;
    }

    if ( wd_state < wd_state_old )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, " There is no water \r\n" );
        log_printf( &logger, "------------------- \r\n" );
        wd_state_old = 0;
    }
}

void main ( void )
{
    application_init( );

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

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

Additional Support

Resources

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