Beginner
10 min

Experience the ease of dual LED matrix display control with MAX7219 and STM32F031K6

Double the impact: Unleash the red matrix magic!

Matrix R Click with Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU

Published Oct 01, 2024

Click board™

Matrix R Click

Dev. board

Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32F031K6

Our solution is tailor-made to control two onboard red 5x7 matrices, offering seamless integration and the power to create customized visuals, messages, and notifications for your projects

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Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Matrix R Click is based on two MAX7219, serially interfaced, 8-digit LED display drivers from Analog Devices. The MAX7219 over 10MHz serial interface can address each LED of the two onboard red 5x7 matrices individually or all simultaneously. It has digital and analog brightness control, blanked display on Power-Up sequence, low-power shutdown with data retained, and more features. It also includes a BCD code-B decoder, multiplex scan circuitry, segment and digit drivers, and an 8x8 static RAM that stores each data. Users can get four-character displays if they double up on a

board with two adjacent mikroBUS™ sockets, such as Fusion, Clicker 2, or Flip&Click. The Matrix R Click uses an SPI serial interface to communicate to the host microcontroller, with speeds of up to 10MHz. Each MAX7219's chip select pin is connected to the appropriate pin on the mikroBUS™ socket. The MAX7219 that controls the left display is connected to the pin labeled CSL, while the right is connected to the pin labeled CSR. Serial data is loaded into the shift register while the corresponding chip select pin is in a low logic state. The peak segment current is set to

around 40mA with an external resistor. The display's brightness can be controlled by the internal PWM by the software. This Click board™ can be operated only with a 5V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before using MCUs with different logic levels. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Matrix R Click top side image
Matrix R Click bottom side image

Features overview

Development board

Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU board provides an affordable and flexible platform for experimenting with STM32 microcontrollers in 32-pin packages. Featuring Arduino™ Nano connectivity, it allows easy expansion with specialized shields, while being mbed-enabled for seamless integration with online resources. The

board includes an on-board ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger/programmer, supporting USB reenumeration with three interfaces: Virtual Com port, mass storage, and debug port. It offers a flexible power supply through either USB VBUS or an external source. Additionally, it includes three LEDs (LD1 for USB communication, LD2 for power,

and LD3 as a user LED) and a reset push button. The STM32 Nucleo-32 board is supported by various Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) such as IAR™, Keil®, and GCC-based IDEs like AC6 SW4STM32, making it a versatile tool for developers.

Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU double side image

Microcontroller Overview

MCU Card / MCU

default

Architecture

ARM Cortex-M0

MCU Memory (KB)

32

Silicon Vendor

STMicroelectronics

Pin count

32

RAM (Bytes)

4096

You complete me!

Accessories

Click Shield for Nucleo-32 is the perfect way to expand your development board's functionalities with STM32 Nucleo-32 pinout. The Click Shield for Nucleo-32 provides two mikroBUS™ sockets to add any functionality from our ever-growing range of Click boards™. We are fully stocked with everything, from sensors and WiFi transceivers to motor control and audio amplifiers. The Click Shield for Nucleo-32 is compatible with the STM32 Nucleo-32 board, providing an affordable and flexible way for users to try out new ideas and quickly create prototypes with any STM32 microcontrollers, choosing from the various combinations of performance, power consumption, and features. The STM32 Nucleo-32 boards do not require any separate probe as they integrate the ST-LINK/V2-1 debugger/programmer and come with the STM32 comprehensive software HAL library and various packaged software examples. This development platform provides users with an effortless and common way to combine the STM32 Nucleo-32 footprint compatible board with their favorite Click boards™ in their upcoming projects.

Click Shield for Nucleo-32 accessories 1 image

Used MCU Pins

mikroBUS™ mapper

Right Display SPI Chip Select
PA0
AN
NC
NC
RST
Left Display SPI Chip Select
PA4
CS
SPI Clock
PB3
SCK
SPI Data OUT
PB4
MISO
SPI Data IN
PB5
MOSI
NC
NC
3.3V
Ground
GND
GND
NC
NC
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

Click board™ Schematic

Matrix R Click Schematic schematic

Step by step

Project assembly

Click Shield for Nucleo-144 front image hardware assembly

Start by selecting your development board and Click board™. Begin with the Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU as your development board.

Click Shield for Nucleo-144 front image hardware assembly
Nucleo 144 with STM32L4A6ZG MCU front image hardware assembly
Stepper 22 Click front image hardware assembly
Prog-cut hardware assembly
Board mapper by product8 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
STM32 M4 Clicker HA MCU/Select 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

Software Support

Library Description

This library contains API for Matrix R Click driver.

Key functions:

  • matrixr_display_characters - This function displays the specified characters on the L/R segments of the click

  • matrixr_set_csn_high - This function sets the CSN pin output to high

  • matrixr_set_csn_low - This function sets the CSN pin output to low.

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 main.c
 * @brief MatrixR Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example showcases how to prepare the logger and Click modules for use and 
 * how to display ASCII characters on both of the LED segments of the Click.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * This function initializes and configures the logger and Click modules. After the initialization of the logger module, 
 * communication, mikrobus and pin setup, some of the registers are configured in order for the Click module to work properly.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * This function displays two strings on each of the LED segments, showing one character every second. 
 * It should display " Mikroelektronika" on the left one and "Mikroelektronika " on the right.
 *
 * @note
 * The Click has two chips, each controlling one of the LED segments, on and requires you to write data to both at the same time. 
 * Writing to one specific chip will not work. If you wish to display characters on a single segment, you have to send ' ' characters to the other segment.
 *
 * @author Jelena Milosavljevic
 *
 */

// ------------------------------------------------------------------- INCLUDES

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "matrixr.h"

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

static matrixr_t matrixr;
static log_t logger;

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

void application_init ( ) {
   
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;
    matrixr_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.

    matrixr_cfg_setup( &cfg );
    MATRIXR_MAP_MIKROBUS( cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    matrixr_init( &matrixr, &cfg );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
    matrixr_default_cfg( &matrixr );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
}

void application_task ( ) {
   
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, ' ', 'M' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'M', 'i' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'i', 'k' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'k', 'r' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000);
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'r', 'o' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'o', 'E' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'E', 'l' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'l', 'e' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'e', 'k' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'k', 't' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 't', 'r' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'r', 'o' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'o', 'n' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'n', 'i' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'i', 'k' );
    Delay_ms ( 1000 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'k', 'a' );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
    matrixr_display_characters( &matrixr, 'a', ' ' );
    Delay_ms ( 100 );
}

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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