Beginner
10 min

Deliver precise and reliable power to your applications with TPS62366A and STM32F031K6

Downsizing voltages, upscaling performance!

Smart Buck 3 Click with Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU

Published Oct 01, 2024

Click board™

Smart Buck 3 Click

Dev Board

Nucleo 32 with STM32F031K6 MCU

Compiler

NECTO Studio

MCU

STM32F031K6

Experience power precision like never before as voltages bow down to the prowess of our step-down DC/DC converter. Unleash a new era of efficiency in your electronic endeavors.

A

A

Hardware Overview

How does it work?

Smart Buck 3 Click is based on the TPS62366A, a processor supply with an I2C compatible interface and a remote sense from Texas Instruments. Its dedicated inputs over the VIN terminal allow fast voltage transition while introducing input under voltage detection and lockout. In addition, it features over-temperature protection, a soft start, excellent DC output voltage regulation, and other robust operation/protection features. It offers a high-efficiency step-down conversion, with the highest efficiency towards low and highest output currents. This way, it increases the battery ON-time. The TPS62366A uses the DCS-Control™ architecture and fully differential sensing to achieve precise static and dynamic transient output voltage regulation. This way, the output

voltage security margins can be kept small. The used architecture supports PWM mode for medium and heavy load conditions and a Power Save mode for light loads. During the PWM mode, it works at the 2.5MHz frequency, and as the load decreases, the TPS62366A enters a Power Save mode (on this board set at 1.16V). This transition is seamless and does not affect output voltage transients. In addition, the TPS62366A incorporates internal soft-start circuitry, which controls the output voltage ramp-up after enabling the device by eliminating the inrush current. The converter avoids excessive voltage drops of primary cells and rechargeable batteries with high internal impedance. During this procedure, the output voltage is monotonically ramped up to the

threshold of the minimum programmable output voltage and further increases by the ramp rate settings to the programmed output voltage. Smart Buck 3 Click uses a standard 2-Wire I2C interface to communicate with the host MCU, supporting Standard, Fast, and High-speed modes with a frequency of up to 3.4MHz. The I2C address is fixed and can not be changed. 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. Also, it comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used as a reference for further development.

Smart Buck 3 Click hardware overview 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

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
NC
NC
INT
NC
NC
TX
NC
NC
RX
I2C Clock
PB6
SCL
I2C Data
PB7
SDA
NC
NC
5V
Ground
GND
GND
1

Take a closer look

Schematic

Smart Buck 3 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
Stepper 22 Click complete accessories setup image hardware assembly
Nucleo-32 with STM32 MCU Access MB 1 - 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
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

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 Smart Buck 3 Click driver.

Key functions:

  • smartbuck3_set_voltage - Smart Buck 3 set voltage function.

  • smartbuck3_get_voltage - Smart Buck 3 get voltage function.

  • smartbuck3_set_operation_mode - Smart Buck 3 set operation mode 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 main.c
 * @brief Smart Buck 3 Click example
 *
 * # Description
 * This example demonstrates the use of Smart Buck 3 Click board™.
 * This driver provides functions for device configurations 
 * and for the sets and reads the output voltage.
 *
 * The demo application is composed of two sections :
 *
 * ## Application Init
 * Initialization of I2C module and log UART.
 * After initializing the driver, the default configuration is executed 
 * and the device is turned on.
 *
 * ## Application Task
 * This example demonstrates the use of the Smart Buck 3 Click board™.
 * Changes the output voltage every 3 seconds 
 * and displays the current voltage output value.
 * Results are sent to the UART Terminal, where you can track their changes.
 *
 * @author Nenad Filipovic
 *
 */

#include "board.h"
#include "log.h"
#include "smartbuck3.h"

static smartbuck3_t smartbuck3;
static log_t logger;
static uint16_t vout_mv;

void application_init ( void ) 
{
    log_cfg_t log_cfg;  /**< Logger config object. */
    smartbuck3_cfg_t smartbuck3_cfg;  /**< Click config object. */

    /** 
     * 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.
    smartbuck3_cfg_setup( &smartbuck3_cfg );
    SMARTBUCK3_MAP_MIKROBUS( smartbuck3_cfg, MIKROBUS_1 );
    if ( I2C_MASTER_ERROR == smartbuck3_init( &smartbuck3, &smartbuck3_cfg ) ) 
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Communication init." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    Delay_ms( 100 );
    
    if ( SMARTBUCK3_ERROR == smartbuck3_default_cfg ( &smartbuck3 ) )
    {
        log_error( &logger, " Default configuration." );
        for ( ; ; );
    }
    Delay_ms( 100 );
    log_info( &logger, " Application Task " );
    vout_mv = SMARTBUCK3_VOUT_MIN;
}

void application_task ( void ) 
{
    if ( SMARTBUCK3_OK == smartbuck3_set_voltage( &smartbuck3, vout_mv ) )
    {
        Delay_ms( 100 );
        if ( SMARTBUCK3_OK == smartbuck3_get_voltage( &smartbuck3, &vout_mv ) )
        {
            log_printf ( &logger, " Vout: %u mV\r\n", vout_mv );
        }
    }
    vout_mv += 100;
    if ( vout_mv > SMARTBUCK3_VOUT_MAX )
    {
        vout_mv = SMARTBUCK3_VOUT_MIN;
    }
    Delay_ms( 3000 );
}

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.