This example project shows an example of Mikroe Servo Click board driver integration with the Silicon Labs Platform.
Servo Click is a compact add-on board that contains a PWM servo driver with voltage-sensing circuitry. This board features the PCA9685, an integrated 12-bit, 16-channel PWM driver, which can be configured to either sink 25mA per channel or drive each channel sourcing up to 10mA from NXP. Each channel has its duty cycle independently set from 0% to 100%. It can be used to simultaneously control 16 servo motors, each with its own programmable PWM signal.
This example can be used to demonstrate the capability of controlling the servo motor with the Mikroe Servo Click board.
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1x Silicon Labs BLE Explorer Kit based on the EFR32 SoC, such as:
or
1x Silicon Labs Wi-Fi Development Kit based on SiWG917, such as:
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1x Servo Click board based on the PCA9685
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1x Servo Motor GS-90
The Silicon Labs Explorer Kit boards feature a mikroBUS™ socket, allowing the Servo Click board to connect easily via the mikroBUS header. Ensure that the 45-degree corner of the Servo Click board aligns with the 45-degree white line on the Explorer Kit. The hardware connection is illustrated in the image below.
For the Silicon Labs boards that do not have a mikroBUS™ socket, consider using the Wire Jumpers.
The tables below provide an overview of the pin connections.
Silicon Labs BLE Explorer Kit:
| Description | BRD4314A | BRD4108A | BRD2703A | BRD2710A | ↔ | Servo Click |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2C_SDA | PD3 | PD3 | PB5 | PD3 | ↔ | SDA |
| I2C_SCL | PD2 | PD2 | PB4 | PD2 | ↔ | SCL |
| Output Enable | PC3 | PC3 | PC0 | PC3 | ↔ | OE |
Silicon Labs Wi-Fi Development Kit:
| Description | BRD4338A + BRD4002A | BRD2605A | BRD2708A | ↔ | Servo Click |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I2C_SDA | ULP_GPIO_6 [EXP_16] | ULP_GPIO_6 [P16] | GPIO_6 | ↔ | SDA |
| I2C_SCL | ULP_GPIO_7 [EXP_15] | ULP_GPIO_7 [P15] | GPIO_7 | ↔ | SCL |
| Output Enable | ULP_GPIO_1 [P16] | GPIO_10 [P23] | GPIO_28 | ↔ | OE |
You can either create a project based on an example project or start with an empty example project.
Important
- Make sure that the Third Party Hardware Drivers extension is installed as part of the SiSDK. If not, follow this documentation.
- Third Party Hardware Drivers extension must be enabled for the project to install the required components from this extension.
Tip
To show all components in the Third Party Hardware Drivers extension, the Evaluation quality must be enabled in the Software Component view.
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From the Launcher Home, add the BRD2703A to My Products, click on it, and click on the EXAMPLE PROJECTS & DEMOS tab. Find the example project filtering by "servo".
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Click Create button on the Third Party Hardware Drivers - PCA9685 - Servo Click (Mikroe) example. Example project creation dialog pops up -> click Create and Finish and Project should be generated.
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Create an "Empty C Project" for the your board using Simplicity Studio v5. Use the default project settings.
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Copy the file
app/example/mikroe_servo_pca9685/app.cinto the project root folder (overwriting existing file). -
Open the .slcp file. Select the SOFTWARE COMPONENTS tab and install the following components:
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If the BLE Explorer Kit is used:
- [Services] → [Timers] → [Sleep Timer]
- [Services] → [IO Stream] → [IO Stream: USART] → default instance name: vcom
- [Application] → [Utility] → [Log]
- [Platform] → [Driver] → [I2C] → [I2CSPM] → default instance name: mikroe
- [Third Party Hardware Drivers] → [Sensors] → [PCA9685 - Servo Click (Mikroe)] → use default configuration
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If the Wi-Fi Development Kit is used:
- [WiSeConnect 3 SDK] → [Device] → [Si91x] → [MCU] → [Service] → [Sleep Timer for Si91x]
- [WiSeConnect 3 SDK] → [Device] → [Si91x] → [MCU] → [Peripheral] → [I2C] → [i2c2] → Select the corresponding pins according to the table provided in Hardware Connection
- [Third Party Hardware Drivers] → [Sensors] → [PCA9685 - Servo Click (Mikroe)] → use the default configuration
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Build and flash this example to the board.
This example sets the position of the servo motor according to the user's settings. With its ability to precisely control motors and control 16 servo motors simultaneously, Mikroe Servo Click can be used in applications where a large number of servos need to be easily controlled, such as in the movie or theater industry (animatronics), robotics, RC toys, and similar.
You can launch Console that's integrated into Simplicity Studio or use a third-party terminal tool like Tera Term to receive the data from the USB. A screenshot of the console output is shown in the figure below.
This example uses the I2CSPM driver with the "mikroe" instance to interact with the Mikroe Servo Click board. After the click board is initialized, the application changes the position of the servo motor every 10 milliseconds. The motor will run in a counterclockwise direction when it reaches the limited position and then turn back in a clockwise direction to the original position.
To test the functionality, you can follow the movement of the motor shaft and check if it meets your expectations or not.
You can see the servo motor operation below:
To report bugs in the Application Examples projects, please create a new "Issue" in the "Issues" section of third_party_hw_drivers_extension repo. Please reference the board, project, and source files associated with the bug, and reference line numbers. If you are proposing a fix, also include information on the proposed fix. Since these examples are provided as-is, there is no guarantee that these examples will be updated to fix these issues.
Questions and comments related to these examples should be made by creating a new "Issue" in the "Issues" section of third_party_hw_drivers_extension repo.