Interfacing the LDC1000 with Arduino

Pelonomi Moiloa
University of Witwatersrand
School of Electrical Engineering

30 June 2014
Contents
1 Introduction 2

2 LDC1000 brief description 2

3 SPI 2

4 Hardware 2
4.1 Pin Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

5 Software 3
5.1 LDC1000 software overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5.2 Setting up an external clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5.3 SPI communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3.1 Communication Check: Reading register defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3.2 Reading proximity registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5.3.3 Reading Both Proximity and Frequency data Registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1
1 Introduction
This document details the process of interfacing the LDC1000 with micro-controller Arduino (obtaining
proximity and frequency data). Both Arduino Uno and Arduino Mega2560s are used.

2 LDC1000 brief description

The LDC1000 is an inductive sensor. The properties of the sensor change depending on how close
the inductive sensor coil is situated to a conductor and also depending on what type of conductor it
is. Two sets of data are read by the LDC1000 chip. The proximity data is the first set and gives an
indication of the distance of the conductor from the sensor coil. The frequency data is the second set
and gives an indication of the type of conductor interacting with the sensor coil.

3 SPI
The LDC1000 communicates with an Arduino using SPI communication. The Arduino acts as the
master and the LDC1000 as the slave. At this point the master(Arduino)only communicates with a
single slave(LDC1000)but it is possible for the master to communicate with many slaves. A slave is
¯ in Figure 1.)in some way specified by the
selected by the master by changing the Chip Select Bit (SS
slaves data sheet.

Figure 1: SPI communication

4 Hardware
The hardware components include: an LDC1000 chip with its provided inductor coil sensor connected
to the INA and INB pins; An arduino (either an Uno or an Atmega) and an external clock (explained
a little later).

The LDC1000 is connected to the Arduino according to Table 1 and Table 2 for SPI communica-
tion. These connections can be confirmed with the LDC1000 and Arduino data sheets. (NB: Arduino
chip pins numbers do not correspond to numbers found on the Arduino board)

Note: Both ground pins of the LDC1000 must be connected to a common ground for communications
to be successful.

4.1 Pin Connections

Either the Arduino Mega or the Arduino Uno may be used. Table 1 and Table 2 show which pins
should be connected.

2
 Table 1: LDC1000 Hardware set up top

Slave Master LDC1000 Arduino Uno pin Arduino Mega2560 pin Other
5V 5V 5V
LDCLK External Clock
SCLK SCLK SCLK 13 52
SD1 MOSI SD1 11 51
Vio 3.3 V 3.3 V

Table 2: LDC1000 Hardware set up underside

Slave Master LDC1000 Arduino Uno pin Arduino Mega2560 pin Other
GND Ground Ground
INT
CSB CSB CSB 10 53
SD0 MISO SD0 12 50
GND Ground Ground

Table 3: Pin Descriptions

Pin Description
LDCLK Pin connection for the external clock
SCLK internal SPI clock
SD1/MOSI master out slave in (information sent from master to slave)
INT interrupt pin
CSB chip select bit
SD0/MISO master in slave out (information sent from slave received by master)

5 Software
Code is implemented to read registers of the LDC1000 and code is also written to set up an external
clock. Refer to arduino.ino files for code for sections 5.2 to 5.3.

5.1 LDC1000 software overview

There are a few notes to be considered before one can transfer information. These can all be found in
the LDC1000 data sheet and are all important for successful data transfer:

1. The CSB line is an active LOW

(a) The CSB line going to the slave is at a default HI, it is pulled LOW to initiate conversation
between the master and the slave
(b) The CSB line must be deasserted (returned to default) after the 16th clock (of SCLK) or
otherwise at every 8 ∗ (N + 1) clock cycle, for data is written into the LDC1000 registers
on the rising edge of the sixteenth clock (SEE: Extended SPI Transactions in the LDC1000
data sheet )

2. The SPI mode is 0 (although mode 3 also works)

(a) The base clock is idle at logical zero (CPOL = 0)

(b) data is driven/propagated on the falling edge (CPHA = 0)

Note: CPOL and CPHA mode combinations can be found on Wikipedia

3
 3. Data is sent from the Arduino to the LDC1000 in byte form MSB first, 16 bits at a time over
16 clocks

(a) The first byte holds a read(MSB = 1)/write(MSB = 0) instruction in its most significant
bit and the register address in question in the remaining 7 bits.
(b) The second byte is either 0x00 to receive information to be stored or it is the variable the
user wishes to store in that register

4. The SCLKmax = 4MHz (Stated by LDC1000 data sheet).

Figure 2: SPI Timing Diagram/ Timing Overview

5.2 Setting up an external clock

Note:
• A frequency generator, crystal generator connected to the Xin and Xout pins or any other 8MHz
clock omits the use of this section.

• The external clock is only necessary to read the frequency data.

• The OC2A (PWM output pin) shares the same pins used in SPI communication for the Arduino
Uno thus an additional Arduino would have to serve the function of the external clock.
Table 4: Timer2 Control Registers of both Arduino Mega2560 and Arduino Uno

Register Bit 7 Bit 6 Bit 5 Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0

TCCR2A COM2A1 COM2A0 COM2B1 COM2B0 - - WGM21 WGM20
TCCR2B FOC2A FOC2B - - WGM22 CS22 CS21 CS20

Arduino source code:

4
c o n s t i n t pwm8 = 1 0 ;

void setup ( ) {
// i n i t i a l i z e t h e d i g i t a l p i n a s an output .
pinMode (pwm8, OUTPUT) ;
TCCR2A = ((1<<WGM21) | (1<<COM2A0 ) ) ;
// s e t WGM t o CTC mode and e n a b l e output A
TCCR2B = ( 1 << CS20 ) ; / / s e t p r e s c a l e r t o 1
TIMSK2 = 0 ; / / d i s a b l e t i m e r i n t e r r u p t j u s t i n c a s e
}

void loop ( ) {
S e r i a l . begin (9600);
}

Figure 3: External clock Set up Source code

• The clock is set up using Timer2

• OC2A: PWM Timer2 output for Arduino Uno = pin 11/ Mega = pin 10

• WGM := 010 to select CTC mode (clear timer on comparator match)

• CS := 001 technically we want clk/2 but by trial and error clk/1 gives us 8MHz

• COM2A/B := 10 non-inverted PWM input

5.3 SPI communication

• Check to see if communication is successful

• Read proximity data from proximity registers

• Connect external clock and read frequency registers

5.3.1 Communication Check: Reading register defaults

The best way to check that the Arduino is communicating with the LDC1000 correctly, is to read the
default values of the registers of the LDC1000. These default values can be found in the LDC1000
data sheet.

Arduino source code seen in Figure 4. The resulting value of the example provided should be 0x1B.

5.3.2 Reading proximity registers

Reading the proximity registers follows the same procedure as reading the default registers but it is
necessary to initialize the LDC1000 first. The LDC1000 was initialized to the values found on the
LDC1000EVM Gui unless otherwise stated seen in Table 5.

Note:

• The PWR MODE must be set to 0 to configure register values and brought back up to 1 after
the value/s have been initialized to allow for reading of proximity data.

5
 • Sensor frequency, LDC configuration and CLK configuration are configured only when it is
required to read frequency data
Table 5: LDC1000 Register Configuration

Register Address Register Name Gui Value Initialised Value

0x01 Rpmax 0x0E 0x0E
0x02 Rpmin 0x3B 0x3B
0x03 Sensor freq 0x94 -
0x04 LDC Config 0x17 -
0x05 CLK Config 0x02 -
0x06 Thres Hi LSB 0x50 0x50
0x07 Thres Hi MSB 0x14 0x14
0x08 Thres Lo LSB 0xC0 0xC0
0x09 Thres Lo MSB 0x12 0x12
0x0A INTB Config 0x04 0x04
0x0B PWR MODE 0x01 0x01

5.3.3 Reading Both Proximity and Frequency data Registers

Reading the frequency data registers follows the same procedure as reading the proximity data regis-
ters. However, additional configurations must be made and the TBCLK pin of the LDC1000 connected
to an 8MHz external clock. Refer to data sheet for confirmation of the following notes.
Note:

• Clock output connected to LDCLK/TBCLK (from pin 10 if Arduino Mega is used) and ground
of clock must e connected to ground of LDC1000/Arduino Master

• Sensor frequency: minimum resonating frequency is set set to 148

• LDC configuration sets amplitude and frequency to 384 and 6144 respectively

• CLK configuration is set to external clock (in comparison to crystal) used and LDCLK/TBCLK
(external time based clock) enabled.

Table 6: LDC1000 Additional Register Configurations for reading Frequency Data

Register Address Register Name Gui Value Initialized Value

0x03 Sensor freq 0x94 0x94
0x04 LDC Config 0x17 0x17
0x05 CLK Config 0x02 0x00

6
#i n c l u d e ” SPI . h” // i n c l u d e a r d u i n o SPI l i b r a r y

c o n s t i n t CSB = 1 0 ; // c h i p s e l e c t b i t f o r Arduino Uno

void setup ( )
{
S e r i a l . begin (9600);
// s t a r t SPI l i b r a r y / a c t i v a t e BUS
SPI . b e g i n ( ) ;

pinMode (CSB, OUTPUT) ;

}

void loop ( )
{
unsigned i n t val = 0 ;
byte READ = 0 x80 ; // MSB = 1 which i s a ’ read ’ b i t
byte r e g = 0 x04 ; // r e g i s t e r a d d r e s s

SPI . s e t B i t O r d e r (MSBFIRST ) ;
// CPOL = 0 and CPH = 0 mode 3 a l s o works
SPI . setDataMode (SPI MODE0 ) ;
// s e t SCLK @ 4MHz, LDC1000 max i s 4MHz DIV2 a l s o works
SPI . s e t C l o c k D i v i d e r ( SPI CLOCK DIV4 ) ;

// b e g i n data t r a n s f e r
d i g i t a l W r i t e (CSB, LOW) ;
// MSB = r e a d b i t , r e m a i n i n g 7 b i t s i s r e g i s t e r a d d r e s s
byte d a t a 2 s e n d = READ + r e g ;
SPI . t r a n s f e r ( d a t a 2 s e n d ) ;
// send 0 x00 t o s i g n i f y a r e a d / s t o r e o f next 8 b i t s
v a l = SPI . t r a n s f e r ( 0 x00 ) ;

// p r i n t s 8 b i t d e c i m a l r e g i s t e r v a l u e
S e r i a l . println ( val ) ;

// end data t r a n s f e r
d i g i t a l W r i t e (CSB, HIGH ) ;

delay (500 );

Figure 4: Reading default registers