Ambient 12 Click

How does it work?

Ambient 12 Click as its foundation uses the BH1620FVC, an analog current-output type ambient light sensor from Rohm Semiconductor. The BH1620FVC is composed of photodiodes, amplifiers, and current mirror circuits, where the output current, in proportion to brightness, is converted to the voltage value by an external resistor. It is characterized by spectral sensitivity close to human eyes sensitivity with low sensitivity variations of +/-15%.

It also has four configurable modes of operation, shutdown mode associated with three gain modes: high-gain mode with an illuminance detection range of 1000lx, medium-gain mode up to 10.000lx, and low-gain mode up to 100.000lx. The desire gain mode is selected through CS and PWM pins of the mikroBUS™ socket labeled as GC1 and GC2.

The output voltage of the BH1620FVC can be converted to a digital value using MCP3221, a successive approximation A/D converter with a 12-bit resolution from Microchip, using a 2-wire I2C compatible interface, or can be sent directly to an analog pin of the mikroBUS™ socket labeled as AN. Selection can be performed by onboard SMD jumper labeled as A/D SEL to an appropriate position marked as AN and ADC.

This Click board™ can operate with both 3.3V and 5V logic voltage levels selected via the VIO SEL jumper. This way, it is allowed for both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs to use the communication lines properly. However, the 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.

Specifications

Pinout diagram

This table shows how the pinout on Ambient 12 Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
Analog Signal	AN	1	AN	PWM	16	GC2	Gain Control Signal 2
	NC	2	RST	INT	15	NC
Gain Control Signal 1	GC1	3	CS	RX	14	NC
	NC	4	SCK	TX	13	NC
	NC	5	MISO	SCL	12	SCL	I2C Clock
	NC	6	MOSI	SDA	11	SDA	I2C Data
Power Supply	3.3V	7	3.3V	5V	10	5V	Power Supply
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

Ambient 12 Click electrical specifications

Software Support

We provide a library for the Ambient 12 Click as well as a demo application (example), developed using MikroElektronika compilers. The demo can run on all the main MikroElektronika development boards.

Package can be downloaded/installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended way), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Library Description

This library contains API for Ambient 12 Click driver.

Key functions:

• ambient12_cfg_setup – Config Object Initialization function.
• ambient12_init – Initialization function.

Examples description

This example demonstrates the use of Ambient 12 click board.

void application_task ( void )
{
    float voltage = 0;
    
    if ( AMBIENT12_OK == ambient12_read_adc_voltage ( &ambient12, &voltage ) )
    {
        log_printf( &logger, " Illuminance : %ld Luxrnn", ambient12_voltage_to_lux( &ambient12, voltage ) );
    }
    
    Delay_ms( 1000 );
}

The full application code, and ready to use projects can be installed directly from NECTO Studio Package Manager(recommended way), downloaded from our LibStock™ or found on Mikroe github account.

Other Mikroe Libraries used in the example:

• MikroSDK.Board
• MikroSDK.Log
• Click.Ambient12

Additional notes and informations

Depending on the development board you are using, you may need USB UART click, USB UART 2 click or RS232 click to connect to your PC, for development systems with no UART to USB interface available on the board. The terminal available in all MikroElektronika compilers, or any other terminal application of your choice, can be used to read the message.

mikroSDK

This Click board™ is supported with mikroSDK – MikroElektronika Software Development Kit. To ensure proper operation of mikroSDK compliant Click board™ demo applications, mikroSDK should be downloaded from the LibStock and installed for the compiler you are using.

For more information about mikroSDK, visit the official page.