IR Beacon Click

How does it work?

IR Beacon Click is based on the nine VSMB2948SLs, high-speed infrared emitting diodes from Vishay Semiconductors. The VSMB2948SL is a 940nm wavelength infrared emitting diode in a GaAIAs multi-quantum well (MQW) technology with high radiant power, high radiant intensity, and high speed molded in a clear untinted package with a lens. This kind of architecture allows the IR wave to have a half-intensity angle of ±25 degrees and a range of up to half of a meter that can be increased by stacking multiple IR Beacon Clicks onto the same mikroBUS™ socket.

The IR Beacon uses either UART or PWM lines of the mikroBUS™ socket, selected over the TX SEL jumpers, with PWM chosen by default, to allow the host MCU to transmit a signal to a target receiver. The mainboard MCU drives the infrared diodes through the MOD pin, providing a carrier signal which can be adjusted to match the frequency.

This Click board™ can operate with either 3.3V or 5V logic voltage levels selected via the PWR SEL jumper. This way, both 3.3V and 5V capable MCUs can 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 IR Beacon Click corresponds to the pinout on the mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).

Notes	Pin					Pin	Notes
Diodes Enable	MOD	1	AN	PWM	16	PWM	PWM Control Signal
	NC	2	RST	INT	15	NC
	NC	3	CS	RX	14	TX	TX Control Signal
	NC	4	SCK	TX	13	NC
	NC	5	MISO	SCL	12	NC
	NC	6	MOSI	SDA	11	NC
Power Supply	3.3V	7	3.3V	5V	10	5V	Power Supply
Ground	GND	8	GND	GND	9	GND	Ground

Onboard settings and indicators

IR Beacon Click electrical specifications

Software Support

We provide a library for the IR Beacon 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 IR Beacon Click driver.

Key functions

• Enable MOD function

• Disable MOD function

• Reset MOD function

Example Description

This application sets the brightness on Leds.

 void application_task ( void ) 
 { 
     irbeacon_enable_mod( &irbeacon ); 

     for ( duty_cycle = 250; duty_cycle < 3000; duty_cycle += 250 ) 
     { 
         irbeacon_set_duty_cycle( &irbeacon, duty_cycle ); 
         Delay_ms( 500 ); 
     } 

     irbeacon_disable_mod( ); 
     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.IrBeacon

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. UART terminal is available in all MikroElektronika compilers.

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.