DIGI POT 4 click
PID: MIKROE-2873
Weight: 24 g
DIGI POT 4 click is a digitally controlled dual potentiometer, with the resistance of 10KΩ. It
has a 10bit resolution which allows for a very smooth linear wiper positioning through 1024
steps. Digital wiper position can be controlled via SPI interface. DIGI POT 4 click also features a
non-volatile durable EEPROM memory for storing the wiper position, which means that the
device can restore its last position after the power on - just like its mechanical counterpart.
The main advantage of the digital potentiometers over the mechanical ones is that they can never
wear out. The wiper position can be precisely programmed, and the wiper contact with the
resistive coating can never be compromised by the influence of the dirt or moisture. Due to its
low THD and good bandwidth, it can be used for digital volume control or a precise gain and
offset adjustment. It can also be used as the LCD digital contrast control, and generally whenever a precise dual digital voltage divider application is required.
How does the click work?
DIGI POT 4 click carries MAX5494, a 10bit dual, non-volatile, linear taper, digital
potentiometer, from Maxim Integrated. This IC consists of the control logic and a resistors
stream (i.e. 1024 equal resistors serially connected) through which the wiper is moving. The endto-end resistance of the resistors on the used IC is 10KΩ. The wiper movement is done by
writing 10bit data into the wiper registers, resulting in 1024 discrete positions the wiper can take.
All three terminals of the digital pot are routed to the IC terminals and further to the onboard
connectors, for easy and secure connecting to the rest of the circuit. The MAX5494 contains two
such potentiometers, routed to the click board™ screw terminals. Depending on the output
impedance to which the wiper is connected, it is possible that the voltage drop may occur while
switching positions, therefore it is not recommended to use it as the variable resistor.
After the power on, the content of the EEPROM NV memory will be copied to the volatile
RAM, used as the shift register for the wiper position. This volatile memory register directly
controls the wiper position. The wiper can be positioned by writing data into this register. The
EEPROM NV registers are only written if requested, by using the specific write command. This
way, the EEPROM lifecycle is prolonged, although it can withstand up to 200000 read/write
cycles.
All the communication with the control logic of the MAX5494 is done through the SPI, so all the
SPI signals are routed to the appropriate mikroBUS™ pins. The CS pin is held high, preventing
the SPI communication, so as always - to initialize the SPI communication, the CS pin needs to
be pulled LOW by the MCU.
Besides two connectors used to connect the potentiometer terminals, the click board™ is
equipped with the SMD jumper, used to choose between the 3.3V or 5V operating voltage.
Specifications
Type
Digital potentiometer
Applications
It can be used for digital volume control or a precise gain and offset adjustment. It can
also be used as the LCD digital contrast control, and generally - whenever a precise dual
digital voltage divider application is required.
On-board
modules
MAX5494, a 10bit dual, non-volatile, linear taper, digital potentiometer, from Maxim
Integrated
Key Features
Accurate positioning of the wiper, via the 1024 different steps, non-volatile EEPROM
memory used for recalling the wiper positions after the power on, very good bandwidth
and low THD on input signals
Interface
SPI
Input Voltage 3.3V or 5V
Click board
size
M (42.9 x 25.4 mm)
Pinout diagram
This table shows how the pinout on DIGI POT 4 click corresponds to the pinout on the
mikroBUS™ socket (the latter shown in the two middle columns).
Notes
Pin
Pin
NC
1
AN
PWM
16
NC
NC
2
RST
INT
15
NC
SPI Chip Select
CS
3
CS
RX
14
NC
SPI Clock
SCK
4
SCK
TX
13
NC
NC
5
MISO
SCL
12
NC
SDI
6
MOSI
SDA
11
NC
SPI Data In
Notes
Power Supply
+3.3V 7
3.3V
5V
10
+5V
Power Supply
Ground
GND
GND
GND
9
GND
Ground
8
Onboard settings and indicators
Label Name Default
Description
LD1
PWR
-
Power LED indicator
J1
VCC SEL
Left
CN1
TB1
-
Digital potentiometer 1 terminal (H1,W1,L1) connection
CN2
TB2
-
Digital potentiometer 2 terminal (H2,W2,L2) connection
Power supply voltage selection: left position 3V3, right position 5V
Software support
We provide a library for DIGI POT 4 click on our LibStock page, as well as a demo application
(example), developed using MikroElektronika compilers and mikroSDK. The provided click
library is mikroSDK standard compliant. The demo application can run on all the main
MikroElektronika development boards.
Library description
The library carries two functions which are sufficient to have complete control over DIGI POT 4
click.
Key functions:
void digipot4_writeReg(uint8_t Reg, uint16_t value);- Write data to wiper register
void digipot4_copyReg(uint8_t Reg);- Copy data to NV memory
Example description
The application is composed of three sections :
•
•
•
System Initialization - Initializes SPI module and sets CS pin as OUTPUT
Application Initialization - DIGI POT 4 Driver initialization
Application Task - (code snippet) - Sequentially sets the wiper position every second.
void applicationTask()
{
digipot4_writeReg(_DIGIPOT4_WIPER_REG_1,
digipot4_writeReg(_DIGIPOT4_WIPER_REG_2,
Delay_1sec();
digipot4_writeReg(_DIGIPOT4_WIPER_REG_1,
digipot4_writeReg(_DIGIPOT4_WIPER_REG_2,
Delay_1sec();
digipot4_writeReg(_DIGIPOT4_WIPER_REG_1,
digipot4_writeReg(_DIGIPOT4_WIPER_REG_2,
Delay_1sec();
}
0);
0);
512);
512);
1023);
1023);
The full application code, and ready to use projects can be found on our LibStock page.
Additional notes and information
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.
Downloads
mikroBUS™ standard specifications
LibStock: mikroSDK
LibStock: DIGI POT 4 click library
DIGI POT 4 click schematic
MAX5494 datasheet
DIGI POT 4 click - 2D and 3D files
https://www.mikroe.com/slider-click 1-18-18