UAB Aldrea Totem MiniLab User Manual

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MiniLab User Guide

Totem by UAB Aldrea

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1.1 

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Page 1 MiniLab User Guide Totem by UAB Aldrea 1.1 ...
Page 2: Table Of Contents
Totem MiniLab Table of contents Introduction ............Who is it for ........................What’s in the box ......................Overview .............. LabBoard ........................... TotemDuino ........................Using MiniLab ............. Powering up ........................Measuring voltages ......................Setting output voltage ....................... Digital inputs ........................
Page 3: Introduction
Totem MiniLab Introduction We at Totem congratulate you on getting your first electronics laboratory! Totem MiniLab contains all the necessities for starting your path in the world of electronics and programming. This document will guide you through all the steps in getting to know your MiniLab, setting it up and learning about all of its capabilities.
Page 4: Overview
Totem MiniLab Overview MiniLab at its core consists of two main parts - LabBoard and TotemDuino. In this chapter, their main attributes are presented together with a quick feature list. While the best functionality is achieved when using them together connected via supplied flat cable, they can fully function on their own, keeping in mind that some functionality such as TotemDuino connections will not be available without main TotemDuino board.
Page 5: Totemduino
Totem MiniLab TotemDuino Fig. 2 TotemDuino board TotemDuino expands upon the great Arduino UNO platform idea. While it is kept fully backwards compatible with Arduino, a lot of additional features are included as well, such • Output protection — nothing limits creativity as the fear of making a mistake and breaking something.
Page 6: Using Minilab
Totem MiniLab Using MiniLab In this chapter all of the main features of the MiniLab are explained and a usage example is provided for each of intended use-case. Features discussed here do not affect TotemDuino, and work independently from it, so no matter what code or experiment you’re working on at a given time, all of the LabBoard features are still available to use.
Page 7 Totem MiniLab running voltage for it. A selector switch on the TotemDuino board can set the supply voltage for the TotemDuino microcontroller either at 5 or 3.3 volts. This allows you to set the logic level interfacing with various external equipment that could only be used at one of these voltages without any additional voltage level converters.
Page 8: Measuring Voltages
Totem MiniLab Measuring voltages LabBoard has a 3 channel voltage measurement module. Each has a pre-set measurement range: • ± 0.5 V - best to be used when measuring small scale signals when maximum precision is required. • ± 5 V - for measuring TTL logic level signals.
Page 9: Setting Output Voltage
Totem MiniLab 2. Press the channel selector button until the ± 5 V input LED lights up. 3. Observe the display — it should indicate a value close to 3.3 Volts: Fig. 6 Measuring one of the supply voltages...
Page 10 Totem MiniLab Fig. 7 Programmable output voltage Middle display is used for showing the current output voltage for the active channel, which itself is indicated by the middle column of LED’s. Pressing middle SELECT button allows you to change the active channels. To edit currently preset voltage, SELECT button must be held until LED starts blinking.
Page 11: Digital Inputs
Totem MiniLab Fig. 8 Example usage of output voltage module Digital inputs MiniLab has a two channel digital input module, meant to indicate the current logic state of the signal with an LED. of !
Page 12 Totem MiniLab Fig. 9 Using digital inputs 0 to 6 Volts are accepted input range. A low input value (0..1.3V) turns of corresponding LED, where a high value (1.8V..6V) turns the LED on. Example 1. Connect DIG1 input with +5V output 2.
Page 13: Frequency Meter
Totem MiniLab Fig. 10 Example usage of Digital input Frequency meter This module allows to measure digital signal frequency in 0..1 MHz range. This is a special mode, which temporarily disables all other modules while this one is active.
Page 14: Measuring Current
Totem MiniLab Fig. 11 Frequency measurement module Experiment 1. First find a source digital signal with the frequency that you want to measure. As an example, you could use a “PlayMelody” sketch from Arduino webpage, which plays a tone on one of digital outputs.
Page 15 Totem MiniLab current mode is mAmp (indicated by an LED). As the current sensor reuses the same hardware as used in voltage measurement module, you need to connect the signal from the shunt resistor with +-0.5 V channel: Fig. 13 Current measuring module Experiment 1.
Page 16: Setting Programmable Voltage Output
Totem MiniLab Fig. 14 Current measuring example using 100 Ohm resistor Setting programmable voltage output LabBoard has a built-in variable voltage output module, capable of providing up to V V at up to 500 mA. V is the supply voltage for the MiniLab (V = 12 V when using an included power adaptor).
Page 17 Totem MiniLab Fig. 15 Programmable regulated voltage output Example 1. Connect VREG together with ± 50 V input. 2. Set the VREG voltage to some value. 3. Observe that the ± 50 V input measurement follows the VREG setting.
Page 18: Using Pulse Counter
Totem MiniLab Using pulse counter LabBoard has a special mode where digital pulses sent to DIG1 are counted. This works only with digital logic-level signals, and has a maximum frequency of 1 MHz. Pulse counter mode is selected by holding STEP+ button for at least 3 seconds. When in this mode, all other features are deactivated.
Page 19: Generating Pulses
Totem MiniLab Generating pulses LabBoard can also be used as a digital signal generator with programmable output signal period and pulse width. It can work in infinite mode, where signals are generated until stopped, or in finite mode, when only a preset number of pulses are emitted.
Page 20 Totem MiniLab 1. Delete settings / Exit mode screen, confirmation mode type: Fig. 21 Delete/Exit mode screen Left selection — exit from pulse generation mode, Right selection — Confirm deletion of previously entered values in pulse generation configuration 2. Period setting screen, numerical value parameter type: Fig.
Page 21 Totem MiniLab Active selection value — number of pulses to generate when in finite generation mode. This is ignored in infinite generation mode. 5. Pulse mode setting screen, confirmation mode type: Fig. 25 Pulse mode screen Left selection —start/stop infinite series of pulse generation with current settings. Once active, this is indicated by series of square symbols.
Page 22: Programming With Minilab
Totem MiniLab Programming with MiniLab Second part of the MiniLab is contained in a TotemDuino board. It is a fully backwards with Arduino UNO platform, so all the great Arduino IDE can be used to write firmware for TotemDuino as well. In this chapter a quick guide on setting up MiniLab to be used with Arduino IDE will be presented, together with short example usage cases.
Page 23: Using Arduino Ide
Totem MiniLab Fig. 27 Selecting TotemDuino board port One note regarding macOS compatibility is that it’s important to not unplug the device while it’s being programmed. Doing so will cause the driver to get stuck, and further connected TotemDuino boards will not show up until computer is restarted.
Page 24 Totem MiniLab Fig. 28 Arduino IDE window To work with TotemDuino, first you must choose the correct board for which code will be compiled, as well serial port, by which the compiled firmware will be uploaded to it. You can select the board by clicking Tools->...
Page 25 Totem MiniLab Next, we’ll select serial port. Because the number of available serial ports differ from one computer to another, and there’s no way to know which port is the correct TotemDuino one, you might need to follow this procedure. First check what ports are available when TotemDuino is disconnected, and compare the list once you connect TotemDuino back.
Page 26 Totem MiniLab Fig. 31 Selecting example ﬁrmware This will open a new Arduino IDE window with the source code of that firmware. Try to compile and write the firmware to TotemDuino by clicking Upload button (icon with right arrow): Fig.
Page 27 Totem MiniLab You should see a notification “Done uploading” in the bottom status bar. Now check if the firmware does what it’s supposed to: Fig.33 Example LED blink ﬁrmware If the LED blinks, you got every bit working! Now you can start diving into the world of programming by exploring other examples or creating your own firmwares for it.
Page 28: Expanding Minilab
Totem MiniLab Expanding MiniLab In this chapter several options on how to get even more from the MiniLab are discussed. We hope that this will give you a jumpstart of your own ideas on where else you could use your MiniLab.
Page 29: Side Panels
Totem MiniLab Side panels While MiniLab will work on its own, but you can easily expand it with side panels. A side panel is a collection of basic most commonly used electronics blocks that can be used together with MiniLab to even further extends it’s abilities.
Page 30 Totem MiniLab • Buzzer • H-bridge DC motor driver Together with each side panels you’ll get a quick start guide on how to work with each of the module in the side panel together with code samples. While modules in side panels are indented to be self-contained and not rely on one another, this gives you a chance to experiment on integrating parts of it to build a connected system —...
Page 31: What's Next
Totem MiniLab What’s next After getting to know MiniLab, you can expand it to your own wishes! Using MiniLab together with breadboards, you can easily experiment with new sensors, drivers and many more electronic devices, and measure or supply your own generated signals from LabBoard.

This manual is also suitable for:

Totem labboard Totem totemduino