MIKROE LDC Click is a compact add-on board that measures inductance change which a conductive target causes when it moves into the inductor's AC magnetic field. This board features the LDC1312-Q1, an I2C configurable two-channel, 12-bit inductance to digital converters (LDCs) for inductive sensing solutions from Texas Instruments. This Click board™ is easy-to-use, requiring only the sensor frequency within 1kHz and 10MHz to begin sensing. It has well-matched channels, which allow for differential and ratiometric measurements. Also, it supports remote sensing enabling the performance and reliability benefits of inductive sensing to be realized at minimal cost and power. This Click board™ is suitable for improving significantly existing sensing solutions and introducing brand new sensing capabilities to products in all markets, especially consumer and industrial applications.

LDC Click as its foundation uses the LDC1312-Q1, two-channel, 12-bit inductance to digital converters (LDCs) for inductive sensing solutions from Texas Instruments. This Click board™ is easy-to-use, requiring only the sensor frequency within 1kHz and 10MHz to begin sensing. It measures the oscillation frequency of an LC resonator and outputs a digital value proportional to frequency. Inductive sensing offers better performance, reliability, and flexibility than competitive sensing technologies at lower system cost and power. That’s why this board is ideal for exact short-range measurements of the position, motion, or composition of conductive targets.

Conductive objects brought in contact with an AC electromagnetic (EM) field will induce field changes that can be detected using a sensor such as an inductor. Conveniently, an inductor and a capacitor are used to construct an LC resonator, also known as an LC tank used to produce an EM field. In the case of an LC tank, the effect of the field disturbance is an apparent shift in the inductance of the sensor, which can be observed as a shift in the resonant frequency - using this principle, the LDC1312-Q1 works.

LDC Click communicates with MCU using the standard I2C 2-Wire interface with a maximum clock frequency of 400kHz. In addition to I2C communication, two GPIO pins connected to the mikroBUS™ socket pins are also used. The SD pin, routed to the RST pin of the mikroBUS™ socket, is used to place the LDC1312-Q1 in Shutdown mode, saving current, while the INT pin may be configured as an interrupt to notify the host MCU of changes in system status. Besides, it also allows the choice of the least significant bit of its I2C peripheral address by positioning the SMD jumper labeled as ADDR SEL to an appropriate position marked as 1 and 0.

It also comes with the ability to connect additional external LC sensors, allowing you to replace the provided onboard sensor and solder your own at places marked with COIL1 and COIL2.

This Click board™ can be operated only with a 3.3V logic voltage level. The board must perform appropriate logic voltage level conversion before use with MCUs with different logic levels. However, the Click board™ comes equipped with a library containing functions and an example code that can be used, as a reference, for further development.

• Interface: I²C
• Compatibility: mikroBUS™
• Dimensions: 57.15 x 25.4mm
• Input Voltage: 3.3V
• Sensor Current Drive: 1.5mA
• Resolution: 12bits
• Operating Temperature Range: Min. -40°C, Typ. +25°C, Max. +125°C

• Schematic
• LDC1312-Q1 Datasheet
• mikroSDK
• GitHub