class DAC – digital to analog conversion

The DAC is used to output analog values (a specific voltage) on pin X5 or pin X6. The voltage will be between 0 and 3.3V.

This module will undergo changes to the API.

Example usage:

from pyb import DAC

dac = DAC(1)            # create DAC 1 on pin X5
dac.write(128)          # write a value to the DAC (makes X5 1.65V)

dac = DAC(1, bits=12)   # use 12 bit resolution
dac.write(4095)         # output maximum value, 3.3V

To output a continuous sine-wave:

import math
from pyb import DAC

# create a buffer containing a sine-wave
buf = bytearray(100)
for i in range(len(buf)):
    buf[i] = 128 + int(127 * math.sin(2 * math.pi * i / len(buf)))

# output the sine-wave at 400Hz
dac = DAC(1)
dac.write_timed(buf, 400 * len(buf), mode=DAC.CIRCULAR)

To output a continuous sine-wave at 12-bit resolution:

import math
from array import array
from pyb import DAC

# create a buffer containing a sine-wave, using half-word samples
buf = array('H', 2048 + int(2047 * math.sin(2 * math.pi * i / 128)) for i in range(128))

# output the sine-wave at 400Hz
dac = DAC(1, bits=12)
dac.write_timed(buf, 400 * len(buf), mode=DAC.CIRCULAR)

Constructors

pyb.DAC

class pyb.DAC(port, bits=8, *, buffering=None)

Construct a new DAC object.

port can be a pin object, or an integer (1 or 2). DAC(1) is on pin X5 and DAC(2) is on pin X6.

bits is an integer specifying the resolution, and can be 8 or 12. The maximum value for the write and write_timed methods will be 2**bits-1.

The buffering parameter selects the behaviour of the DAC op-amp output buffer, whose purpose is to reduce the output impedance. It can be None to select the default (buffering enabled for DAC.noise(), DAC.triangle() and DAC.write_timed(), and disabled for DAC.write()), False to disable buffering completely, or True to enable output buffering.

When buffering is enabled the DAC pin can drive loads down to 5KΩ. Otherwise it has an output impedance of 15KΩ maximum: consequently to achieve a 1% accuracy without buffering requires the applied load to be less than 1.5MΩ. Using the buffer incurs a penalty in accuracy, especially near the extremes of range.

Methods

DAC.init

DAC.init(bits=8, *, buffering=None)

Reinitialise the DAC. bits can be 8 or 12. buffering can be None, False or True; see above constructor for the meaning of this parameter.

DAC.deinit

DAC.deinit()

De-initialise the DAC making its pin available for other uses.

DAC.noise

DAC.noise(freq)

Generate a pseudo-random noise signal. A new random sample is written to the DAC output at the given frequency.

DAC.triangle

DAC.triangle(freq)

Generate a triangle wave. The value on the DAC output changes at the given frequency and ramps through the full 12-bit range (up and down). Therefore the frequency of the repeating triangle wave itself is 8192 times smaller.

DAC.write

DAC.write(value)

Direct access to the DAC output. The minimum value is 0. The maximum value is 2**bits-1, where bits is set when creating the DAC object or by using the init method.

DAC.write_timed

DAC.write_timed(data, freq, *, mode=DAC.NORMAL)

Initiates a burst of RAM to DAC using a DMA transfer. The input data is treated as an array of bytes in 8-bit mode, and an array of unsigned half-words (array typecode ‘H’) in 12-bit mode.

freq can be an integer specifying the frequency to write the DAC samples at, using Timer(6). Or it can be an already-initialised Timer object which is used to trigger the DAC sample. Valid timers are 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

mode can be DAC.NORMAL or DAC.CIRCULAR.

Example using both DACs at the same time:

dac1 = DAC(1)
dac2 = DAC(2)
dac1.write_timed(buf1, pyb.Timer(6, freq=100), mode=DAC.CIRCULAR)
dac2.write_timed(buf2, pyb.Timer(7, freq=200), mode=DAC.CIRCULAR)

Constants

DAC.NORMAL

DAC.NORMAL

NORMAL mode does a single transmission of the waveform in the data buffer,

DAC.CIRCULAR

DAC.CIRCULAR

CIRCULAR mode does a transmission of the waveform in the data buffer, and wraps around to the start of the data buffer every time it reaches the end of the table.