Create an MPLAB X IDE Project for the PIC18F57Q43

• Choose Project: Standalone Project
• Select Device: PIC18F57Q43
• Select Tool: PIC18F57Q43 Curiosity Nano
• Select Compiler: XC8
• Select Project Name and Folder

If you are not familiar with MPLAB X IDE, please visit the Developer Help page.

Open MCC in MPLAB X IDE

If you do not see the MCC logo, please check that you have installed the MCC plugin. More information on MCC installation can be found on the step-by-step MCC installation page.

Configure the System Clock

Open the System Module from the Project Resources menu. Select HFINTOSC from the Oscillator Select drop-down box and select 32_MHz from the HF Internal Clock drop-down box. Choose a division factor of 1 from the Clock Divider drop-down box. This will result in a 32 MHz system clock.

To ensure the performance of the mTouch surface, the system clock is required to be at least 8 MHz. If you select a system clock slower than 8 MHz, the mTouch module will generate a warning in the notification window.

Load the mTouch Module

Double click on the mTouch button in the Libraries list inside the Device Resources window.

After loading the module, the mTouch button will appear in the Project Resources pane.

Select the mTouch Sensors

After loading the mTouch module, all available mTouch sensor pins will be shown in the Pin Manager: Grid View pane. You will need to select the physical sensors based on the sensor pinout information. Choose the sensors in the following order:

1. RB0
2. RA2
3. RA6
4. RC4
5. RA7
6. RC5
7. RD4
8. RA0
9. RB3
10. RC6

Add mTouch Surface and Link to the Sensors

Go to the Surfaces configuration view, click Create New Surface.

Now, based on the surface design configuration, make the changes. Choose Horizontal Key Count as 5 and Vertical Key count as 5 and click Create/Upgrade Grid.

Enable Debugging with 2D Surface Utility and Configure Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) Module

Go to the Debug tab within the mTouch module. Check the Enable Debug box, select UART1 to be the UART module, and select 2D Surface Utility as the debug method. The UART module will be automatically added to the project and should appear in the Project Resources window.

Click on the UART1 module in the Project Resources window to check that it is configured correctly.

Check that the RX and TX pins are properly selected in the Pin Manager: Grid View. The RX pin should be RB1 and the TX pin should be RB0.

Configure LEDS through I2C

The LEDs in the QT8 board are driven using the I2C peripheral. Choose the I2C peripheral from the Device Resources menu.

I2C peripheral will be added to the Project Resources.

Use the Pin Manager: Grid View to select the I2C pins.
SCL – RB1, SDA – RB2

Generate Code

Click on the Generate button.

Call mTouch Service and Enable Interrupts in main.c

Open the generated main.c file. Place MTOUCH_Service_Mainloop() into the while loop as shown in the code block, uncomment the functions that enable interrupts.

Add the files corresponding to the LED driver (led_driver.c, led_driver.h) to the project and call the LED functions correspondingly.
The contents of main.c, led_driver.c, led_driver.h files are shown below.

main.c

led_driver.c:

led_driver.h:

Program the Board

After you connect the board to the PC with a USB cable, click the Program button to program the board.

Connect to 2D Surface Utility

Open the 2D Surface GUI, change the Baud rate to 115200 and click Apply.

When a successful connection is established, you will see the live touch data appear in the utility window. This data can be useful for debugging and tuning a touch project.