Digital Analysis Meets Real-Time Visualization +++ Ultra-Miniature CO₂ Sensor (4×3×1.2 mm) +++ Full SSD Performance – Straight from the USB-A Port

Digital Evaluation meets Real-Time Visualization – Your Mission: Create a Digital Twin

Has classic control via analog joysticks or keypads reached the end of the road?
Are touch TFTs with digital evaluation taking over?

"Create a digital twin."

The annual Embedded World was just around the corner. My colleague and I were faced with the challenge:
Is it possible to implement an HMI in a very short time that not only reads joystick input, but also visualizes it?

How will we manage this?
And more importantly: How can you tackle a challenge like this yourself?

Part 1 – Hardware Configuration

Fortunately, the hardware setup – along with the toolchain – had already been defined:

• 5.0" Smart Embedded Display, 800 × 480 pixels, incl. MCU (STM32F750)
• ST toolchain (TouchGFX, STM32CubeMX)
• Joystick encoder (CJ25-82010)

Capturing Joystick Movement:
Analog inputs (ADC) were required to capture the movements. Thanks to the configuration file (.ioc) provided by EDT, these could be quickly enabled in STM32CubeMX and assigned to the appropriate pins.

Evaluating Rotation Direction:
The encoder mode integrated in the STM32F750 was particularly helpful in this case. After being enabled in STM32CubeMX, two timer pins were automatically assigned, and the necessary routines for determining the direction were generated.

With the Smart Embedded Display, we were able to quickly begin implementing a digital twin. The configuration via graphical tools spared us the time-consuming search through user guides – a real advantage when fast results are essential.

In the next newsletter, we'll show how we developed and implemented an intuitive user interface concept together with a UI designer.

Stay tuned…