Reducing Power Consumption on Arduino Zero, MKR1000, or any SAMD21 Arduino Part 1

In this multiple part series we look at how to reduce power consumption for battery powered designs that utilize Arduino's with the Atmel SAMD21 MCU (Zero, MKR1000, etc). In part one we look at how to put the SAMD21 to sleep and wake it up with either the real time clock (RTC) or an external event on an input pin.

//***************Arduino Sketch from the video*********************.
//This code was used for a tutorial on the ForceTronics YouTube channel. It shows how to save power
//by putting Arduino's based on the SAMD21 MCU (MKR1000, Zero, etc) to sleep and how to wake them
//This code is public domain for anybody to use or modify

//#include "RTCZero.h"
#include <RTCZero.h>

/* Create an rtc object */
RTCZero rtc;

/* Change these values to set the current initial time */
const byte seconds = 0;
const byte minutes = 00;
const byte hours = 00;

/* Change these values to set the current initial date */
const byte day = 24;
const byte month = 9;
const byte year = 16;

void setup() 
{
  delay(5000); //delay so we can see normal current draw
   pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT); //set LED pin to output
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW); //turn LED off

  rtc.begin(); //Start RTC library, this is where the clock source is initialized

  rtc.setTime(hours, minutes, seconds); //set time
  rtc.setDate(day, month, year); //set date

  rtc.setAlarmTime(00, 00, 10); //set alarm time to go off in 10 seconds
  
  //following two lines enable alarm, comment both out if you want to do external interrupt
  rtc.enableAlarm(rtc.MATCH_HHMMSS); //set alarm
  rtc.attachInterrupt(ISR); //creates an interrupt that wakes the SAMD21 which is triggered by a FTC alarm
  //comment out the below line if you are using RTC alarm for interrupt
 // extInterrupt(A1); //creates an interrupt source on external pin
  
  //puts SAMD21 to sleep
  rtc.standbyMode(); //library call
  //samSleep(); //function to show how call works
}

void loop() 
{
  //do nothing in main loop
}

//interrupt service routine (ISR), called when interrupt is triggered 
//executes after MCU wakes up
void ISR()
{
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
}


//function that sets up external interrupt
void extInterrupt(int interruptPin) {
  pinMode(interruptPin, INPUT_PULLUP);
  attachInterrupt(interruptPin, ISR, LOW);
}

//function to show how to put the 
void samSleep()
{
  // Set the sleep mode to standby
  SCB->SCR |= SCB_SCR_SLEEPDEEP_Msk;
  // SAMD sleep
  __WFI();
}

//**********************Changed "begin" function from RTCZero Library**************
void RTCZero::begin(bool resetTime)
{
  uint16_t tmp_reg = 0;
  
  PM->APBAMASK.reg |= PM_APBAMASK_RTC; // turn on digital interface clock
  //config32kOSC();

  // If the RTC is in clock mode and the reset was
  // not due to POR or BOD, preserve the clock time
  // POR causes a reset anyway, BOD behaviour is?
  bool validTime = false;
  RTC_MODE2_CLOCK_Type oldTime;

  if ((!resetTime) && (PM->RCAUSE.reg & (PM_RCAUSE_SYST | PM_RCAUSE_WDT | PM_RCAUSE_EXT))) {
    if (RTC->MODE2.CTRL.reg & RTC_MODE2_CTRL_MODE_CLOCK) {

      validTime = true;
      oldTime.reg = RTC->MODE2.CLOCK.reg;
    }
  }
  // Setup clock GCLK2 with OSC32K divided by 32
  GCLK->GENDIV.reg = GCLK_GENDIV_ID(2)|GCLK_GENDIV_DIV(4);
  while (GCLK->STATUS.reg & GCLK_STATUS_SYNCBUSY)
    ;                                                         /*XOSC32K*/
  GCLK->GENCTRL.reg = (GCLK_GENCTRL_GENEN | GCLK_GENCTRL_SRC_OSCULP32K | GCLK_GENCTRL_ID(2) | GCLK_GENCTRL_DIVSEL );
  while (GCLK->STATUS.reg & GCLK_STATUS_SYNCBUSY)
    ;
  GCLK->CLKCTRL.reg = (uint32_t)((GCLK_CLKCTRL_CLKEN | GCLK_CLKCTRL_GEN_GCLK2 | (RTC_GCLK_ID << GCLK_CLKCTRL_ID_Pos)));
  while (GCLK->STATUS.bit.SYNCBUSY)
    ;

  RTCdisable();

  RTCreset();

  tmp_reg |= RTC_MODE2_CTRL_MODE_CLOCK; // set clock operating mode
  tmp_reg |= RTC_MODE2_CTRL_PRESCALER_DIV1024; // set prescaler to 1024 for MODE2
  tmp_reg &= ~RTC_MODE2_CTRL_MATCHCLR; // disable clear on match
  
  //According to the datasheet RTC_MODE2_CTRL_CLKREP = 0 for 24h
  tmp_reg &= ~RTC_MODE2_CTRL_CLKREP; // 24h time representation

  RTC->MODE2.READREQ.reg &= ~RTC_READREQ_RCONT; // disable continuously mode

  RTC->MODE2.CTRL.reg = tmp_reg;
  while (RTCisSyncing())
    ;

  NVIC_EnableIRQ(RTC_IRQn); // enable RTC interrupt 
  NVIC_SetPriority(RTC_IRQn, 0x00);

  RTC->MODE2.INTENSET.reg |= RTC_MODE2_INTENSET_ALARM0; // enable alarm interrupt
  RTC->MODE2.Mode2Alarm[0].MASK.bit.SEL = MATCH_OFF; // default alarm match is off (disabled)
  
  while (RTCisSyncing())
    ;

  RTCenable();
  RTCresetRemove();

  // If desired and valid, restore the time value
  if ((!resetTime) && (validTime)) {
    RTC->MODE2.CLOCK.reg = oldTime.reg;
    while (RTCisSyncing())
      ;
  }

  _configured = true;
}