• State Verified Answer
  • Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 65 subscribers
  • Views 197 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Attachments (0)
Nordic Case Info
  • Case ID: 327701
Options

Understanding how Thingy 91 GPIO pins work and USB pins for external adaptor

witch_mountain

Hi all! 

Hopefully this doesn't come off as too much of an ignorant question, but I'm having a hard time understanding the pinout of the Thingy 91 since I can't map where each pin on the table, provided by the hardware files, is to the physical board. If someone could provide some insight that would be greatly appreciated. I want to be able to connect a status led and switch to two GPIO pins that I can control when I transmit sensor data over to another cellular device. I assume I would connect these components to the sink/drain MOSFET pins provided unless I've understood the board layout incorrectly. 

If you've seen a previous post I've made, I think I've found a solution to my external power situation with an USB A adaptor board. The one I found is the BOB-12700 and the board has the D+/D- pins and I'm not sure where these data line pins would be connected to on the Thingy. Would also appreciate some advice on how to rectify that situation or if I leave those pins not connected(I would assume not since that is how the USB port knows when to drive 5V)? 

Thank you for your help!!

Parents
  • +1

    Hello,

    Hopefully this doesn't come off as too much of an ignorant question, but I'm having a hard time understanding the pinout of the Thingy 91 since I can't map where each pin on the table, provided by the hardware files, is to the physical board. If someone could provide some insight that would be greatly appreciated. I want to be able to connect a status led and switch to two GPIO pins that I can control when I transmit sensor data over to another cellular device. I assume I would connect these components to the sink/drain MOSFET pins provided unless I've understood the board layout incorrectly. 

    In your hardware files .zip file on the page 2 of the schematic and PCB PDF file you can find the following information:

    And then on page 5:

    As you can see, the MOSFETs are connected to P7, which is here (marked in red):

    Since those are N-channel MOSFETs, you will have to use them as low-side switches.

    If you've seen a previous post I've made, I think I've found a solution to my external power situation with an USB A adaptor board. The one I found is the BOB-12700 and the board has the D+/D- pins and I'm not sure where these data line pins would be connected to on the Thingy. Would also appreciate some advice on how to rectify that situation or if I leave those pins not connected(I would assume not since that is how the USB port knows when to drive 5V)? 

    Why don't you just use a standard USB cable with a standard USB power supply (like a phone charger)? I feel like you are overthinking this.

    Best regards,

    Michal

Reply
  • +1

    Hello,

    Hopefully this doesn't come off as too much of an ignorant question, but I'm having a hard time understanding the pinout of the Thingy 91 since I can't map where each pin on the table, provided by the hardware files, is to the physical board. If someone could provide some insight that would be greatly appreciated. I want to be able to connect a status led and switch to two GPIO pins that I can control when I transmit sensor data over to another cellular device. I assume I would connect these components to the sink/drain MOSFET pins provided unless I've understood the board layout incorrectly. 

    In your hardware files .zip file on the page 2 of the schematic and PCB PDF file you can find the following information:

    And then on page 5:

    As you can see, the MOSFETs are connected to P7, which is here (marked in red):

    Since those are N-channel MOSFETs, you will have to use them as low-side switches.

    If you've seen a previous post I've made, I think I've found a solution to my external power situation with an USB A adaptor board. The one I found is the BOB-12700 and the board has the D+/D- pins and I'm not sure where these data line pins would be connected to on the Thingy. Would also appreciate some advice on how to rectify that situation or if I leave those pins not connected(I would assume not since that is how the USB port knows when to drive 5V)? 

    Why don't you just use a standard USB cable with a standard USB power supply (like a phone charger)? I feel like you are overthinking this.

    Best regards,

    Michal

Children
  • 0 in reply to Michal

    Hi Michal!

    Thank you for your response.

    Michal said:

    And then on page 5:

    Looking at the nRF52_SPARE, are components connected to those pins only able to be used if I am working with BLE or the other protocols available to the nRF52. I'm working with LTE on the nRF9160 chip so if I had my LED and switch connected to the pins in P6 would they be usable? 

    Michal said:
    Since those are N-channel MOSFETs, you will have to use them as low-side switches.

    Could elaborate a bit more? I'm a bit new to circuit building so I've been doing some research on MOSFETS and how to use them, especially with regards to my LED and physical switch. 

    Michal said:
    Why don't you just use a standard USB cable with a standard USB power supply (like a phone charger)? I feel like you are overthinking this.

    Yes I am doing that at the moment to configure and code the Thingy, but if I were to leave it in an environment where I wanted to power externally I just wanted to think through what I could possibly do. So I'm a bit curious on how I would add in this adaptor to my circuit. How would you deal with the data pins?

    Thanks again!

  • 0 in reply to witch_mountain
    witch_mountain said:
    Looking at the nRF52_SPARE, are components connected to those pins only able to be used if I am working with BLE or the other protocols available to the nRF52. I'm working with LTE on the nRF9160 chip so if I had my LED and switch connected to the pins in P6 would they be usable? 

    You would need to add communication between nRF9160 and nRF52 for that. So that increases complexity quite a bit.

    witch_mountain said:
    Could elaborate a bit more? I'm a bit new to circuit building so I've been doing some research on MOSFETS and how to use them, especially with regards to my LED and physical switch. 

    N-channel MOSFETs you will have to connect it like on the left (where LOAD is your LED+resistor). In general N-channel need a voltage difference between gate and source to switch properly.

    There are ways to do high-side switching with NMOS with gate drivers, but for this kind of basic usage just stick to the circuit on the left.

    witch_mountain said:
    Yes I am doing that at the moment to configure and code the Thingy, but if I were to leave it in an environment where I wanted to power externally I just wanted to think through what I could possibly do. So I'm a bit curious on how I would add in this adaptor to my circuit. How would you deal with the data pins?

    Just connect the whole USB cable from a power supply to the Thingy? You don't have to think about doing anything specific with the data pins.

    Best regards,

    Michal

Related