Another processor with NRF52

[Raja]

I have created a program on Arduino which does audio/video output and takes input from accelerometer and camera module. I was able to move accelerometer code to NRF52 with @martinbl e.g.

On other posts it was mentioned with softdevice running we might get problem with audio output. Also i was not able to create any e.g. with audio/video on NF52.

Now i was thinking of having another chip like avr or arm processor which can take commands from NRF52 via rx/tx and run audio/video etc. By this Nrf52 will only be responsible for BLE connection and other chip for processing commands.

Am i completely wrong or is this right way? If i am right can you please recommend any chip which is used commonly with NRF52 and is rx/tx best way to communicate with primary nrf52 chip?

Thanks

[endnode]

Well nRF52 has enough power and peripherals to run as single chip in most embedded systems. But it requires certain embedded SW and HW development skills to over come all challenges. You can indeed take opposite approach to just wire multiple of chips over SPI/I2C/UART and let each of them do more or less single function (sensor data gathering, radio communication, audio input, audio output...) In normal commercial product this would be probably unacceptable because of high BOM and manufacturing cost but for prototyping/small batch/hobbyists this approach is fine as well.

I won't advise you on what chips you can pair with nRF52 because basically everything what can do UART/SPI/I2C/I2S will work.

[Raja]

Thanks @endnode. I agree it has enough power but lot of other posts say when softdevice is running then some scenarios will not run properly. e.g. Post. I feel as compared to other communities like ARM/Arduino NRF5 chip lacks greatly in tutorials and examples for non electronic background hobbyist. I hope this gap can be filled as NRF5 chip gets more and more popular.

[endnode]

My comment on that would be: Arduino and its IDE might be great for beginners but most of them will be locked in misconceptions learned there and they will never develop good working embedded FW. So my first recommendation to everyone is to avoid any shortcut because some things are simply complex and must be understood into the roots to design something meaningful. Better 6 months of learning of proper ANSI C coding and concepts then having fast blinking *** but never being able to do anything more complex. Similar comment to the "suggestions" that nRF5x with Nordic BLE stack has limitations: sure it has. However it impacts 1% of applications. All the rest are either perfectly doable (I've seen nRF52 app which was running SPI+I2S+I2C+PWM+BLE at the same time and it was perfectly stable) or impossible requirements from the start. But I'm biased so indeed this is just my opinion.

[endnode]

And one more: I hope Nordic support team will appreciate your feedback on lack of tutorials (which I personally would argue a lot because you have TONS of tutorials and examples for nRF5x) but I believe you understand what's happening here: Nordic isn't non-profit organization which releases low-cost boards for DIY/hobbyists/teaching of kids (which Arduino more or less is), it's publicly listed private business which wants to sell as much chips as possible. Who is then main focus? Big OEMs and similar companies embedding low-power radio chips to all different electronic devices and pushing hundreds of thousands of them to the market every year. These guys have teams which don't work on Arduino IDE level, they are embedded SW and HW professionals. So you need to understand that while Nordic is so nice and kind to support everyone on this forum, the main focus of all the support materials

[endnode]

..like SDK examples, release notes etc. are written for people who already have a clue about embedded programming or at least want to take it seriously. If some artist or hobbyist or whoever have great idea but don't want to spend on his/her blinking-whatever more then 2 weeks then he/she should find professional and pay him for the job rather then complaining that embedded programming on nRF5x cannot be learned in one week. Again just my opinion.