Powering Sensor with GPIO on NRF51822

[Matthias]

Hello,

i would like to turn off a sensor completely when unused and thought of powering it through the GPIO of the Controller. I wondered if it is recommended or do the pins have a bad efficiency? Could it be worth the 1µA i am saving? The sensor needs max. 40µA and the other one max 380µA. So if, i could still use the standard mode.

Thx for your answer, Matthias

[Asbjørn]

Standard drive can deliver up to 500 uA, so yes, you should be able to power your sensors from the GPIO in standard drive as long as the consumption is as you state. Please see chapter 8.23 in the nRF51822 product specification.

[Annim]

Instead, you can make some arrangement of mosfet or transistor to on off from gpio to turn on off sensor.