Extendability of the Nordic Thingy:52?

[JohanHWB]

Hey,

Up until now I have only been dealing with software. Now however, I want to create a device that I can use to track my bike by GPS and heading. In the future, I want to act given certain light conditions, like turn a light on when it becomes dark.

So to me, it seems like the Thingy52 will make all this possible? But .. what I don't get is how does the T52 actually make things happen? It has a lot of sensors, but .. how can I use this data to turn on an external light? I would prefer that the lights dim in and out, so I can't use a simple electrical relay..

I assume I'll need to connect additional things to the T52? But can this be done?

Any and all input appreciated.

Thanks! 

[Øyvind]

Hello,

Do you mean Thingy:52 or Thingy:91? The latter is the one with GPS and LTE modem. 

Kind regards,
Øyvind

[JohanHWB]

Thanks for your reply, and sorry, I should have included both.

As far as I understand: I'll assume that the gyro on the Thingy:52 can be used to obtain compass heading while motionless?

So I believe I'll need the T52 for heading and the Thingy:91 for GPS tracking (which uses LTE-M to update backend). Is this correct?

I get a sneaking feeling that I may be better off with some other hardware..

Johan

[Øyvind]

If you only need the gyro for compass heading from the Thingy:52, why not just add an external module to the Thingy:91? 
There are some additional GPIO you can use. See this thread.

[JohanHWB]

Why indeed :-)

Well, the final product will probably have almost all the features of T52 combined with the GPS and LTE-M from T91. However, for the MVP we plan only on using the gyro from T52.. Down the line we plan to use almost every other feature as well.

With no experience in this field, I wasn't really able to tell by looking at the PCB if any of the Thingy's can be extended. So how or where is the interface to hook up external modules?

Also, I was a bit disappointed to read that the speaker (which also wasn't indicated on the PCB overview in the PDF of the T52) reduces the precision of the compass. We don't need the speaker.. Can I simply ... remove it from the board?

I really appreciate your input Øyvind. Jeg antar du også er norsk? Takk for hjelp så langt.

[Øyvind]

Hei igjen Johan 

Norsk her, ja. Sittende på hovedkontoret vårt i Trondheim. Men fortsetter samtale på engelsk, da dette er en public ticket 

JohanHWB said:

With no experience in this field, I wasn't really able to tell by looking at the PCB if any of the Thingy's can be extended. So how or where is the interface to hook up external modules?

 I could have been more specific with regards to that. The Thingy:91 documentation has more information about the topic. The Pin Map chapter shows which pins are spare, e.g. SPARE1 = P0.06 - Digital GPIO externally available. Note that the spare pins are connected to the board controller nRF52840. While the available connectors on the board are described in the Connectors chapter

In Connector Pinouts, we see that P6 has spare pins 1 to 6. A more detailed overview can be also found in the Hardware description files found on the Thingy:91 download page, this includes schematics and layout in pdf format: PCA20035_Schematic_And_PCB.pdf
 

JohanHWB said:

Also, I was a bit disappointed to read that the speaker (which also wasn't indicated on the PCB overview in the PDF of the T52) reduces the precision of the compass. We don't need the speaker.. Can I simply ... remove it from the board?

Removing the speaker or any other part by desoldering might be more timeconsuming if you are not experienced with HW, I would recommend getting an external module with gyro/compass e.g. the SEN-13762 from SparkFun. This will also add more functionality to the Thingy:91 with Gyroscope, (an extra) Accelerometer and Magnetometer (compass), along with the sensors already on the board i.e. color sensor and Pressure, Humidity, Temperature and Gas sensor

And not to forget that the Thingy:91 already has an Asset Tracker application.

Hopes this answers more of your questions!

Kind regards, 
Øyvind

[JohanHWB]

Hei,

So I got the SEN-13762 as suggested.

Which means I'll be heading to a hackerspace to connect the two boards.

For this .. having never done anything like this before, you say that P6 has "spare pins". All 6 are described as "GPIO of the nRF52840" - which I don't fully understand. I have never done anything like this before, so.. shouldn't at least one of the pins be "ground" or something - so there is a signal to read when combined with the other pins?

I'm trying to figure out how to connect the two modules. Any additional pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[Øyvind]

Hei!

JohanHWB said:

I have never done anything like this before, so.. shouldn't at least one of the pins be "ground" or something - so there is a signal to read when combined with the other pins?

Yes, all the pins are GPIO on connector P6. GND is found on P3, P4, P5, and P7. Just make sure to use the pins marked with GND or you might damage your module.

 

JohanHWB said:

I'm trying to figure out how to connect the two modules. Any additional pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 Sparkfun has a good "Hookup guide" on their page which shows how to connect your module. In your case, you could connect VDD and GND on the SEN-13762 to P5 (3V3 and GND), while SDA and SCL should be connected to two of the GPIOs on P6. You will need to configure these GPIOs as SDA and SCL. Or you can connect to TP9 (SCL) and TP10 (SDA).

[JohanHWB]

Thanks.

So I did as advised. Not yet tried to turn it on.

Additionally I would have BLE. Do I get that by adding a second module?

The nRF52840 has protocol support for Bluetooth 5, but not the actual hardware.. So now that SEN-13762 occupies the 3V3 pins (which is the voltage used by the boards I have seen so far) - how would I power the new module?

And the data, do I use additional GPIOs to reach the nRF52840?

[JohanHWB]

Also, initially I asked if anyone could help me understand how these boards actually gets things done - like turning on and off lights? How do I make things happen? Yep. Never done this before. Trying to read about these things, but everything I come across is frustratingly vague.

[Øyvind]

JohanHWB said:

Additionally I would have BLE. Do I get that by adding a second module?

The nRF52840 is a Bluetooth 5 device which supports Bluetooth Low Energy.

JohanHWB said:

The nRF52840 has protocol support for Bluetooth 5, but not the actual hardware

Can you please elaborate on what you mean with not the actual HW?

JohanHWB said:

So now that SEN-13762 occupies the 3V3 pins (which is the voltage used by the boards I have seen so far) - how would I power the new module?

I don't understand. What new module? 

JohanHWB said:

And the data, do I use additional GPIOs to reach the nRF52840?

As the SEN-13762 communicates via TWI (I2C) you will need to connect it either GPIO pins on P6, or you can connect to TP9 and TP10. 

JohanHWB said:

Also, initially I asked if anyone could help me understand how these boards actually gets things done - like turning on and off lights? How do I make things happen? Yep. Never done this before. Trying to read about these things, but everything I come across is frustratingly vague.

What do you know about HW? It is easier to point to correct documentation knowing what you know. 

Kind regards,

Øyvind

[JohanHWB]

This is why it is so hard to understand how to get things done: references refer to things with different names than what the thing calls itself. Exhausting. On top of that - all articles I come across are poorly structured and confusing. Aaaahhg!

Anyway...

When I compare the Thingy 52 with 91 I see that Bluetooth is only listed on 52 with a colourful box. Then I read that the 91 has "support" for bluetooth. This, to me, can only mean one thing: that the 91 doesn't have the necessary hardware to establish a connection to eg. an iPhone - though it will be able to support bluetooth if added in some way.

Following that logic, I need to add another module as 91 cannot actually by itself connect with another device using Bluetooth. I used the word "module" as I though this would be the correct term to use - you used term "external module" to describe the SEN-13762.

Now, you make me think that the Thingy:91 does in fact support bluetooth out of the box, despite it not being listed as a feature with a colourful box?

Btw. how do I do those cool "JohanHWB said:" quotes?

What do you know about HW? It is easier to point to correct documentation knowing what you know.

Well - that is easy. I know nothing.