NRF52840 basic questions

[JoE1205]

Hey guys,

right now I am using 2 NRF24L01+ modules connected to two Atmel Atmega 644P in order to collect some sensor data and send it to a computer. Im coding via Arduino IDE. This connection is limited to 5 Hz transmission rate due to the size of my data package, which is not that high. Anyway I want to use BLE and thats why I guess I would like to use NRF52840 since its combining the main MCU with a BLE module. By now I am not sure about the volume of work which this project will consume, which parts of my code can be copy pasted and Im not sure if the NRF52840 is the right chip. So lets have a look onto my communication network.

Module 1: Connect to a sensor for reference measurements and connected to the computer for data logging.
Module 2: Connect to 5 sensors, multiple measurement modes, including a sleep mode and is responding to whatever command Im sending from module 1.

I want to use LabVIEW to controll module 2 via module 1. The implementation into Labview is the last step and right now any working alternative is absolutly fine.

Questions:

1. Is it possible to connect I2C-sensors to the NRF52840 (Dongle and SMD version)?
2. Do I need new sensor libraries or are my existing libraries basically compatible?
3. How do I code the chips? I guess Arduino IDE is not the right way.
4. Which way is the easiest to communicate with module 1 by serial input (programm/tool)?
5. Im used to use open source libraries for my modules and sensors. Is a public library for NRF52840 available?
6. Is there a sleep mode available in NRF52840?

Best regards and thank you very much

[Kenneth]

Hi,

I suggest to start with:
https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/ug_getting_started/UG/gs/product_development.html

The latest nRF5 SDK with documentation is available here:
http://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF5_SDK/nRF5_SDK_v17.x.x/
https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/struct_sdk/struct/sdk_nrf5_latest.html

Also check out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZouRE_Ol8g&list=PLx_tBuQ_KSqGHmzdEL2GWEOeix-S5rgTV (the screenshots in the beginning has changed a bit, but the rest of the tutorials should be useful to use the SES tool for develoment).

To answer your questions:

1. Yes, I recommend to get an nRF2-DK, since all the examples in the nRF5 SDK are setup to use that by default.

2. We do not support Arduino, so you likely will need to use nRF5 SDK libraries and drivers yes. E.g  check out TWI (I2C) example here:
https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/topic/sdk_nrf5_v17.0.0/examples_hw_peripheral_devices.html

3. You do this through SES as shown in the tutorials above.

4. UART is typically nice to use, the nRF52-DK will enumerate a COM port that can be used to transmit and receive data over the serial interface.

5. All source code for hardware drivers are available in nRF5 SDK.

6. Yes, most of the examples show this.

Best regards,
Kenneth