nRF9160-DK asset tracker BME680

[Yano]

Hi, can we connect and enable the BME680 in the asset tracker code for the nRF9160DK?

It is already on the Thingy and I notice there is a switch CONFIG_BME680 in the code?

Is it just a matter of adding the switch?

Where do I define the switch?

Which i2c port does it use?

Does the i2c register reading happen in the background?

Thanks

Ian

[Simon]

The BME680 sensor will automatically be used if you're using a thingy:91. This is because then you would use the board name thingy91_nrf9160ns and it will automatically include the file prj_thingy91_nrf9160ns.conf which will enable BME680 through these configurations: https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/blob/v1.5.0/applications/asset_tracker/prj_thingy91_nrf9160ns.conf#L72-L76.

If you want to enable it for the nrf9160dk, you should add some similar configurations inside a file prj_nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns.conf

The BME680 hardware configuration is also set up by default for the thingy:91 in its board folder:

https://github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-nrf/blob/v1.5.0/boards/arm/thingy91_nrf9160/thingy91_nrf9160_common.dts#L114-L118

This is because the Thingy:91 actuall comes with a BME680 sensor, and you can also see that it will use i2c instance 2 with sda pin = 11 and scl pin = 12.

However, for the nrf9160dk board, the hardware is not configured by default, so you have to configure it yourself through an overlay file. Just name it the same as what you're bulding with, e.g. if you build using the board nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns, then call it nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns.overlay and configure the hardware there. Take a look at the thingy:91 board folder how to go about it.

As a first step, you could try to get the sample bme680 up and running. It only has two board folders, so you have to add one for the nrf9160dk_nrf9160ns.

Best regards,

Simon