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RFduino - Dev Kit
This is the RFduino Dev Kit, a great duo of products in one box to help you get you started with and teach you the basics of RFduino. Inside this kit you will find two RFduino boards, the DIP mainboard and the USB shield. When attached, these two boards will be able to connect to the USB port on your computer and get your code through the Arduino IDE onto the RFduino DIP board.
The RFduino is a Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy BLE RF Module with Built-In ARM Cortex-M0 and RFD22301 SMT module for rapid development and prototyping projects. The RFduino operates at 3V and 18mA (4uA ULP), transmits of a 2.4 GHz band, and offers 128kb of flash memory with 8kb of ram. Via a Bluetooth connection with your iOS device you even run a series of free apps to control various shields through the RFduino DIP board. Meanwhile, on-board the RFduino USB Shield is a 3.3V regulator which can be used to supply power to the RFduino DIP module as well as other shields and possibly the rest of your circuit.
With this kit you won't need to worry about buying the USB shield separately from the RFduino DIP, it's all in one box and ready to be used right away!
- Operating Voltage: 3V (Max 3.6V, Low 1.9V)
- Transmit/Recieve Current: 18mA (4uA ULP)
- 16MHz ARM Cortex-M0 CPU
- 128kb Flash
- 8kb Ram
- Bluetooth LE RF Module
- 2.4 GHz Band
- Transmit Power: 4dbm
- USB Shield Max Current: 500mA
- Datasheet
- Quickstart Guide
- Schematic (RFduino - DIP)
- Schematic (USB Shield)
- PCB Layout (RFduino - DIP)
- PCB Layout (USB Shield)
- BLE Programming Guide
- Sample Code
- iOS Apps
- Product Video
RFduino - Dev Kit Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Programming
If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.
Skill Level: Rookie - You will need a better fundamental understand of what code is, and how it works. You will be using beginner-level software and development tools like Arduino. You will be dealing directly with code, but numerous examples and libraries are available. Sensors or shields will communicate with serial or TTL.
See all skill levels
Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
See all skill levels
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Customer Reviews
3.2 out of 5
Based on 6 ratings:
1 of 1 found this helpful:
No support for Linux
I don't want to install wine just to program the RFduino.
This is unexpected from the general *duino stuff which I have always found to 'just work'.
Not a happy camper at the moment.
-Joe
It's okay, but
If all you want to do is see if you can write a sketch for the RFduino then this Dev Kit will do it. However, if you want to see the RFduino do its thing then you need to add the RFduino - RGB/Button Shield. This additional shield will easily prove that the RFduino can indeed communicate using Bluetooth. If you want to save the cost of the Shield and you have the parts, you can build a breadboard equivalent of the Shield. Me, I'd rather save the time and trouble and buy the Shield with the Dev Kit. Of course I didn't know this at the time I bought the Dev Kit.
so much to try, with such a small board!
With a board so small with arduino and blue tooth... ...makes a great digital hot cold game! Hide a coupte rfduinos and put a password on the seek side. Add a few other clues and you have a scavenger hunt!
Note to teensy users: with the latest beta version you can do both!
Great toy...
Unable to act as a host and control other Bluetooth devices and no security to speak of. So you can just connect directly to this peripheral device, and so can anybody else. Fun if you want to make a BLE controlled robot, control lights etc...
Small but mighty
Have three of the DIPs to run my Christmas lights strings and they have survived hanging under the eves of the house for a few weeks now here in the Denver area. What does not get well advertised beyond the BLE capabilities is the newer support for GZLL (Gazell network) which lets the DIPs chat with each other directly. You can get some reasonable distances with the radios getting close to 100 feet outdoors and 40 feet through the walls of the house. For more on the Christmas light use look up ToddFun.com .
Bad
RFduino is not of the quality expected, lack of documentation does a mediocre product. I do not recommend purchase.
Is this an introductory price or will it be the price from now on? Also is there plans on carrying the rfd22301 chip on its own? That'd be the thing to get in bulk!!!
"Via a Bluetooth connection with your iOS device"
So this device is compatible with Apple only, not Android? I have no use for closed, proprietary technology.
RFDuinoTest
RFDuino Android Application
It's compatible with Android, just not all android and that's not really their fault. If I recall, Android didn't support BLE before 4.3 and that's if the phone manufacturers added the hardware. I believe Samsung since the Galaxy 3 has had the hardware and several LG's. Of course, the Nexus 5 also.
Thanks! I missed that! Just saved me $43+
It's compatible with any BLE-capable device, but they've written apps for iOS (I imagine that there are also, or will be soon, apps for Android). In any case, if you roll your own app, you can make the magic happen on whatever device most pleases you, given it has the right hardware/firmware.
Linux users beware: They still don't support linux (officially) - see https://github.com/RFduino/RFduino/issues/4. I was a backer of the original kickstarter campaign and am still very disappointed that they seem to just ignore the linux platform alltogether ;-(.
Seeing this product, I realized it was time for me to learn about BLE. In my meanderings, especially w.r.t. the Android issue, I found this site:
http://www.tekritisoftware.com/how-to-implement-ble-in-android
It may answer some of Android issues. I don't own an Android device at this time, so it wouldn't help me.
I do have a question, though. Are there a set of "standards" for such mundane tasks as conveying temperature sensor, time, humidity, atmospheric pressure, etc.? Where would I find it if it exists? It strikes me as a waste of my time to create my own protocols, especially if I want compatibility between my sensors and existing software apps, or if I want to replace a prototype sensor with one I buy off-the-shelf?
but i need ethernet, not BT, wireless ethernet please.
wireless ethernet... so wi-fi.... ethernet by definition requires the RJ45 cable to connect...
Take a look at the Tinyduino. They have WIFI, BT and BLE modules. The RFduino appears to be a (bulky) knock-off.
Their web-site is dead, RFdigital web-site is also dead. Are they out of business?
The RF Digital Site seems to be working, but with some issues. They are certainly still in business - maybe just having some web issues at the moment.
Edit: You can find a lot of support files and docs on RFDigital's product page.
They seem to have 2 websites: RFDigital and RFduino, rfduino has an ok maintained forum at forum.rfduino.com...
You guys might consider stocking the RFD21813. I just ordered three from Mouser because I found out about them after reading this post. I would have much rather ordered them from SparkFun. While lacking a few useful things, like a low power receiver mode, they look to be very useful modules for mess and many-to-one sensor nets where high speed data rates aren't needed.
Can multiple devices be used in a peer-to-peer network?
No replies yet? Building a multi-point network with this device should be of interest to many users. Any documentation available about this?
no this device doesn't connect to other RFDuinos... you can follow all this info at their forum, forum.rfduino.com... these devices work mostly as peripherals not centrals... unless of course you're able to obtain the Nordic kit but that's a whole different story