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RedBearLab BLE Nano - nRF51822
The BLE Nano from RedBearLab is one of the smallest Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy (BLE) development boards in the market. At each BLE Nano's core is a Nordic nRF51822, an ARM Cortex-M0 SoC plus BLE capable of running at 16MHz with ultra low power consumption. The RedBearLab BLE Nano also supports numerous different wireless devices running iOS 7/8, Android 4.3 or higher, and Windows Phone 8.1.
Developing a Bluetooth Smart enabled 'appcessory' (accessory device + companion application) is easier than ever. You can quickly produce prototypes and demos targeted for Internet of Things (IoT) and other interesting projects. The RedBearLab BLE Nano can operate under 1.8V to 3.3V, making it able to work in conjunction with a wide variety of electronic components. It should be noted that the RedBearLab BLE Nano can accept 3.3V to 13V from the VIN pin, however voltage will be regulated to 3.3V via the on-board LDO regulator due in part to the nRF51822 IC. It is important to keep in mind that you must have at least one MK20 USB board, found in the BLE Nano Kit, which is used to load firmware onto RedBearLab BLE Nano from a PC.
Note: The RedBearLab BLE Nano includes two 1x6 male headers that can be soldered on after purchase for easy interface. Additionally, you can find a complete pin-out for this board on the Product Page link found in the Documents section below.
- 1x RedBearLab BLE Nano
- 2x Header - 1x6 (Male, 0.1")
- Smallest BLE development board, only 18.5mm x 21.0mm
- Nordic nRF51822 ARM Cortex-M0 SoC supports both BLE Central and BLE Peripheral roles
- 2.4 GHz transceiver
- Ultra low power consumption
- Support voltage from 1.8V to 3.3V
- Software development using mbed.org, GCC, Keil or Arduino
- Lots of libraries and examples available
- Work with our free Android App and iOS App
- Getting Started
- [Datasheet](https://cdn.sparkfun.com/datasheets/Wireless/Bluetooth/nRF51822_PS v3.1.pdf) (nRF51822)
- Product Page
- Product Video
RedBearLab BLE Nano - nRF51822 Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Soldering
This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.
Skill Level: Noob - Some basic soldering is required, but it is limited to a just a few pins, basic through-hole soldering, and couple (if any) polarized components. A basic soldering iron is all you should need.
See all skill levels
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: Competent - The toolchain for programming is a bit more complex and will examples may not be explicitly provided for you. You will be required to have a fundamental knowledge of programming and be required to provide your own code. You may need to modify existing libraries or code to work with your specific hardware. Sensor and hardware interfaces will be SPI or I2C.
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
Comments
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Customer Reviews
5 out of 5
Based on 2 ratings:
1 of 2 found this helpful:
Works well - using Nordic nRF51822 BLE SDK
I'm programming it using the Keil IDE and Nordic's SDK, with a Segger loader - and it works fine. Don't know about the Arduino libraries or mbed platform.
0 of 1 found this helpful:
Easy to use and very low current consumption
I'd recommend using mbed.org to get started because there are example programs on the middle right hand side of https://developer.mbed.org/platforms/RedBearLab-BLE-Nano/ and drag and drop programming is so easy. I've also programmed it using nordic's SDK and can get the current down to 6.5uA using a 3V coin cell on Vdd whilst still beaconing every 10 seconds.
Yay! I got one of these from RedBear, tho I haven't had time to mess with it as I'm still finishing my Thing project... Commenting to say "I hope you post some tutorials for this." The redbear docs are "pretty good" but some sparkfun tutorials would definitely be helpful. :)
Does this have a rev3 chip?
Fantastic if you have a ton of experience with bluetooth & don't use the arduino IDE nor want any arduino involved at all. Seems poorly supported with buggy developer libraries and opaque mbed/arduino examples.
Does this board have the ability to measure the internal 1.1 volt reference, like "normal" arduino boards do?