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Nordic Semiconductor Thingy:52 User Manual

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Nordic Thingy:52
User Guide
v1.0
Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0
2017-06-02

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Summary of Contents for Nordic Semiconductor Thingy:52

  • Page 1 Nordic Thingy:52 User Guide v1.0 Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0 2017-06-02...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Contents Contents Revision history........................4 Chapter 1: Introduction...................5 Chapter 2: Key features................... 6 2.1 Power switch................................6 2.2 Button.................................... 7 2.3 USB port..................................7 Chapter 3: Kit content..................9 3.1 Hardware content..............................9 3.2 Downloadable content............................9 Chapter 4: iOS app..................11 4.1 Connecting Thingy..............................11 4.2 Services..................................12 4.2.1 Environment............................13 4.2.2 User interface............................
  • Page 3 Contents 6.2.1 Environment............................45 6.2.2 Motion................................46 6.2.3 User interface............................47 6.2.4 Sound................................. 48 6.3 Thingy Configuration............................49 6.4 IFTTT.....................................50 Chapter 7: Hardware description..............51 7.1 Hardware figures..............................51 7.2 Block diagram................................52 7.3 MCU....................................53 7.4 I/O expander................................53 7.5 Pin maps..................................54 7.6 Motion sensors................................ 56 7.7 Environment sensors.............................58 7.8 Sound..................................

  • Page 4: Revision History

    Revision history Date Version Description June 2017 First release Page 4 Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0...

  • Page 5: Chapter 1: Introduction

    The functionality of Thingy can be configured over-the-air via a Bluetooth API. That makes it possible to create demos and prototypes without actually programming the Nordic Thingy:52 itself, and do all development on the app or cloud solution. As new versions of the firmware are released, Thingy can be updated over-the-air using the provided apps.

  • Page 6: Chapter 2: Key Features

    Chapter 2 Key features The following are the key features of Nordic Thingy:52. • Highly configurable IoT sensor kit ® • All sensors and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) parameters are configurable through a BLE interface. • nRF52832 System on Chip (SoC) solution •...

  • Page 7: Button

    2 Key features Figure 1: Power switch 2.2 Button The Thingy button is located right under the Nordic Semiconductor logo. Press it through the top rubber case. Figure 2: Button 2.3 USB port The micro USB port is located on the front side of the device, under a rubber cover. Use it to charge your Thingy.
  • Page 8 2 Key features Figure 3: USB port Page 8 Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0...

  • Page 9: Chapter 3: Kit Content

    Chapter 3 Kit content The Nordic Thingy:52 IoT Sensor Kit consists of hardware and access to software components, reference design files, mobile applications, and documentation. 3.1 Hardware content Nordic Thingy:52 reference design hardware. Figure 4: Nordic Thingy:52 hardware content 3.2 Downloadable content The Nordic Thingy:52 reference design includes firmware source code, documentation, hardware schematics, and layout files.
  • Page 10 Schematics, Bill of Materials, PCB layout files, and production files The ZIP file and its subdirectories contain the hardware design files for the Nordic Thingy:52 reference design. The hardware files for the circuit board are located in the following folder in the hardware files ZIP package: \Thingy52 - Hardware files x_x_x\PCA20020-Thingy52 Board x_x_x.

  • Page 11: Chapter 4: Ios App

    Chapter 4 iOS app Download and install the Nordic Thingy app from the Apple App Store to control Thingy using an iOS device. To enjoy the functionalities of the iOS app that are described in this chapter, you need to complete the following steps.

  • Page 12: Services

    4 iOS app 4. Once Thingy is discovered, tap its name in the list to start the configuration process (the default name is "Thingy"). The scanner is dismissed and the initialization view appears. If Thingy doesn't appear in the list within a couple of seconds, check the following: a) Is Thingy powered on? The power switch is located under the rubber cover, to the left of the USB port.

  • Page 13: Environment

    4 iOS app Note: The services listed in this chapter are available in the Thingy app. They do not reflect the exact service names or number on the device. The services offered in the Thingy app are divided into Environment, User Interface (UI), Motion, Sound, and Cloud.
  • Page 14 4 iOS app Tap the Info button for clarification on what each symbol stands for. Tap the More options button to enable or disable the available features. Live graphs Live graphs are available for the temperature, pressure, and humidity features. Once enabled, data will start populating the graphs in realtime.
  • Page 15 4 iOS app • You can scroll through the graph manually, as with any other scrollable view. To resume autoscrolling, tap Show latest. • • To clear a graph, tap Clear. This will empty all data and will reenable autoscrolling. Configuring the Environment service Tap the Configuration button to the right of the application's navigation bar to open configuration...

  • Page 16: User Interface

    4 iOS app To change a setting, tap the feature that you would like to change and type in the new value. Tap Set to save the changes. Tap Cancel to ignore your changes. 4.2.2 User interface The User Interface service allows you to interact with the LED and button on Thingy. Here, you can change the properties of the Thingy LED.

  • Page 17: Motion

    4 iOS app • Unknown - This state is displayed when the view is initially loaded and the app has no information about the button's state. • Pressed - This is displayed when you press and hold the button. • Released - This is displayed when you release the button.
  • Page 18 4 iOS app Tap the More options button on the Motion bar to enable or disable different characteristics using the toggle. Gravity Vector The Gravity Vector section displays the effect of gravity on each axis in units of m/s . To use this feature, tap the More options icon and use the toggle to enable it.

  • Page 19: Sound

    4 iOS app To change a setting: 1. Tap the value you would like to change. 2. Type the new value into the field. 3. Tap Set to save the new value. 4. Tap Cancel to ignore your changes. 4.2.4 Sound The Sound service lets you control Thingy's microphone and its speaker.
  • Page 20 4 iOS app in the privacy menu.) The microphone icon will turn red and the visualization will display the current audio being streamed. 2. To stop streaming, tap the microphone button again. It will turn black and the graph will stop updating. There are two ways in which you can stream sound from the Thingy's microphone to the mobile device's speaker.
  • Page 21 4 iOS app Recording input for later playback 1. Press the Record button. 2. Play some notes. 3. Press the Stop button. The keystrokes are now stored. Playing back recorded keystrokes Whenever there is recorded data, a Play button will appear next to the Record button. Tap Play to start playing back the recorded keystrokes.

  • Page 22: Cloud

    4 iOS app To use this feature, tap any of the samples in the Sample Sound view. The sound will be immediately played. • Only one sample can be played at a time. • Playing any other sample will stop the current sample. Speaker and microphone modes The Thingy Sound service is based on two building blocks, the speaker and the microphone, which can work in specific modes.

  • Page 23: Thingy Configuration

    4 iOS app Events Use the sliders to enable or disable the events that will be used for triggering IFTTT conditional statements. The available events are Temperature, Pressure, and Button state. Configuration Paste the Cloud Token in this field. Features Info If a particular type of event from the Events section is enabled, you can see its status here.

  • Page 24: Managing Thingy Devices

    4 iOS app Additionally, you can view the current firmware version that is running on Thingy. Changing the configuration In order to modify a specific configuration, tap the cell you would like to change and modify the contents. Here you will see appropriate configuration types and value ranges, as well as have your input validated when you change a value.

  • Page 25: Connect Or Disconnect A Thingy

    4 iOS app 3. Once the Thingy device is discovered, select it from the menu and follow the wizard. The procedure is the same as during the first launch. Remove a Thingy 1. From the top left of the screen, open the main application menu. 2.

  • Page 26: Over-The-Air Device Firmware Update (Ota-Dfu)

    4 iOS app 4.5 Over-the-air device firmware update (OTA-DFU) The mobile app provides support for over-the-air device firmware updates. This allow for seamless updates to the Thingy firmware application through the Thingy mobile application. OTA-DFU outline When there is a feature addition or a bug fix in the Thingy firmware, you can use the mobile application to connect to Thingy and replace the current firmware with the latest firmware application.
  • Page 27 4 iOS app The status of the DFU is highlighted on the tick marks at the bottom of the screen and the progress bar is updated with the average DFU speed. In this mode, the application tries to reconnect to Thingy once the DFU process is completed. However, if this fails, you can always go back to any of the main views and from there you can connect to Thingy as usual.
  • Page 28 4 iOS app Note: When Thingy is in bootloader mode, it is impossible to connect to it using the Connect button in the main menu of the app. Page 28 Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0...

  • Page 29: Chapter 5: Android App

    Chapter 5 Android app Download and install the Thingy app for Android from Google Play to control Thingy using an Android device. To enjoy the functionalities of the Android app that are described in this chapter, you need to complete the following steps.
  • Page 30 5 Android app 5. Tap Scan again to start scanning. 6. Select Thingy from the Available Devices list. If Thingy does not appear in the list within a couple of seconds, check the following: a) Is Thingy powered on? The Power button is located under the rubber cover, to the left of the USB port. b) Is Thingy connected to another mobile device? By default, the LED will breathe in cyan color to indicate that it is already connected to another device.

  • Page 31: Services

    5 Android app The app opens the Environment service, which is the default view for the Thingy app as long as one Thingy has been configured, regardless of its connection state. In the top right of the screen are the Connect/Disconnect options that change the connection state and a trash icon that removes the Thingy from the app.
  • Page 32 5 Android app Environment In the Environment section you can see the most current data for all enabled features. Tap the Info button for clarification on what each symbol stands for. Tap the Action button to enable or disable the available features. Live graphs Live graphs are available for the temperature, pressure, and humidity features.

  • Page 33: User Interface

    5 Android app Configuring the Environment service Tap the Configuration button to right of the application's navigation bar to open configuration settings. In the configuration menu, you can customize several aspects of the Environment service. • Temperature sampling interval (ms) •...
  • Page 34 5 Android app Breathe mode is where the Thingy LED fades in and out at a given interval, but turns off after Thingy is disconnected. You can choose from one of the preset colors, adjust the light intensity, and increase or decrease the breath delay.

  • Page 35: Motion

    5 Android app 5.2.3 Motion The Motion service displays the step counter, tap sensor, accelerometer, and other motion-related sensor data received from Thingy. Here you can see information related to 3D motion, motion characteristics, and the gravity vector. 3D Motion 3D Motion simulates the current rotation attitude of the Thingy on a 3D model in the app.
  • Page 36 5 Android app Tap the Info button to display what the icons represent. Tap the Action button on the Motion section to enable or disable different characteristics by selecting or deselecting a characteristic. Gravity Vector The Gravity Vector section displays the effect of gravity on each axis in units of m/s .

  • Page 37: Sound

    5 Android app 5.2.4 Sound The Sound service lets you control Thingy's microphone and its speaker. Microphone Here, you can control the streaming process from Thingy to a mobile device and vice versa. Follow these steps to stream sound from the mobile device's microphone to the Thingy speaker. 1.

  • Page 38: Cloud

    5 Android app • PCM mode - Thingy is capable of streaming 8-bit PCM audio from the mobile device to its speaker. Select one of the example audio files to stream it to Thingy. Important: Older or low-end devices running Android version earlier than Lollipop may encounter interruptions with audio streaming because of lower MTU sizes.

  • Page 39: Thingy Configuration

    5 Android app Feature Control Use the sliders to enable or disable the events that will be used for triggering IFTTT conditional statements. The available events are Temperature, Pressure, and Button state. Feature Info If a particular type of event from the Feature Control section is enabled, you can see its status here. You can also check the interval at which temperature and pressure are measured.

  • Page 40: Managing Thingy Devices

    5 Android app • Slave latency - This is the number of events between when the mobile device asks Thingy for data and when Thingy actually sends the data. This allows Thingy to stay in low-power mode for a longer time when it has no new data for the mobile device.
  • Page 41 5 Android app 3. Tap Scan in the Initial Configuration to scan for a nearby Thingy. Once you have discovered the one you want, you can connect to it, add a name, and share the location. The procedure is the same as during the first launch.

  • Page 42: Connect Or Disconnect A Thingy

    5 Android app 5.4.2 Connect or disconnect a Thingy The connectivity state of the currently selected Thingy can be determined by the Connect/Disconnect button in the top toolbar. A connected device will feature a Disconnect button, while a disconnected Thingy will have a Connect option.
  • Page 43 5 Android app firmware through the app. This will allow you to download the latest firmware and flash Thingy with it. Selecting custom firmware is not supported but is planned as a future update. Updating firmware on a Thingy that is in bootloader mode This scenario is not a default use case.

  • Page 44: Chapter 6: Web App

    Chapter 6 Web app Use the web application to interact with your Thingy without the need to download and install any software on your mobile device. Note: Compared to the mobile apps, the web app provides somewhat restricted functionality in various areas.

  • Page 45: Services

    6 Web app b) Is Thingy connected to another mobile device? By default, the LED will breathe in cyan color to indicate that it is already connected to another device. c) Is Thingy in sleep mode? Press the button or shake the device to make sure that it is not in sleep mode. d) Has Thingy run out of battery? Connect Thingy to a charger.

  • Page 46: Motion

    6 Web app • • TVOC (total volatile organic compunds) • Color intensity Temperature This section contains a live graph that represents the current and historical temperature measurements. Pressure This section contains a live graph that represents the current and historical pressure measurements. 6.2.2 Motion The Motion service displays the pedometer (step counter), tap sensor, accelerometer, and other motion- related sensor data received from Thingy.

  • Page 47: User Interface

    6 Web app The simulation uses Euler angles to rotate the model at a given configured interval. To make the animation smooth, the simulation interpolates between the current and target positions with a duration of the update interval. This makes the animation as smooth as possible. Motion The motion characteristics in this section come from all motion-related sensors.

  • Page 48: Sound

    6 Web app Button In the Button section, you can see the current state of the Thingy button. • Pressed - This is displayed when you press and hold the button. • Released - This is displayed when you release the button. 6.2.4 Sound The Sound service lets you control the Thingy's speaker.

  • Page 49: Thingy Configuration

    6 Web app Play tones This is a frequency mode in which you can tap the icons to play notes of a certain frequency. Only one note can be played at a time. 6.3 Thingy Configuration The Configuration service allows you to customize various Thingy settings. You can configure the following settings of your Thingy: •...

  • Page 50: Ifttt

    6 Web app • Supervision timeout - A timeout in seconds from the last data exchange before considering the Thingy link lost. If you expect that Thingy will often go in and out of range, it is better to have a short timeout to detect it quickly.

  • Page 51: Chapter 7: Hardware Description

    Chapter 7 Hardware description This chapter focuses on the hardware components of Nordic Thingy:52 with detailed descriptions of the various hardware blocks that are present on the device. The sensors available in Thingy are not calibrated in production. Nordic Semiconductor does not specify the accuracy of measurements.

  • Page 52: Block Diagram

    7 Hardware description Figure 6: Thingy PCB, bottom 7.2 Block diagram The following block diagram represents interactions between hardware components on Thingy. Speaker Gas sensor Motion sensor Microphone Amplifier Analog switch Analog switch Analog switch Analog switch Humidity sensor Analog switch LEDs I/O expander Color sensor...

  • Page 53: Mcu

    7 Hardware description 7.3 MCU The nRF52832 SoC functions as the brain of Thingy. It is a powerful, highly flexible, ultra-low power SoC that incorporates a Bluetooth low energy radio and a 32-bit ARM Cortex -M4F CPU. ® ® ® The nRF52832 features 512 kB of flash memory and 64 kB of RAM.

  • Page 54: Pin Maps

    7 Hardware description Figure 9: I/O expander schematics 7.5 Pin maps The following tables present the pin assignments for the nRF52832 SoC and for the I/O expander. Page 54 Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0...
  • Page 55 7 Hardware description Table 1: nRF52832 pin map Label Description P0.00 Low frequency crystal P0.01 Low frequency crystal P0.02 ANA/DIG0 Analog/Digital GPIO externally available P0.03 ANA/DIG1 Analog/Digital GPIO externally available P0.04 ANA/DIG2 Analog/Digital GPIO externally available P0.05 SX_OSCIO I/O expander oscillator input line P0.06 MPU_INT Motion sensor interrupt line...

  • Page 56: Motion Sensors

    7 Hardware description Label Description P0.27 SPEAKER Speaker PWM signal P0.28 BATTERY Battery monitoring input P0.29 SPK_PWR_CTRL Speaker amplifier power control P0.30 VDD_PWD_CTRL Power control for sensors, I/O expander, and LEDs P0.31 BH_INT Color sensor interrupt line Table 2: I/O expander pin map Label Description SXIO0...
  • Page 57 7 Hardware description Figure 10: Low power accelerometer schematic By default the INT1 line of the accelerometer is connected to nRF52832. If you want to use the INT2 line instead, cut the short on SB9 and solder SB10. Figure 11: Low power accelerometer interrupt line selection 9-axis motion sensor For advanced motion tracking features, Thingy uses a 3-axis gyro, 3-axis accelerometer, and 3-axis magnetometer integrated device (U3).

  • Page 58: Environment Sensors

    7 Hardware description Figure 12: Motion sensor schematic 7.7 Environment sensors To monitor its surroundings, Thingy contains several sensors for detecting different environmental properties. Pressure sensor The pressure sensor (U6) onboard Thingy is capable of measuring 260 to 1260 hPa absolute pressure with 24- bit data output.
  • Page 59 7 Hardware description Figure 14: Humidity sensor schematic Color sensor The color sensor (U8) onboard Thingy senses red, green, and blue light with a 0.005 – 40k lx dynamic range. The sensor faces towards the blue transparent bottom case with light pipes guiding the light towards the sensor.

  • Page 60: Sound

    7 Hardware description Figure 16: Gas sensor schematic 7.8 Sound A digital microphone and a speaker make up the two hardware blocks that are responsible for sound on Thingy. Digital microphone For audio input, Thingy is equipped with a digital output PDM microphone (U11). The microphone's power and signal lines are routed through an analog switch (U12) to save power when the microphone is not in use.

  • Page 61: Leds And Button

    7 Hardware description Figure 18: Amplifier and speaker schematic 7.9 LEDs and button Thingy's user interface consists of RGB LEDs and a button. LEDs Thingy is equipped with three RGB LEDs. Two of the LEDs are used to light up the light well and are controlled by the same signals using transistors as switches.

  • Page 62: Power Supply

    7 Hardware description Figure 19: LED schematic Button The button located on the top of Thingy is for user input. Figure 20: Button schematic 7.10 Power supply This section contains information about the power supply circuitry of Thingy. A rechargeable Lithium-ion Polymer battery is used as the main power source. The battery has a nominal capacity of 1440 mAh and can be recharged through USB.
  • Page 63 7 Hardware description Figure 21: Schematics for USB and battery connectors, and the power switch A battery charger circuit is present on Thingy in order to charge the battery. The max charge current is set to 0.5 C. Battery charge status output is connected to the MCU. While the charger has a thermistor input, the battery used in Thingy has no internal thermistor.
  • Page 64 7 Hardware description Figure 23: Voltage regulator schematic To save power during sleep mode, an analog switch is used to turn off the VDD power net. The low power accelerometer and nRF52832 are powered directly from VREG and will always be powered to wake up Thingy. Figure 24: VDD power switch schematic To monitor the battery voltage, a voltage divider circuit is connected to the battery.
  • Page 65 7 Hardware description Figure 25: Battery monitoring schematic It is possible to measure the current flowing to nRF52832 by cutting the short on SB2 and placing an ampere meter between the positive terminal and P1 and positive terminal and P2. Figure 26: Measuring current to the nRF52832 Page 65 Doc.

  • Page 66: Interface

    7 Hardware description Figure 27: Current measurement connectors schematic 7.11 Interface To enable the user to connect external hardware, Thingy is equipped with a set of connector footprints and transistors to drive higher currents. For more flexibility, Thingy is equipped with four N-MOS transistors that can be used to drive small DC motors or LEDs.
  • Page 67 7 Hardware description Figure 29: Interface connectors Page 67 Doc. ID 4433-018 v1.0...
  • Page 68 7 Hardware description Figure 30: Thingy external connectors Table 3: Pinout of connector P4 Signal Description SCL_EXT External I2C clock SDA_EXT External I2C data ANA/DIG0 GPIO of the nRF52832 ANA/DIG1 GPIO of the nRF52832 ANA/DIG2 GPIO of the nRF52832 Ground IOEXT0 GPIO of the I/O expander IOEXT1...
  • Page 69 7 Hardware description Signal Description Power supply, controlled by the VDD power switch Ground Table 4: Pinout of connectors P5 and P7 Signal Description SCL_EXT External I2C clock SDA_EXT External I2C data VREG Power supply, no power control Ground Table 5: Pinout of connector P6 Signal Description ANA/DIG0...

  • Page 70: Legal Notices

    Nordic Semiconductor ASA customers using or selling these products for use in such applications do so at their own risk and agree to fully indemnify Nordic Semiconductor ASA for any damages resulting from such improper use or sale.
  • Page 71 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
  • Page 72 Mouser Electronics Authorized Distributor Click to View Pricing, Inventory, Delivery & Lifecycle Information: Nordic Semiconductor nRF6936...

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