SparkFun Thing Plus – NINA-B306

The SparkFun NINA-B306 Thing Plus offers a unique combination development platform in the Thing Plus form factor featuring the NINA-B306 from u-blox™, the ISM330DHCX 6DoF IMU from STMicroelectronics™ and the BME280 atmospheric sensor from Bosch Sensortec™.

The NINA-B306 is a combination Bluetooth® 5 compliant module with an Arm® Cortex®-M4 processor. The NINA-B306 features an integrated PCB antenna removing the need for any external antenna. It includes 1MB Flash and 250kB RAM.

The BME280 combined humidity and pressure sensor measures barometric pressure, humidity, and ambient temperature in a small package. The sensor measures pressure from 300 to 1100hPa and has a full temperature accuracy range from 0 to 65°C. The sensor communicates with the NINA-B306 over I2C.

The ISM330DHCX 6DoF IMU is a high-performance 3D digital accelerometer and 3D digital gyroscope tailored for Industry 4.0. The IMU has full-scale, user-selectable acceleration ranges of ±2/±4/±8/±16g and wide angular rate ranges of ±125/±250/±500/±1000/±2000/±4000dps. The ISM330DHCX has embedded features including Machine Learning Core, programmable FSM, FIFO, sensor hub, event decoding, and interrupts.

The NINA-B306 Thing Plus includes Qwiic and LiPo battery connectors, and a selection of GPIO, Analog, and communication pins (UART, SPI, and I2C) broken out to the PTH headers. The board also features the MCP73831 single-cell LiPo charger and the MAX17048 fuel gauge to charge and monitor a connected battery. Lastly, we’ve included a µSD card slot for external memory needs.

Get Started With The SparkFun NINA-B306 Thing Plus Guide

Features

• NINA-B306
  • Bluetooth 5 Compliant Low Energy module with integrated Arm Cortex-M4 processor
  • Supported 2.4 GHz radio modes
    • Bluetooth Low Energy
    • IEEE 802.15.4
    • Proprietary u-blox 2.4GHz modes
  • Internal PCB antenna
    • Max range: 1400m
  • 1MB Flash
  • 250kB RAM
• BME280 Environmental Sensor
  • Temperature Range:
    • Full Accuracy: 0 to 65°C
    • Operational: -40 to +85°C
  • Humidity Range: 0 to 100% RH
  • Pressure Range: 300 to 1100hPa
  • I²C address: 0x76
• ISM330DHCX 6DoF IMU
  • 3D Accelerometer
    • Selectable full-scale ranges: ±2/±4/±8/±16g
  • 3D Gyroscope
    • Extended selectable full-scale ranges: ±125/±250/±500/±1000/±2000/±4000dps
  • Operating temperature range: -40 to +105°C
  • Embedded compensation for high stability over operating temperature range
  • Embedded smart FIFO up to 9kB
  • Programmable Finite State Machine to process data from accelerometer and gyroscope
    • External sensor data processing not supported on this board
  • Smart embedded functions and interrupts: tilt detection, free-fall, wakeup, 6D/4D orientation, click and double-click
  • Embedded pedometer, step detector and counter
  • Embedded temperature sensor
  • I²C address: 0x6B
• Thing Plus Form-Factor (Feather-compatible):
  • Dimensions: 2.30in. x 0.9in.
  • Two mounting holes:
    • 4-40 screw compatible
  • 21 GPIO PTH breakouts
    • SPI, UART and I²C interfaces
    • Six analog
    • 8 digital I/O
  • USB-C Connector
  • 2-Pin JST LiPo Battery Connector for a LiPo battery (not included)
  • 4-Pin JST Qwiic Connector
  • MC73831 Single-Cell LiPo Charger
    • 500mA charge rate
  • MAX17048 Single-Cell LiPo Fuel Gauge
  • µSD Card Slot
• LEDs:
  • PWR – Red Power LED
  • CHG – Yellow battery charging status LED
  • STAT – Blue status LED tied to IO41

Resources

• Schematic
• Eagle Files
• Board Dimensions
• Hookup Guide
• Datasheets:
  • NINA-B306
  • BME280
  • ISM330DHCX
  • MAX17048
• Arduino Libraries:
  • BME280
  • ISM330DHCX
  • MAX17048
• Thing+ Info Page
• Qwiic Info Page
• GitHub Hardware Repo