Makerfabs nRF52840 Board Brings Bluetooth and UWB Tracking Together

nRF52840 UWB DW3000 Development Board

Makerfabs has introduced the nRF52840 UWB DW3000, an nRF52840 development board that combines Bluetooth connectivity with ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning. The board integrates Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF52840 controller with a DW3000-series UWB transceiver, giving developers a compact platform for experimenting with wireless ranging, tracking, and positioning applications.

The board targets makers and developers who want to build UWB systems around the nRF52840 platform. It supports single-anchor and single-tag ranging as well as multi-anchor and multi-tag configurations. Makerfabs also provides examples for UWB positioning, including a Windows-based visualizer that displays tag locations using measurements from multiple anchors.

We have previously covered several nRF52840 development boards, including the Omnimo nRF52840 IoT Development Board, Makerdiary Pitaya Go IoT Development Board, and Low-Cost Nordic nRF52840 Bluetooth 5 Development Board. Feel free to check out these articles if you are interested in exploring more nRF52840-based platforms.

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Makerfabs nRF52840 UWB DW3000 Specifications:

• Controller:
  • Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840
  • 1MB Flash and 256KB RAM
• Wireless Connectivity:
  • Bluetooth 5.0 and 2.4GHz wireless
  • Bluetooth data rates: 125kbps, 500kbps, 1Mbps, and 2Mbps
• UWB:
  • Transceiver: DW3210
  • Range: More than 30m at 850Kbps
  • Data rates: 850Kbps and 6.8Mbps
  • Positioning modes: TWR, TDOA, and PDOA
  • Frequency channels:
    • Channel 5: 6489.6MHz
    • Channel 9: 7987.2MHz
  • Positioning accuracy: 10cm
• Display: Onboard 1.3-inch OLED display
• USB Connectivity:
  • 1x Native USB Type-C
  • 1x USB-to-UART Type-C
  • USB-to-UART bridge: CH340K
• Power Supply:
  • USB Type-C, 5V nominal
  • Operating input voltage: 4.0–5.25V
  • Supports a standard 3.7V LiPo battery
  • Onboard battery charger
  • MAX17048 LiPo/Li-ion fuel gauge and battery monitor
• User Controls:
  • Flash button
  • Reset button
• Expansion Interface: 2.54mm pin header
• Operating Temperature: -40°C to +85°C

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Makerfabs provides a dedicated DW3000 library and example sketches through GitHub for Arduino-based development. Developers can configure two boards as an anchor and tag to measure distance, or create networks with multiple anchors and tags. The multi-node example uses a designated master anchor for TDMA timing coordination, tag scheduling, and maintaining a common network time base. Makerfabs also provides a UWB visualizer program that can display tag positioning data on a Windows PC after developers enter the coordinates of the anchors and select the serial port. More details available on wiki page.

DW3000 library in Arduino

The nRF52840 UWB DW3000 development board is available from Makerfabs for $43.80.

Images used courtesy of Makerfabs.