nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootloader?

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jaimemg76
 
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nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootloader?

Post by jaimemg76 »

Hi, I'm a newbie with these devices and ANT+ programming... I got my whole project almost done, working thru BLE(It was pretty easy)... But when trying to support ANT+, I am kind of stuck...

I have a BlueFruit nRF52832, programmed thru Arduino IDE... The only bootloader and softdevice I have in choice at arduino platform is S132 6.1.1... So ¿I CAN'T USE ANT+? Right?

I got S323 softdevice (also S212 to try just ANT+) from www.thisisant.com page... But the ZIP file contains only the HEX file...
The bootloader folder, in arduino, has an HEX file but also a ZIP FILE that is what Arduino IDE burns to the board... (I tried to rename the HEX file to cheat it, but it still burns ZIP file)
That ZIP file contains 3 files: "manifest.json", "sd_bl.bin" and "sd_bl.dat"

¿Any way to get a ZIP file like that for S332 softdevice?

¿Or any way to update bootloader to Bluefruit nRF52832 to S332 and continue programming thru arduino/VS2013 thru micro USB as now?

I am not able to make ANT+ working.. Any simple example... I have been trying ANT+ many weeks, while developing the rest of the project...
It can't be so hard. I may be blind in any detail...
Please I would thank any help or advice, to keep working in... ¿Anybody have managed bluefruit nRF52 to work with ANT+?

(If It should work with S132 booloader, I would thank a simple example or link, just to activate ANT+ in any profile or so... to have something to work with... By the way, the most of the examples use Serial1, and this board does not have Serial1, so ¿Should it be softwareSerial(2, 3)? or how? )

Thanks in advance,

Jaime.

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hathach
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by hathach »

we didn't provide support for ANT, but you could use Feather nRF52 as generic nrf52 develop board with Nordic SDK for code base, and a JLINK.

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jaimemg76
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by jaimemg76 »

Thanks Hathach.
So, to be sure to understand it... Without the SEGGER JLINK, and thru micro USB and arduino/VS2013 platform... ¿There is no way to use ANT? Right?
¿With SEGGER JLINK is it affordable to get it working? ¿Still possible to upload sketches thru arduino/VS2013 platform?
I have 5 bluefruits nRf52832 and pretty interested in ANT...
Just thinking to purchase de JLINK accesories to keep trying, or destimate the choice :-( ...

Thanks a lot again,

Jaime.

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jumson
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by jumson »

I am looking to use ANT+ on the Feather Blueruit nRF52 as well. I think there might be two options -- and these are more question than solution, so I hope whoever monitors this forum can guide us to a workable solution:

1. To use Arduino IDE and the instructions from "Optional (Core Development): Adafruit nRF52 BSP via git" Adafruit BSP (https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_nRF52_Arduino)
Could it be a simple as adding the s332 API "include" folder to the ./cores/nRF5/nordic/softdevice folder? I note there are two others that directory which are just for BLE (s132 and s140).

2. create a custom BSP for the nRF5 SDK from Nordic, as describere here: (https://infocenter.nordicsemi.com/index ... oards.html)
For that we would need to know how to define the location of LEDs, buttons, etc, for the Feather --- or is that something we can copy from the repository for the BSP for the Arduino IDE? If so --- how do we find it?

(edit: After nosing around, I suspect that the correct files to include in a custom BSP to the nRF5 SDk would be the .cpp/.h files found here in the repository (for the variant in which I am interested): https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_nR ... r_nrf52832

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Oran
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by Oran »

I'm also looking for the answer to this as searching the internet isn't coming up with a solution. I've made a power meter and an automatic shifter for my bicycle and would like to add ANT+ communication to both of them. SparkFun also has the same question on their forum but again no official response with an answer. If I find out anything I will post it here. I have a Bluefruit Feather to experiment with.

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Dr_Momentum
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by Dr_Momentum »

I have also been working on a prototype (work related) for a couple of weeks now. It involves a custom sensor attached to a Adafruit Feather nRF52840 (I'll recommend this board since it supports ANT and BLE, as well as having the SEGGER JLINK header soldered to the board), talking to a Garmin watch for GPS stamping and storage.
The board comes with S140 softdevice (BLE only) so it will have to be re-loaded with S332 for ANT.
I'd also like to mention that for me buying a couple of D52 started kits (https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/part ... -kit/71797 ) has proven very beneficial since getting used to ANT isn't precisely a walk in the park (terrible documentation).
I currently have the ANT radios from the D52 kit showing up on the Garmin watch (after using the ANT+ network key from <www.thisisant.com> , and the 2457MHz frequency in ANTware II ) BUT not receiving data yet (that's my next step).

I hope this shines some light into the topic

Keep posting!

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Oran
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by Oran »

Thank you Dr_Momentum for posting evidence that it can be done and the useful information.
I have been trying with the Bluefruit Feather nRF52832. Interesting that you recommend the nRF52840 because the new Arduino Nano 33 BLE https://store.arduino.cc/nano-33-ble uses the nRF52840. I've been considering getting it to try out.

Let us know when you start transferring data.

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rtgree01
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by rtgree01 »

I too am looking to use ANT. I did get the nRF52840 Feather. I registered with thisisant.com and have downloaded a new softdevice (S340). I've copied the api to the correct directory for the nrf sdk. But I'm stuck on getting the new softdevice installed. What has to be done? I've tried manually creating a zip file using nrfutil but as soon as I try to upload it using the DFU package, it fails with a read/write error.

So.... in order to upgrade the SoftDevice, do I need a JLink programmer device? or can it be done with the adafruit-nrfutil?

Thanks!
Ryan

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drewvigne
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by drewvigne »

I just want to say if anyone wants to flash an ANT+ supported softdevice and be able to compile and flash ANT+ programs using USB, pm me and I will introduce you to my method. I have successfully got it to work. I am developing a power meter.

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drewvigne
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by drewvigne »

Ok so posting an update even though this thread seems dead.

Yes you can easily get ANT+ working on any Arduino/Adafruit board using nRF5 chips. I have a GitHub repo that explains this pretty thoroughly here https://github.com/drewvigne/arduino-nano-33-ant.

Using the nRF5 SDK is your best bet which means you'll need a JLink. The nRF5 SDK does not require a bootloader. You can run ANT+ programs with only a SoftDevice and Application stack.

Shameless self-plug: take a look at my blog for more info about this http://drewvigne.me Good luck!

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mchinand
 
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Re: nRF52832 ¿Does ANT+ require S332 SoftDevice and Bootload

Post by mchinand »

drewvigne wrote:Ok so posting an update even though this thread seems dead.

Yes you can easily get ANT+ working on any Arduino/Adafruit board using nRF5 chips. I have a GitHub repo that explains this pretty thoroughly here https://github.com/drewvigne/arduino-nano-33-ant.

Using the nRF5 SDK is your best bet which means you'll need a JLink. The nRF5 SDK does not require a bootloader. You can run ANT+ programs with only a SoftDevice and Application stack.

Shameless self-plug: take a look at my blog for more info about this http://drewvigne.me Good luck!
Thanks for posting an update on this. I am interested in trying this out but haven't had the time.

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