Arduino Primo

Note: This page refers to a product that is retired.

The Arduino Primo is the first board developed in cooperation with Nordic Semiconductor. It brings new benefits for the IoT world all on one platform: advanced 32-bit microcontroller architecture, Bluetooth® low energy, Wi-Fi, near-field communications (NFC), and infrared (IR) transmit and receive capability.

There are three onboard microcontrollers:

• nRF52832, the main Arduino microcontroller with integrated Bluetooth® Low Energy and NFC
• STM32f103, a service microcontroller used for advanced debugging and programming of the other microcontrollers
• ESP8266, for Wi-Fi and related internet connectivity functions.

The board has:

• 14 digital input/output pins (of which 12 can be used as PWM outputs)
• 6 analog inputs
• 64 MHz ceramic resonator
• micro-USB connector
• ICSP header
• battery charger
• Infrared receiver and transmitter
• NFC antenna
• Bluetooth® Low Energy interface
• Buzzer
• two service buttons
• LEDs
• reset buttons (to reset the various microcontrollers).

Arduino Primo can be connected to a computer using a micro-USB cable, or it can be powered using a battery, connected via a 2-pin JST-PH connector. Having both Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi connectivity on board makes it easy to get started in the IoT world

Documentation

OSH: Schematics

Arduino Primo is open-source hardware! You can build your own board using the following files:

SCHEMATICS IN .PDF

DSN FILES IN .ZIP

Programming

The Arduino Primo can be programmed with the Arduino IDE software, as well as 3rd party software. The Arduino is available from Arduino IDE 1.8.x version, downloading the corresponding platform (Arduino NRF52) from the Board Manager.

Power

The Arduino Primo can be powered three different ways:

• using a micro-USB connector
• connecting a power supply to the Vin pin
• using an external battery connected via the 2-pin JST-PH connector. The Primo has integrated a charger and power management circuit that allows to run on battery or an external 5V and also to charge a Li-Ion and Li-Pol battery.
  When it runs an external 5V(4.75~5.25V ) then it cuts off the battery if the voltage is lower than 3.5V and the switching from a source at the other one is done automatically.

Charger

The charge current is 340mA as default setting but you can close the solder bridges, in the back of the board, when you need more current.
-MED :810mA
-HIGH: 910mA

The power pins are as follows:

• VIN. The input voltage to the Arduino board can be supplied using an external power source or battery. It must supply between 2.7V and 5.5V.
• 5V. This pin outputs a regulated 5V power supply voltage that is generated from the onboard regulator. Connecting an input power source to the 5V or 3.3V pins bypasses the regulator, and can damage your board. We don't advise it.
• 3V3. This pin outputs a regulated 3.3V power supply voltage that is generated from the onboard regulator. Maximum current draw is 50 mA.
• GND. Ground pins.
• IOREF. This pin on the Arduino board provides the voltage reference at which the microcontroller operates. A properly configured shield can read the voltage on the IOREF pin to select the appropriate power source, or to enable voltage translators on the 5V or 3.3V outputs.

Memory

The nRF52832 has 512 KB of Flash memory and 64 KB of SRAM. There is no onboard EEPROM memory.

Input and Output

Each of the 14 digital pins on the Primo can be used as an input or output, using pinMode(), digitalWrite() , and digitalRead() functions. They operate at 3.3V. Each pin can provide or receive a maximum current of 14 mA. In addition, some pins have specialized functions:

• Serial: 0 (RX) and 1 (TX): Pins 0 and 1 are used to receive (RX) and transmit (TX) TTL serial data. On Primo TX and RX LEDs are missing but the ON LED blinks every time you send data over the Serial port of the nRF52
• External Interrupts: all pins (digital and analog) can be used as external interrupts except pins 0 and 1. Keep in mind that you can’t use more than eight interrupt pins at the same time. These pins can be configured to trigger an interrupt on a low value, a rising or falling edge, or a change in value. See the attachInterrupt() function for details.
• PWM: pulse width modulation is available on all digital pins except pins 0 and 1. The 12-bit PWM output resolution can be adjusted using the analogWriteResolution() function.
• SPI: A serial peripheral interface (SPI) bus is available using pins 10 (SS), 11 (MOSI), 12 (MISO), and 13 (SCK) as well as using the onboard ICSP header. SPI communication is available using the SPI library.
• LED: There is a built-in LED connected to digital pin 9. When the pin is HIGH value, the LED is on, when the pin is LOW, it's off. The Primo has 6 analog inputs, labeled A0 through A5, each of which provide up to 14 bits of resolution (i.e., 16384 different values). By default they measure from ground to 3.3 volts, though it is possible to change the upper end of their range using the analogReference() function. A few additional pins are on the headers and those pins have specialized functions:
• TWI: Two-wire interface (TWI) communication is available from the serial data line (SDA) and serial clock line (SCL) pins (located near AREF). TWI communication is supported using the Wire library.
• AREF. Unlike some other Arduino boards, the analog reference (AREF) pin cannot be used to connect an external reference voltage for the analogRead() command.
• RESET. Bringing the reset line LOW will reset the microcontroller. RESET pin will reset only nRF52832 microcontroller. In order to reset all the three microcontrollers on board use reset button instead

Communication

The Arduino Primo has a number of facilities available for communicating with a computer, tablet, or smartphone; another Arduino; or other microcontrollers and devices.

The easiest method to communicate is to use a USB cable between the micro-USB port on a Primo, and a standard USB port on a PC. This is the same method used to communicate between the classic Arduino UNO and a PC, in order to upload sketches. Also like the UNO, the Primo supports a serial monitor function, which enables checking the communication between the board and a PC, and sending text messages and sensor data to help debug or analyze the operation of a sketch.

A SoftwareSerial library allows for serial communication over any of the digital pins.

The nRF52832 also supports I2C (TWI) and SPI communication. The Arduino software includes a Wire library to simplify use of the I2C bus and the SPI library for the SPI communication.

The board allows wireless communication with other devices via Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi and IR, using specific libraries for each protocol.

The Bluetooth® Low Energy interface allows Primo to communicate with other Bluetooth® Low Energy devices. It can also be used by PCs, tablets, and smartphones. The library used is Bluetooth® Low Energy that allows peripheral and central capabilities.

The NFC peripheral supports type A communication signals at a106 kbps rate. The NFC library is contained in the NRF52 platform for Arduino software (Arduino IDE 1.8.x or later).

The Primo Wi-Fi communication is supported by the ESP8266 module, which includes a self-contained SoC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack. This module allows connecting the Primo to a Wi-Fi network. The Primo Wi-Fi configuration supports access point (AP) mode, station (STA) mode, and the combination of the two: AP + STA by the WiFi Link library

The CIR library allows the Primo board to interact with a large number of IR sensors. The board has both receiver and transmitter capability, to give full flexibility to your sketches.

Physical Characteristics

The length and width of the Primo printed circuit board (PCB) is 2.7 x 2.1 inches respectively. It includes a micro-USB connector and a 2-pin adapter for power via a battery or external supply. Four screw holes allow the board to be attached to a surface or case.

Note that like the Arduino Uno and several other boards, the distance between digital pins 7 and 8 is 160 mil (0.16"), not an even multiple of the 100 mil spacing of the other pins.

Tech Specs

• Other features: PDM interface, AES HW enc, NFC tag, USB/Uart converter, CMSIS-DAP, GPIO expander, Board power management, IrDA

Configure a Linux machine for Arduino Primo usage

Execute this script to configure a Linux machine for Arduino Primo usage

Copy
1\# arduino-linux-setup.sh : A simple Arduino setup script for Linux systems  
2\# Copyright (C) 2015 Arduino Srl  
3#  
4\# Author : Arturo Rinaldi  
5\# E-mail : arturo@arduino.org  
6\# Project URL : https://github.com/artynet/arduino-linux-setup  
7#  
8\# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify  
9\# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  
10\# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or  
11\# (at your option) any later version.  
12#  
13\# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,  
14\# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of  
15\# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the  
16\# GNU General Public License for more details.  
17#  
18\# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License  
19\# along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.  
20#  
21\# Release v8 changelog :  
22#  
23\# + rules are now created in /tmp folder  
24#  
25\# Release v7 changelog :  
26#  
27\# + Adding project URL  
28\# + minor bugfixing  
29#  
30\# Release v6 changelog :  
31#  
32\# + removing sudocheck function and control  
33#  
34\# Release v5 changelog :  
35#  
36\# + adding UDEV rule for stm32 DFU mode  
37#  
38\# Release v4 changelog :  
39#  
40\# + The rules are generated in a temporary folder  
41#  
42\# + the user should run it without sudo while having its permissions  
43#  
44\# Release v3 changelog :  
45#  
46\# + The most common linux distros are now fully supported  
47#  
48\# + now the script checks for SUDO permissions  
49#  
50  
51#! /bin/bash  
52  
53\# if \[\[ $EUID != 0 \]\] ; then  
54\# echo This must be run as root!  
55\# exit 1  
56\# fi  
57  
58refreshudev () {  
59  
60 echo ""  
61 echo "Restarting udev"  
62 echo ""  
63  
64 sudo service udev restart  
65 sudo udevadm control --reload-rules  
66 sudo udevadm trigger  
67  
68}  
69  
70groupsfunc () {  
71  
72 echo ""  
73 echo "\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Add User to dialout,tty, uucp, plugdev groups \*\*\*\*\*\*\*"  
74 echo ""  
75  
76 sudo usermod -a -G tty $1  
77 sudo usermod -a -G dialout $1  
78 sudo usermod -a -G uucp $1  
79 sudo groupadd plugdev  
80 sudo usermod -a -G plugdev $1  
81  
82}  
83  
84acmrules () {  
85  
86 echo ""  
87 echo "# Setting serial port rules"  
88 echo ""  
89  
90cat <<EOF  
91"KERNEL="ttyUSB\[0-9\]\*", TAG+="udev-acl", TAG+="uaccess", OWNER="$1"  
92"KERNEL="ttyACM\[0-9\]\*", TAG+="udev-acl", TAG+="uaccess", OWNER="$1"  
93EOF  
94  
95}  
96  
97openocdrules () {  
98  
99 echo ""  
100 echo "# Adding Arduino M0/M0 Pro, Primo UDEV Rules for CMSIS-DAP port"  
101 echo ""  
102  
103cat <<EOF  
104ACTION!="add|change", GOTO="openocd\_rules\_end"  
105SUBSYSTEM!="usb|tty|hidraw", GOTO="openocd\_rules\_end"  
106  
107#Please keep this list sorted by VID:PID  
108  
109#CMSIS-DAP compatible adapters  
110ATTRS{product}=="\*CMSIS-DAP\*", MODE="664", GROUP="plugdev"  
111  
112LABEL="openocd\_rules\_end"  
113EOF  
114  
115}  
116  
117avrisprules () {  
118  
119 echo ""  
120 echo "# Adding AVRisp UDEV rules"  
121 echo ""  
122  
123cat <<EOF  
124SUBSYSTEM!="usb\_device", ACTION!="add", GOTO="avrisp\_end"  
125\# Atmel Corp. JTAG ICE mkII  
126ATTR{idVendor}=="03eb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2103", MODE="660", GROUP="dialout"  
127\# Atmel Corp. AVRISP mkII  
128ATTR{idVendor}=="03eb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2104", MODE="660", GROUP="dialout"  
129\# Atmel Corp. Dragon  
130ATTR{idVendor}=="03eb", ATTRS{idProduct}=="2107", MODE="660", GROUP="dialout"  
131  
132LABEL="avrisp\_end"  
133EOF  
134  
135}  
136  
137dfustm32rules () {  
138  
139 echo ""  
140 echo "# Adding STM32 bootloader mode UDEV rules"  
141 echo ""  
142  
143cat <<EOF  
144\# Example udev rules (usually placed in /etc/udev/rules.d)  
145\# Makes STM32 DfuSe device writeable for the "plugdev" group  
146  
147ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="df11", MODE="664", GROUP="plugdev", TAG+="uaccess"  
148EOF  
149  
150}  
151  
152dfuarduino101rules (){  
153  
154 echo ""  
155 echo "# Arduino 101 in DFU Mode"  
156 echo ""  
157  
158cat <<EOF  
159SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ENV{ID\_REVISION}=="8087", ENV{ID\_MODEL\_ID}=="0ab6", MODE="0666", ENV{ID\_MM\_DEVICE\_IGNORE}="1", ENV{ID\_MM\_CANDIDATE}="0"  
160SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="8087", ATTR{idProduct}=="0aba", MODE="0666", ENV{ID\_MM\_DEVICE\_IGNORE}="1"  
161EOF  
162  
163}  
164  
165removemm () {  
166  
167 echo ""  
168 echo "\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Removing modem manager \*\*\*\*\*\*\*"  
169 echo ""  
170  
171 if \[ -f /etc/lsb-release -a ! -f /etc/SuSE-release \] || \[ -f /etc/debian\_version \] || \[ -f /etc/linuxmint/info \]  
172 then  
173 #Only for Ubuntu/Mint/Debian  
174 sudo apt-get -y remove modemmanager  
175 elif \[ -f /etc/SuSE-release \]  
176 then  
177 #Only for Suse  
178 sudo zypper remove modemmanager  
179 elif \[ -f /etc/fedora-release \] || \[ -f /etc/redhat-release \]  
180 then  
181 #Only for Red Hat/Fedora/CentOS  
182 sudo yum remove modemmanager  
183 else  
184 echo ""  
185 echo "Your system is not supported, please take care of it with your package manager"  
186 echo ""  
187 fi  
188  
189}  
190  
191  
192if \[ "$1" = "" \]  
193then  
194 echo ""  
195 echo "Run the script with command ./arduino-linux-setup.sh \\$USER"  
196 echo ""  
197else  
198  
199 \[ \`whoami\` != $1 \] && echo "" && echo "The user name is not the right one, please double-check it !" && echo "" && exit 1  
200  
201 groupsfunc $1  
202  
203 removemm  
204  
205 acmrules $1 > /tmp/90-extraacl.rules  
206  
207 openocdrules > /tmp/98-openocd.rules  
208  
209 avrisprules > /tmp/avrisp.rules  
210  
211 dfustm32rules > /tmp/40-dfuse.rules  
212  
213 dfuarduino101rules > /tmp/99-arduino-101.rules  
214  
215 sudo mv /tmp/\*.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/  
216  
217 refreshudev  
218  
219 echo ""  
220 echo "\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\* Please Reboot your system \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*"  
221 echo ""  
222fi