Arduino Upgrades Sensors on Nano 33 BLE Boards

Arduino has recently unveiled the second revisions of its Nano 33 BLE and Nano 33 BLE Sense Bluetooth-equipped microcontroller boards. While the sensor mix remains the same, there have been significant changes to the sensor ICs used in these boards.

The nRF52840 IC, which is facilitated through a u-blox NINA-B306 module, continues to offer an Arm Cortex-M4 processor and a Bluetooth transceiver. Additionally, Arduino provides a dedicated BLE library and support for MicroPython to enhance the functionality of these boards.

One of the major hardware updates is the replacement of the LSM9DS1 sensor from STMicroelectronics with two Bosch Sensortec ICs. The Nano 33 BLE boards now feature the six-axis BMI270 IMU and the three-axis BMM150 magnetometer, offering improved sensor capabilities.

To ensure a smooth transition for users, Arduino has released updated IMU and magnetometer libraries that are compatible with the new hardware revisions. This allows existing sketches to be easily migrated to the latest version of the boards.

According to Arduino, the Nano 33 BLE is highly popular among users due to its compact size, 3.3V compatibility, embedded IMU with accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer, powerful processor, and Bluetooth Low Energy module with an internal antenna. These features make it a versatile choice for various projects.

The Nano 33 BLE Sense, which is also available in its second revision, features the same 9-axis sensor upgrade as the Nano 33 BLE. Additionally, there have been enhancements made to other sensors on the board to further improve its performance and capabilities.