Nordic nRF51¶

Configuration:: platform = nordicnrf51

The Nordic nRF51 Series is a family of highly flexible, multi-protocol, system-on-chip (SoC) devices for ultra-low power wireless applications. nRF51 Series devices support a range of protocol stacks including Bluetooth Smart (previously called Bluetooth low energy), ANT and proprietary 2.4GHz protocols such as Gazell.

For more detailed information please visit vendor site.

Examples ¶

Examples are listed from Nordic nRF51 development platform repository:

Debugging ¶

PIO Unified Debugger - “1-click” solution for debugging with a zero configuration.

Tools & Debug Probes ¶

Supported debugging tools are listed in “Debug” column. For more detailed information, please scroll table by horizontal. You can switch between debugging Tools & Debug Probes using debug_tool option in “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File).

Warning

You will need to install debug tool drivers depending on your system. Please click on compatible debug tool below for the further instructions.

On-Board Debug Tools ¶

Boards listed below have on-board debug probe and ARE READY for debugging! You do not need to use/buy external debug probe.

Name	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
BBC micro:bit	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Calliope mini	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Delta DFCM-NNN40	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Delta DFCM-NNN50	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	16KB
JKSoft Wallbot BLE	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	16KB
Nordic Beacon Kit (PCA20006)	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Nordic nRF51 Dongle (PCA10031)	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Nordic nRF51822-mKIT	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	16KB
Nordic nRF51X22 Development Kit(PCA1000X)	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
RedBearLab BLE Nano 1.5	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	32KB
RedBearLab nRF51822	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Seeed Arch BLE	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	16KB
Seeed Arch Link	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Seeed Tiny BLE	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Switch Science mbed HRM1017	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Switch Science mbed TY51822r3	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
VNG VBLUNO51	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	32KB
y5 nRF51822 mbug	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB

External Debug Tools ¶

Boards listed below are compatible with PIO Unified Debugger but DEPEND ON external debug probe. They ARE NOT READY for debugging. Please click on board name for the further details.

Name	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
BluzDK	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
OSHChip	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Sino:Bit	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Waveshare BLE400	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
ng-beacon	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	32KB

Stable and upstream versions ¶

You can switch between stable releases of Nordic nRF51 development platform and the latest upstream version using platform option in “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File) as described below.

Stable¶

; Latest stable version
[env:latest_stable]
platform = nordicnrf51
board = ...

; Custom stable version
[env:custom_stable]
platform = nordicnrf51@x.y.z
board = ...

Upstream¶

[env:upstream_develop]
platform = https://github.com/platformio/platform-nordicnrf51.git
board = ...

Packages ¶

Name	Description
framework-arduinonordicnrf5	Arduino Wiring-based Framework (Nordic NRF5 Core)
framework-mbed	mbed Framework
tool-jlink	SEGGER J-Link Software and Documentation Pack
tool-nrfjprog	nRF5x command line tool
tool-openocd	OpenOCD
tool-sreccat	Merging tool
toolchain-gccarmnoneeabi	gcc-arm-embedded

Warning

Linux Users:

Install “udev” rules 99-platformio-udev.rules

Raspberry Pi users, please read this article Enable serial port on Raspberry Pi.

Windows Users:

Please check that you have a correctly installed USB driver from board manufacturer

Frameworks ¶

Name	Description
Arduino	Arduino Wiring-based Framework allows writing cross-platform software to control devices attached to a wide range of Arduino boards to create all kinds of creative coding, interactive objects, spaces or physical experiences.
mbed	The mbed framework The mbed SDK has been designed to provide enough hardware abstraction to be intuitive and concise, yet powerful enough to build complex projects. It is built on the low-level ARM CMSIS APIs, allowing you to code down to the metal if needed. In addition to RTOS, USB and Networking libraries, a cookbook of hundreds of reusable peripheral and module libraries have been built on top of the SDK by the mbed Developer Community.

Name

Description

Arduino

Arduino Wiring-based Framework allows writing cross-platform software to control devices attached to a wide range of Arduino boards to create all kinds of creative coding, interactive objects, spaces or physical experiences.

mbed

The mbed framework The mbed SDK has been designed to provide enough hardware abstraction to be intuitive and concise, yet powerful enough to build complex projects. It is built on the low-level ARM CMSIS APIs, allowing you to code down to the metal if needed. In addition to RTOS, USB and Networking libraries, a cookbook of hundreds of reusable peripheral and module libraries have been built on top of the SDK by the mbed Developer Community.

Boards ¶

Note

You can list pre-configured boards by platformio boards command or PlatformIO Boards Explorer
For more detailed board information please scroll tables below by horizontal.

BBC¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
BBC micro:bit	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB

BluzDK¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
BluzDK	External	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB

Calliope¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Calliope mini	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB

Delta¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Delta DFCM-NNN40	On-board	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Delta DFCM-NNN50	On-board	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	16KB

JKSoft¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
JKSoft Wallbot BLE	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	16KB

Nordic¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Nordic Beacon Kit (PCA20006)	On-board	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Nordic nRF51 Dongle (PCA10031)	On-board	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB
Nordic nRF51822-mKIT	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	16KB
Nordic nRF51X22 Development Kit(PCA1000X)	On-board	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB

OSHChip¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
OSHChip	External	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB

RedBearLab¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
RedBearLab BLE Nano 1.5	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	32KB
RedBearLab nRF51822	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB

SeeedStudio¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Seeed Arch BLE	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	16KB
Seeed Arch Link	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Seeed Tiny BLE	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB

Switch Science¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Switch Science mbed HRM1017	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB
Switch Science mbed TY51822r3	On-board	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB

VNG¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
VNG VBLUNO51	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	128KB	32KB

Waveshare¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Waveshare BLE400	External	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB

ng-beacon¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
ng-beacon	External	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	32KB

sino:bit¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
Sino:Bit	External	NRF51822	32MHz	256KB	32KB

y5 design¶

Name	Debug	MCU	Frequency	Flash	RAM
y5 nRF51822 mbug	On-board	NRF51822	16MHz	256KB	16KB