Departments:
  1. Electronics Engineering
  2. Mechatronics Engineering
Microcontrollers:
  1. Arduino Nano 33 BLE
Codings:
  1. Arduino C
Softwares:
  1. Arduino IDE
Introduction to arduino nano 33 ble, arduino nano 33 ble pinout, arduino nano 33 ble features, arduino nano 33 ble applications
Hi Guys! Hope you’re well today. I welcome you on board. In this post today, I’ll walk you through the Introduction to Arduino Nano 33 BLE. Arduino Nano 33 BLE is an advanced version of Arduino Nano board that is based on a robust and powerful processor the nRF52840 from Nordic Semiconductors, a 32-bit ARM® Cortex™-M4 CPU. It comes with a crystal oscillator frequency of around 64MHz. It features 32 times bigger program memory than the Arduino Uno board, helping you store programs with much larger memory. With this device, you can produce a lot more variable as it comes with RAM that is 128 times bigger than the RAM of Arduino Uno. Before you move further, I recommend you read this article on the Introduction to Arduino Nano which we have published a while ago. I suggest you buckle up as I’ll walk you through the complete Introduction to Arduino Nano 33 BLE covering pinout, pin description, features, programming, and applications. Let’s get started.

Introduction to Arduino Nano 33 BLE

  • Arduino Nano 33 BLE is an advanced version of Arduino Nano board that is based on a powerful processor the nRF52840.
  • The crystal oscillator frequency is 64MHz which is used to synchronize all internal functions.
  • It carries 14 digital I/O pins these all pins can be used as PWM pins and there are 8 analog pins incorporated on the board.
  • The board features a USB port which is used to test and program this board through a USB cable. Simply, connect your board with the computer through this cable and start playing with it.
  • The Arduino Nano 33 BLE comes with a flash memory of 1MB which is 32times bigger than the program memory of the Arduino Uno board. The SRAM is 256KB and there is no EEPROM. The flash memory is used to store the Arduino program (sketch). The SRAM is used to manipulate and produce variables when it is activated.
  • The board features built-in LED at pin 13 and one is the power LED which turns on when power is supplied to this board.
Introduction to arduino nano 33 ble, arduino nano 33 ble pinout, arduino nano 33 ble features, arduino nano 33 ble applications
  • The Nano 33 BLE incorporates a 9-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) that contains a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer with a 3-axis resolution each. This unit makes the board an ideal pick for more advanced robotics and embedded experiments.
  • You can buy this board with or without headers that will help you incorporate this board into wearables.
  • This board is a revised version of the Arduino Nano board. In the improved version, you’ll get a micro-USB connector, a better and efficient processor, and a 9-axis IMU.
  • The board contains tessellated connectors and carries no components on the B-side. This will help you solder the board directly onto your design, reducing the height of your entire project.
  • The best part – this revised version costs less than the main Arduino Nano board.
  • And don’t fear experimenting with this device, in the worst-case scenario you’ll end up burning this device which you can replace in few dollars.

Arduino Nano 33 BLE Pinout

The following figure represents the pinout of Arduino Nano 33 BLE.
Introduction to arduino nano 33 ble, arduino nano 33 ble pinout, arduino nano 33 ble features, arduino nano 33 ble applications
There are two LEDs incorporated on the board. One is a basic built-in LED connected with pin 13 and the other is a power LED.

Arduino Nano 33 BLE Pin Description

Hope you’ve got a brief insight into the Arduino Nano 33 BLE. In this section, we’ll detail the pin description of each pin available on the board.

Digital Pins

The number of digital I/O pins are 14 which receive only two values HIGH or LOW. These pins can either be used as an input or output based on the requirement. When these pins receive 5V, they are in a HIGH state and when they receive 0V they are in a LOW state.

Analog Pins

Total 8 analog pins installed on the board A0 – A7. These pins get any value as opposed to digital pins that only receive two values HIGH or LOW. These pins are used to measure the analog voltage ranging between 0 to 5V.

PWM Pins

All digital pins can be used as PWM pins. These pins generate analog results with digital means.

SPI Pins

The board supports SPI (serial peripheral interface) communication protocol. This protocol is employed to develop communication between a controller and other peripheral devices like shift registers and sensors. Two pins are used for SPI communication i.e. MISO (Master Input Slave Output) and MOSI (Master Output Slave Input) are used for SPI communication. These pins are used to send or receive data by the controller.

I2C Pins

The board carries the I2C communication protocol which is a two-wire protocol. It comes with two pins SDL and SCL.
Introduction to arduino nano 33 ble, arduino nano 33 ble pinout, arduino nano 33 ble features, arduino nano 33 ble applications
The former pin is used to carry the data while the latter is used to synchronize all data transfer over the I2C bus.

UART Pins

The board features a UART communication protocol that is used for serial communication and carries two pins Rx and Tx. The Rx is a receiving pin used to receive the serial data while Tx is a transmission pin used to transmit the serial data.  

External Interrupts

All digital pins can be used as external interrupts. This feature is used in case of emergency to interrupt the main running program with the inclusion of important instructions at that point.

LED at Pin 13 and AREF

There is an LED connected to pin 13 of the board. And AREF is a pin used as a reference voltage for the input voltage.
Introduction to arduino nano 33 ble, arduino nano 33 ble pinout, arduino nano 33 ble features, arduino nano 33 ble applications

Arduino Nano 33 BLE Features

The following are the main features of Arduino Nano 33 BLE.
  • Microcontroller = nRF52840
  • Input Voltage (limit) = 21V
  • Operating Voltage = 3.3V
  • Clock Speed = 64MHz
  • Flash memory = 1MB
  • SRAM = 256KB
  • EEPROM = No
  • DC Current per I/O Pin = 15mA
  • Digital Input / Output Pins = 14
  • PWM pins = 14 (all digital pins)
  • UART = 1
  • SPI = 1
  • I2C = 1
  • Analog pins = 8
  • USB = Native in the nRF52840 Processor
  • External interrupts = all digital pins
  • Built-in LED = at Pin 13
  • Size = 18x45 mm
  • Weight = 5gr.

Arduino Nano 33 BLE Programming

  • The Arduino IDE software is used to program this Arduino board. This software is used to program all Arduino boards and it is open-source software, which means you can use this software and hardware free of cost. Anyone can modify and edit the existing programs and hardware to get the desired results.
  • This board comes with a USB port that is used to program the board. The USB cable is used to connect this board with the computer. You can send plenty of instructions to the Arduino board using Arduino IDE software.
  • Know that this board features an internal Bootloader that sets you free from the need of getting an external burner to burn the Arduino program inside the controller.

Arduino Nano 33 BLE Applications

The Arduino Nano 33 BLE is used in the following applications.
  • Real-Time Face Detection
  • Arduino Metal Detector
  • Automation and Robotics
  • Medical Instruments
  • Virtual Reality Applications
  • Industrial Automation
  • Android Applications
  • Embedded Systems
  • GSM Based Projects
  • Home Automation and Defense Systems
That’s all for today. Hope you’ve got a clear insight into the Introduction to Arduino Nano 33 BLE. If you’re unsure or have any questions, you can pop your comment in the section below, I’d love to help you the best way I can. Feel free to share your valuable suggestions and feedback around the content we share so we keep producing quality content customized to your exact needs and requirements. Thank you for reading the article.