The New Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense Rev2 TinyML Dev Board Brings a Suite of Sensor Changes
Supply chain issues lead to a redesign, with the nine-axis IMU now split out into a six-axis IMU and three-axis magnetometer.
Arduino has announced a new revision of the popular Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense tinyML development board, imaginatively named the Rev2, with new sensors to work around ongoing supply chain issues in the electronics industry.
On the surface, the new Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense Rev2 is very similar to its predecessor. The board is still built around the Nordic Semi nRF52840 system-on-chip with a single Arm Cortex-M4F processor core running at 64MHz, 256kB of static RAM (SRAM) and 1MB of flash memory, and Bluetooth 5 Low Energy (BLE) connectivity. There are still eight analog input pins, 14 digital output pins all of which support pulse-width modulation (PWM), and an on-board LED connected to pin D13.
Digging deeper, though, reveals the changes. The STMicroelectronics LSM9D1 nine-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) is gone, replaced by a Bosch Sensortech BMI270 six-axis IMU and a separate BMM150 three-axis magnetometer. The STMicro HTS221 temperature and humidity sensor is now a Renesas HS3003, and the on-board STMicro MP34DT05 MEMS microphone has been swapped out for a MP34DT06JTR instead.
Other changes carried out to, in the Arduino team's words, "improve the experience of the users," include a new power supply, the addition of a VUSB soldering jumper on the top side of the redesigned board, and the inclusion of new test points for USB, SWDIO, and SWCLK.
This isn't the first time Arduino has swapped out a few sensors in a board design. Earlier this year the company announced a new revision of its MKR IoT Carrier Board, which made a few tweaks to the layout while also replacing separate humidity and barometric pressure sensors with a Bosch Sensortec BME688 and swapping the STMicro LSM6DS3 inertial measurement unit for the LSM6DSOX with integrated "machine learning core."
Those already working with the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense, though, may need to tweak their sketches when moving to the new model. "For sketches done using the libraries like LSM9DS1 for the IMU or HTS221 for the temperature and humidity sensor," the Arduino team explains, "for the new revision this libraries must be changed to Arduino_BMI270_BMM150 for the new combined IMU and Arduino_HS300x for the new temperature and humidity sensor."
The new Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense Rev2 is now available to buy on the Arduino Store for $40.50, the same price as the original revision, while a variant with pre-soldered headers can be purchased at a $3 premium.
